Nepal
The roof of the world, home to Everest and the high Himalaya
Nepal is the great vertical country of the Himalaya, a landlocked nation wedged between India and China that holds eight of the world's ten highest peaks, Everest among them. From steamy lowland jungle to the world's loftiest summits, it compresses an astonishing range of altitude, climate, and culture into a modest area. Birthplace of the Buddha and a living mosaic of Hindu and Buddhist traditions, ethnic groups, and languages, it draws climbers and trekkers from across the globe to its mountains while wrestling with poverty, earthquakes, and the demands of a young federal democracy.
The land rises in three tiers from south to north, the flat and fertile Terai plain along the Indian border, the temperate hill region with the Kathmandu Valley, and the high Himalaya in the north. Here stands Mount Everest, called Sagarmatha in Nepali, at 8,849 meters the highest point on Earth, on the border with China. Glaciers, deep gorges, and rivers such as the Kosi and Karnali cut through the ranges. The climate spans subtropical in the lowlands to perpetual snow on the peaks, and the country sits in a seismically active zone, devastated by a major earthquake in 2015.
A patchwork of small kingdoms unified in the eighteenth century by Prithvi Narayan Shah, Nepal preserved its independence through the colonial era while ceding influence to British India. A Shah monarchy ruled, often behind powerful Rana prime ministers, until a Maoist insurgency and popular protest led to the abolition of the monarchy in 2008 and the founding of a federal republic. The economy leans on agriculture, tourism, and remittances from millions of Nepalis working abroad. Lumbini, the Buddha's birthplace, and the temple cities of the Kathmandu Valley anchor a rich spiritual heritage beneath the world's greatest mountains.