Nepal
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Nepal ( Austrian High German : only [ Nepal ]; federal German High German : also [ Nepal ]; Nepali नेपाल Nepal ) ( ) is a landlocked country in South Asia . It borders on the People's Republic of China to the north and India to the east, south and west . The capital Kathmandu is the seat of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC). The republic was proclaimed in the former kingdom on May 28, 2008 . Ram Baran Yadav was sworn in on July 23, 2008 as the first President of the Republic. He was followed in October 2015 by Bidhya Devi Bhandari as the first female president of Nepal.
geography
location
Nepal is located in South Asia and stretches approximately from the 26th to 30th degrees of north latitude and from 80 to 88 degrees of longitude east. Nepal covers an area of 147,516 square kilometers, of which approximately 143,000 square kilometers are land and the remaining 4,000 square kilometers are inland water. The east-west extension is 885 kilometers, and the maximum north-south extension that can be reached in western Nepal is around 241 kilometers. Nepal lies between Tibet in the north and India in the south. Nepal borders (from west to east) on the Indian states of Uttarakhand , Uttar Pradesh , Bihar , West Bengal and the former Kingdom of Sikkim, which has joined the Indian Union .
In the north and east lies a large part of the Himalayas , including Mount Everest , the summit of which is the highest point on earth at 8,848 meters . Seven of the other ten highest mountains on earth are also in Nepal. The lowest point, on the other hand, is at 70 meters near Kencha Kalan in southern Nepal. This makes Nepal the highest country on average in the world after Tibet; over 40% of the country's area is over 3000 meters.
Himalayas
In terms of geological history, the Himalaya is a relatively young fold mountain range with around 45 million years , so it is less rounded and smoothed by erosion than other mountain ranges. The rivers all finally flow into the Ganges , but the largest have their source north of the main Himalayan range and have dug antecedent breakthrough valleys during the mountain elevation . That of Kali Gandaki is about 6000 meters - measured against the eight-thousanders Dhaulagiri ( 8167 m ) and Annapurna ( 8091 m ) - the deepest valley on earth.
This entire area is barely populated and a popular destination for trekking tourists and mountaineers . Between 1950 and 2005, 832 mountaineers died in the Nepalese Himalayas, around every hundredth expedition participant on mountains above 6000 meters.
Division of the country
In terms of natural space, Nepal can be divided into three main regions, the southern Terai , the Central Plateau and the high mountain region. Socio-economic, cultural and ethnic aspects are also connected to this structure.
The Terai
The Terai forms the Nepalese part of the Gangetic Plain . Over the past 50 years it has developed into an important economic and settlement area. Although the Terai only makes up 14% of the country's area, 47% of the population live there. Fertile, less prone to erosion soils and year-round frost-free climate as well as good irrigation options make the Terai the most valuable agricultural region.
Almost all industrial settlements outside of the Kathmandu valley are located on this level . The Mahendra Highway runs through the Terai as the only road that enables an east-west connection. Nine domestic airports are located in the Terai and offer direct flight connections with Kathmandu.
The Mittelland
The Siwaliks and the Mahabharata chain form the transition from Terai to the Central Plateau, which reaches heights of around 3000 meters. The Mittelland has a very strongly structured relief. Factors such as microclimate, soils and geomorphology vary in a small area in the Central Plateau, so that the conditions for settlement and agriculture also differ greatly. Nevertheless, the Central Plateau represents the old settled heartland of Nepal. 45% of the population live in the Central Plateau on 30% of the country's area.
Due to the high relief energy , the Central Plateau is extremely hostile to traffic. For a long time only the Kathmandu and Pokhara valleys had a road connection, with Kathmandu only having road connections in the 1950s and Pokhara in the 1970s, Tribhuvan Rajmarg (Nepali: त्रिभूवन राजमार्ग) and Prithvi Rajmarg (Nepali: पृथ्वी राजमार्ग). The Mahendra Rajmarg (Nepali: महेन्द्र राजमार्ग), the first national longitudinal connection from Mechinagar to Bhim Datta , emerged step by step in the Terai from the 1960s and was only completed in 1996 for a good 1000 km. Other parts of the Central Plateau were accessed from this road via access roads, of which the Mechi Rajmarg ( Ilam ), the Dharan - Dhankuta --Rajmarg, the Ratna Rajmarg ( Birendranagar ) and the Mahakali Rajmarg ( Amargadhi ) are the most important. Numerous other access roads followed and the existing ones are being extended steadily and at high pressure to the north. A longitudinal connection is currently being built through the Central Plateau, which has been completed in numerous sections, but not yet completely.
