Located between China in the north and India in the South, East and West, Nepal has a population of approximately 30 million. Kathmandu is the nation’s capital and the country’s largest metropolitan city that houses 7 UNESCO world cultural heritage sites- Pashupatinath Temple, Soyambhunath Stupa, Bauddha Stupa, Patan Durbar Square, Kathmandu Durbar Square, Bhaktapur Durbar Square and Changunarayan Temple. Nepal has diversity in many aspects such as culture, language, geography, ethnicity, climate etc. It offers a unique -place of pilgrimage for Hindus and Buddhists. Nepal is the birthplace of Lord Buddha, the apostle of peace and compassion.
As per population census 2011, Nepal has 126 caste/ethnic groups, 123 spoken languages as their mother tongue with Nepali spoken by majority as mother tongue (44.6 percent of the total population), which is the official language of Nepal as well. Similarly, there are ten religious categories with the majority practicing Hindu (81.3 percent) followed by Buddhism (9%;), Islam (4.4%), Kirat (3.1%), Christianity (1.4%), Prakriti (0.5%) and others(Bon, Jainism, Bahai and Sikhism). Nepal is house to the tallest mountain in the world, Mt. Everest 8,848.86m.
Nepal possesses some of the most outstanding bio-diversity in the world, ranging from sub-tropical Rain-forests to Alpine Deserts, from hot humid to arctic cold. Climatic diversity makes it possible for having rich flora and fauna in Nepal. Nepal has 840 different species of wet-land, migratory and residential bird which is 8% of the world’s population of birds. Nepal is a home to some endangered species like Royal Bengal Tiger, One horned rhino, Snow – Leopard, Red Panda, Brown Bear, Assamese Macaque, Gangetic Dolphin, Wolf, Wild Elephant, Giant Horn – Bill, Swamp Deer, Wild Yak, Tibetan Antelope, Black Buck, Four Horned antelope, Musk Deer, Pigmy Hog, Haspid Hare, Pangolin, Gharial, Indian Bustart, Saras Crane, Impean Pheasant, Python etc.
