Vital Stats
Right then. On with news and musings of Nepal. There's lots to say and trying to cram it all into a 15 minute post will be tricky. So I'll do a few. Starting with this one. A quick overview and some vital stats......
Compared to its neighbours, Nepal is a tiny country and its population, a billion less either side (India: 1.22bn, China: 1.35bn, Nepal: 29.5m). There's still twice as many people than Cambodia though and with 40,000 km2 less space, it's a pretty crowded place.
.GIF)
The main religion is Hinduism (81.3%) with Buddhism a not-very-close second (9.0%). Islam comes in third (4.4%), Mundhum (a mix of animism, ancestor worship, Tibetan buddhism and Saivite hindusim) fourth (3.0%) and Christianity fifth (1.4%).
There's loads of different people groups.... Chhetri (15.5%), Braham-Hill (12.5%), Magar (7%), Tharu (6.6%), Tamang (5.5%), Newar (5.4%), Muslim (4.2%), Kami (3.9%), Yadav (3.9%), other (32.7%) and unspecified (2.8%)...
...whose origins are best described by Wikipedia:
The Nepalese are descendants of three major migrations from India, Tibet, and North Burma and the Chinese province of Yunnan via Assam. Even though Indo-Nepalese migrants were latecomers to Nepal relative to the migrants from the north, they have come to dominate the country not only numerically, but also socially, politically, and economically. Among the earliest inhabitants were the Kirat of east mid-region, Newar of the Kathmandu Valley and aboriginal Tharu in the southern Terai region. The ancestors of the Brahmin and Chetri caste groups came from India's present Kumaon, Garhwal and Kashmir regions, while other ethnic groups trace their origins to North Burma and Yunnan and Tibet, e.g. the Gurung and Magar in the west, Rai and Limbu in the east (from Yunnan and north Burma via Assam), and Sherpa and Bhutia in the north (from Tibet).
The average life expectancy is 62 years and the average age of the population is 20 years. Literacy levels are low (ave = 48.6%) especially among women (35%) and 82% of the population live on less than $2 a day.
So it's a real melting pot of a place. Vibrantly young. Stunningly beautiful. Shockingly poor. Deeply spiritual. Fiercely political. Mysteriously old. Wildly colourful. Raggedly optimistic.
Compared to its neighbours, Nepal is a tiny country and its population, a billion less either side (India: 1.22bn, China: 1.35bn, Nepal: 29.5m). There's still twice as many people than Cambodia though and with 40,000 km2 less space, it's a pretty crowded place.
.GIF)
The main religion is Hinduism (81.3%) with Buddhism a not-very-close second (9.0%). Islam comes in third (4.4%), Mundhum (a mix of animism, ancestor worship, Tibetan buddhism and Saivite hindusim) fourth (3.0%) and Christianity fifth (1.4%).
There's loads of different people groups.... Chhetri (15.5%), Braham-Hill (12.5%), Magar (7%), Tharu (6.6%), Tamang (5.5%), Newar (5.4%), Muslim (4.2%), Kami (3.9%), Yadav (3.9%), other (32.7%) and unspecified (2.8%)...
...whose origins are best described by Wikipedia:
The Nepalese are descendants of three major migrations from India, Tibet, and North Burma and the Chinese province of Yunnan via Assam. Even though Indo-Nepalese migrants were latecomers to Nepal relative to the migrants from the north, they have come to dominate the country not only numerically, but also socially, politically, and economically. Among the earliest inhabitants were the Kirat of east mid-region, Newar of the Kathmandu Valley and aboriginal Tharu in the southern Terai region. The ancestors of the Brahmin and Chetri caste groups came from India's present Kumaon, Garhwal and Kashmir regions, while other ethnic groups trace their origins to North Burma and Yunnan and Tibet, e.g. the Gurung and Magar in the west, Rai and Limbu in the east (from Yunnan and north Burma via Assam), and Sherpa and Bhutia in the north (from Tibet).
The average life expectancy is 62 years and the average age of the population is 20 years. Literacy levels are low (ave = 48.6%) especially among women (35%) and 82% of the population live on less than $2 a day.
So it's a real melting pot of a place. Vibrantly young. Stunningly beautiful. Shockingly poor. Deeply spiritual. Fiercely political. Mysteriously old. Wildly colourful. Raggedly optimistic.
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