Kathmandu has the only international airport in the country. Another important domestic airport is located in Pokhara .
The high mountain region
Almost all the settlements in the high mountain region are concentrated in the valley areas. Summer settlements with pasture farming reach up to 5000 meters. The extremely high relief energy and the high monsoon precipitation (over 5000 millimeters) on the southern slopes contribute to soil erosion and make agriculture difficult.
The north sides of the main chain in the rain shadow, however, receive very little precipitation (less than 200 millimeters), so that agriculture is hardly possible. Forestry and forest management are important pillars of rural subsistence farming in the mountains. Overall, the high mountain region is a food deficit area. The main external source of income is tourism. So far there is only one spur road from the south, namely to Jomsom and Muktinath , but not yet developed. The only road that crosses the high mountains in Nepal and thus also the only land connection between Nepal and China is the Arniko Rajmarg (Nepali: अरनिको राजमार्ग) from Kathmandu to Tibet ; However, for years it has been difficult to pass due to numerous landslides on the Tibetan side. The numerous airstrips and airfields distributed over the region represent an important traffic connection with the rest of the country; the most important of these are Jomsom, Jimikot, Dolpa and Lukla.
As a consequence, walking is still an important form of transportation, just like in the Swiss Plateau. The high mountain regions tend to be less developed than the rest of the country. In the western parts of the high mountain regions in particular, the human development index is significantly lower than the national average. It deviates from the average by 15%.
Hydrology
Nepal mainly belongs to three catchment areas of roughly the same size, namely the Karnali (upper reaches of the Ghaghara in India), the Narayani ( Narayani ) and the Koshi . The Karnali drains most of western Nepal, the Narayani the central part of Nepal and the Koshi the east of the country. Only the Mahakali , border river in the west, which largely drains the Mahakali zone, does not belong to these catchment areas . All major rivers in the country flow directly or indirectly into one of the first three rivers: Seti , Bheri , western Rapti , Tila , Thuli Bheri , Humla Karnali , Mugu Karnali into the Karnali, Kali Gandaki , Seti Gandaki , Madi Khola , Marsyangdi , Budhigandaki , Trishuli , Bagmati and Eastern Rapti in the Narayani as well as Indrawati , Sunkoshi , Tamakoshi , Likhu Khola , Dudh Koshi , Arun and Tamor in the Koshi.
population
Nepal is ethnically and culturally a minority mosaic . A 2001 census counted over 100 different ethnic groups and castes and 124 different languages and dialects (most of which are critically endangered).
The Nepalese caste system is still present as a social phenomenon, even if the rules are interpreted less strictly today and the discrimination of individual castes was declared illegal with the constitution of 1962, which spoke of a Hindu monarchy. Caste boundaries are partially permeable, and the categories of ethnicity and caste overlap or depend on the perspective of the observer.
ethnography
The ethnic mosaic of Nepal consists mainly of Indo-Aryan and Tibeto - Burmese ethnic groups. Many of the ethnic groups are descendants of refugees who once withdrew to Nepal.
For example, the Sherpa immigrated from the Chinese province of Sichuan to Nepal from the east from 1500 AD. The origin of some ethnic groups is controversial or even unknown, for example that of the Newar or the Tharu .
The following table is intended to give an overview of the seven largest population groups in Nepal:
| Ethnicity | Percent of the total population | Original home in Nepal | ethnic group |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chhetri (Hill Kshatriya) | 16.6% | across the country | Indo-Aryan |
| Bahun (Hill Brahmin) | 12.2% | across the country | Indo-Aryan |
| Magar | 7.1% | mid-western hill country | tibeto-burmese |
| Tharu | 6.6% | western terai | probably Tibeto-Burmese, Indo-Aryan and Dravidian |
| Tamang | 5.8% | Kathmandu valley and central hill country | tibeto-burmese |
| Newar | 5.0% | Kathmandu Valley | tibeto-burmese |
| Kami | 4.8% |
The ethnic groups of the Gurung , the Sherpa , the Limbu and the Rai are also worth mentioning.
44.6% of the total population according to the 2011 census Nepali - native speakers . Other important languages are: Maithili (11.7%), Bhojpuri (6.0%), Tharu (5.8%), Tamang (5.1%), Newari (3.2%) and Bajjika (3.0 %).
married couple
Folk dance group
Younger Nepalese woman
Elderly Nepalese woman
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religion
According to the 2011 census, 81.34% of the population are Hindu . Nepal was the only country in which Hinduism was the state religion until parliament committed itself to secularism after the king was ousted in April 2006 . 9.04% of the population are identified as Buddhists (especially in Mustang ). Lumbini , on the border with India, is believed to be the birthplace of Buddha . The larger minorities include 4.39% Muslims and 3.05% followers of the Kirant Mundhum , an animist denomination recognized as a religion .
