Nepal is a landlocked country that lies on the lap of the highest mountain of the Himalayas which is known through out the world for "Mount Everest" [Sagarmatha]. Nepal is the only country in the world that identifies itself as a "Hindu" nation. Geographically it can be divided into three ecological strips -- the land of the plains [Tarai] along the southern belt, the hills [Pahar] in the midland and mountains [Himal] in the northern belt.

Nepal is located within 10/40 window, the area between 10 degrees and 40 degrees north latitude, where most of the unevangelized nations are found. It is a land-locked country between India and China and is home to eight of the fourteen highest mountains in the world, including the Mount Everest [the world's highest peak].

Administrative Divisions: Administratively, the country is divided into 75 districts, which are then  regrouped into five "development regions" so as to promote balanced development of the country. Each district has been further divided into smaller administrative units  called Village Development Committees [VDC] and Municipalities. Altogether there are 3945 VDCs and 51 Municipalities now. Recently, 50 VDC's have been included to the new 15 Municipalities.

The administrative regions are as follows:
1.Eastern Development Region
2.Central Development Region
3.Western Development Region
4.Mid- Western Development Region
5.Far-Western development Region
 

History and Culture: Nepal is a unique country that is rich in heritage. She has a glorious history and diverse ethnic communities. Despite various races, castes and creeds a good measure of religious harmony exists among the people of Nepal, giving rise to a solid national unity. History says that the Gopalas were the first rulers of the country. They were followed by Kiratas and Lichhavia, During the Lichhavis dynasty both Hinduism and Buddhism flourished in the country under the strong patronage of the kings.

Sanskrit became the language of the common people and there was a proliferaton of   deities worshiped by the people. After the Lichhavis till the rise of Mallas there were diverse activity on the social, cultural and religious fronts. During the Mallas dynasty the country had a chance to see glorious architectural prosperity.

Hinduism is the major religion of Nepal. According to the constitution, the king should be of Hindu origin. The second largest religion in Nepal is Buddhism. Hindus  comprises 75% of the total population, Buddhists 15%, Muslims 8% and Christians 2%. Since the democratic revolution of 1990, there has been a measure of freedom of religion though not as much as it is in India.

God has been doing many exciting things in Nepal over the last 10 years. The number of believers is over 10 time what it was 10 years ago. Many Nepalese have turned to Christ and more of them are showing interest in the gospel.
 

Groups and Races:  Broadly the Nepalese are classified into major races:

1] Tibeto-Nepalese race: this race can be classified into Tibetan group and ancient Nepalese group. the Tibetan Group consists of Bhotes, Sherpas, and Thakalis. But the ancient Nepalese groups consist of Newars, Tamangs, Magars, Gurungs, Sunuwars, Rais, Limbus, Budhas,Rukhas and Tharus.

2] Indo- Nepalese race: this race can be further classified into two group a] Nepalese group consisting of Brahmins,Kshetriyas, Gorkhas,Khas and Thakuries.b] Indian groups- consists terains,Garhwals and Kumaus.
 

Languages:  There is vast diversity of languages in Nepal. Nepali is the Official Language which is spoken by most people. Most of the literature and cultural books as well as local technical books are written in Nepali. It is spoken by 50.3% of the total population as their mother tongue.  In additon there are over 125 languages and dialects spoken by the 20 million people living in Nepal. Many of these languages still have no written form and no scripture translation.
 

Education:  According to the census of 1997 the literacy level is approximately 40%. Literacy among the 6-14 year age group is much higher. 77% of the boys and 56% of the girls in the 11-15 year age group are literate compared to 29% and 2% among those above 60 years of age. The national literacy rate is very low when one realizes that two out of five Persons are literate. Two- third of the total population, thus remain deprived of the basic capability of reading and writing.
 

Economy:  80% of the population depends on agriculture and 18% depends of other jobs. The per capita income is Rs. 9000 ($210). Thus Nepal  belongs in the group of very low-income countries in the world. Only ten percent of the country is accessible by roads, and even today the rest can be reached only by foot. Many places still have no electricity, and living conditions are primitive and very hard for most people.

Please do remember in your prayer for this country so the people of Nepal can see and hear unknown God's Gospel. Also please pray for the millions of Nepalis who have migrated to India in search of jobs that they might find Christ and return to their motherland for spreading the message.