fact file: useful information on nepal and its plants

| land | plants | protected areas | people | economy | organisations | acronyms |

land and rivers [top]
Nepal extends 885 km west to east to (longitudes 80°04' to 88°12' E), and an average of 193 km north to south, varying between 145 km in central Nepal to 241 km in the west (latitudes 26°22' to 30°27' N).

Offical reports give the land area as 147,181 km², 56,827 miles² (some earlier publications have this as low as 140,797 km²), representing about 0.09% of the total global land area. 23% is low-lying Terai, 77% are the hills and mountains. In comparison with other countries, Nepal is about the same as the length of the UK and the ‘boot' of Italy, and about the same area as Bangladesh (144k km²), Greece (132k km²), and Florida or Illinois (USA). It is slightly smaller than Honshu island (Japan), Java, and California (USA).

Although there is little controversy over the highest elevation in Nepal (Sagarmatha [Mount Everest], 8848* m, 29028 ft), the lowest elevation is open to continued debate. Contendors for the title of lowest elevation include: Kechana Kabal, Jhapa District, 62 m; Budha Nagar, Morang District, 60 m; and Musaharniya Tol, Dhanusa District, 59 m. These altitudes are those given on the official Topo maps, but they are currently under review by the government survey office. Unofficial reports indicate that Musaharniya Tol has the lowest altitude at around 56.3 m, but this awaits confirmation.
[*8850 m is given in a 1999 estimate]

70 large glaciers can be found in the Himalaya, representing the largest body of ice outside the Polar ice caps. The rate of retreat has been accelerating since 1970’s due to global warming, and is faster than that recorded anywhere else in the world. These glaciers feed the major rivers (Mahakali, Karnali, Narayani [Gandaki] and Koshi) which originate deep in the Himalaya, and each has at least one tributary which rises in Xizang (Tibet). Smaller rivers, such as the Babai, West Rapti, Bagmati, Kamla, Kankai and Mechi, generally originate in the Mid Hills or in the Mahabharat Range.

plants [top]

There have been nine known extinctions, eight of these were endemic species.

Plant altitude records: Alpine flowering plant vegetation reaches to 6100 m (albeit in a sparse state), but tight cushions of Stellaria decumbens have been found at 6135m in Makalu*, and mosses and lichens are commonly found up to 6300m. The highest recorded altitude for an endemic is 5800 m (Lagotis nepalensis in west Nepal), and the lowest is 130 m (Begonia tribenensis in east Nepal). Further information on the plants of Nepal is provided on the Flora of Nepal pages.
[*Zimmerman's 1952 Everest expedition (see Candollea, 15 1954-6, page 134) reported that they found several small plants, not yet determined, on a moraine between Camp IV and Camp V at 6350 m. This needs confirmation.]

protected areas [top]

From Nepal Biodiversity Strategy [NBS 2002] (see also protected areas section under Conservation).

people [top]

The distribution of Nepal's burgeoning population is very uneven, with almost half (48.5%) living in the lowland Terai. Most of the rest (44.2%) live in the Mid Hills, with only 7.3% in the Mountains. The population density is 157 people per km², but only 18% of the land surface is arable land. On this basis Nepal has one of the highest population densities in the world: over 600 people per km² of arable land. Almost 90% of Nepalese live in rural areas, mostly in poverty surviving on subsistence agriculture.

economy [top]
Nepal is one of the poorest and least developed countries in the world, with 42% of its population living below the poverty line (based on US$ 1.00/day). Nepal has a Human Development Index (HDI) of 0.499 ranking it 143 out of 175 countries listed by the United Nations ([UNDP 2003]) . There has been a very slow, gradual improvement in the HDI in all years excepting 1993, but the current level is low even by South Asian standards.

The economy is very closely bound to the natural resources (agricultural land, wetlands, forests and protected areas). Agriculture is the mainstay of the economy providing a livelihood for over 80% of the population and accounting for nearly 42% of GDP. Tourism and exports of carpets and textiles are key sources of foreign exchange (respectively 11% and 70%). Tourist arrivals in 1999 numbered over 420,000, but the expected annual growth rate of 8-10% has suffered greatly during the ongoing civil unrest.

In 2002 (NBS 2002) land use was estimated as:

Forests: 29% (4.27 m hectares), average annual deforestation rate 1.7%

Scrubland and degraded forest: 10.6% (1.56 million hectares)

Grassland: 12% (1.7 m hectares)

Cultivated farmland: 21% (3.2 m hectares), principal crops rice, maize, wheat, millet and potatoes

Uncultivated land: 7% (1.0 m hectares)

Others: 20.3% (4.72 m hectares)

Of the agricultural land 55.7% is in Terai, 37.3% in the Hills, and 6.9% in the Mountains.

administrative divisions of nepal [top]
Nepal is divided into five Development Regions (Eastern, Central, Western, Mid-Western and Far-Western), 14 zones (‘anchal’ in Nepali), and 75 districts. In each district the lowest local administrative unit is either the municipality or the Village Development Committee (VDC). There are 58 municipalities and 3914 VDCs.

major biodiversity organisations in nepal [top]
Governmental

Department of Plant Resources, Ministry of Forests and Soil Conservation (MOFSC)

Department of Forests, MOFSC

Department of National Park and Wildlife Conservation, MOFSC

National Biodiversity Unit [www.biodiv-nepal.gov.np]

Academic

The Natural History Museum, Tribhuvan University

National NGOs

King Mahendra Trust for Nature Conservation

Nepal Heritage Society

Natural History Society

Botanical Society

Ecological Society

Ethnobotany Society of Nepal

International NGOs

International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development ICIMOD, founded in 1984, based in Kathmandu

IUCN - The World Conservation Union - Nepal

The Mountain Institute

WWF-Nepal Programme

Resources Nepal (director Dr P. B. Yonzon)

Institute of Biodiversity, Nepal

Major Funders of Biodiversity Projects

UNDP

GEF - The World Bank

DANIDA

Swissaid

UK Darwin Initiative

what is that acronym? [top]
If you find the many acronyms used in Nepal confusing, the following may help...