The proportion of Christians in Nepal was 1.42% in 2011. Added to this are 0.76% others. Christians include members of the Roman Catholic Church in Nepal (less than 0.1% of the population) and Jehovah's Witnesses . There are a number of Christian schools, especially in the Kathmandu valley, which, due to their quality, are also attended by Hindus or other religious followers.
Other small minorities are Sikhs , whose number exceeded 7,000 in 2011, and 4,350 Baha'i (figures for 2005).
The folk religion contains archaic elements of belief that are very similar to those of classic Siberian shamanism . The Nepalese shamans who still practice today are partly admired and partly feared. Its characteristic is the so-called “tremor trance ”, which is understood less as a shamanic journey of the soul than as a battle with evil spirits; They are healers, but today primarily performers. The dhyangro drumstick serves as an aid . Their sexual symbolism is striking. Most Nepalese also believe in gods and beings that are neither of Buddhist nor Hindu descent, but old natural deities that can be found in trees, stones, birds, snakes and all kinds of animals, in mountains or in fire, but above all in water.
Nepalese caste system
The Nepalese caste system developed parallel to the Indian one. Indian influence grew during the Gupta Empire (320 AD – 500 AD); Nepal was considered a "neighboring kingdom", but was subject to taxes under Samudragupta.
The Nepalese caste system from the perspective of a Bahun or Chhetri
That in Nepal, as in most other states with caste systems, the caste of the untouchables is definitely one of the pillars of society, can easily be seen from the fact that the Kami, the Damai and the Sarki alone, as the largest groups of the untouchables, are already more than Make up 7% of the total population.
The caste system from the Newar's point of view
The Hindu Newar in particular have their own caste system that only includes the residents of the Kathmandu valley. This system was partly adopted by the Buddhist Newar. In general, the caste system in the egalitarian Newari community is weak and has never been able to assert itself as strongly there as with other ethnic groups.
Majority view of the caste system
The religious-ritual view accepted by the majority (liberal Bahun and Chhetri, ethnic groups without their own caste system) provides for a dichotomy:
- chokho jaat (pure box) and
- pani nachalne jaat (untouchable castes)
In practice, caste membership is sometimes linked to prosperity, which means that poorer residents are more likely to be assigned to the untouchable, richer residents more likely to be assigned to the upper castes. As a result, European foreigners, who as non-Hindus should actually be untouchables, are usually counted among the upper class and are only treated as untouchables in actions of strong ritual significance . This includes, for example, all activities that have to do with water and the preparation of rice.
Cities
The population of Nepal is still largely rural and rural ; the proportion of city dwellers is still one of the lowest in the world, at 15% of the total population. However, urbanization has risen sharply in recent years, with growth rates in this area amounting to 3.5% per year and higher.
Nepal was governed centrally down to the local level until the early 1990s. In the course of democratization and decentralization, the municipalities were released into independence in several phases . The “city rights” with the title “Nagarpalika”, “Up-Maha-Nagarpalika” and “Maha-Nagarpalika” are thus granted by the government.
With the exception of Kathmandu , there is more or less a lack of resources in all cities, and self-government is therefore difficult to implement. In addition, there are still strong centralized structures in the state administration that contradict the desired local self-government.
Depending on the size and financial strength of the municipality, there are three different degrees of self-government. The Maha-Nagarpalika receives the most competencies, there is only one city of this category in Nepal: Kathmandu. The next level is the Up-Maha-Nagarpalika, such as Lalitpur or Pokhara ; in all there are four of them. The lowest of the three levels is the Nagarpalika.
Other conditions for self-employment, such as certain infrastructural facilities or road connections , do not exist in a number of cases, at least all year round. The fact that these municipalities were released into independence has regional planning and political reasons. Viewed in this light, the statistical urban population of Nepal can confidently be reduced by around half a million in order to get an idea of the actual degree of urbanization in the country.
The three largest cities are in the mountains , but the majority of the municipalities are in the Terai. The other municipalities in the mountains are often the smallest mountain towns, which, by adding the surrounding villages, have a population of almost 20,000. The fact that a number of them are not urban centers is also shown by their comparatively small growth rate.
In addition to the high rate of rural exodus , Nepal has seen a shift in focus of the population from the mountains to the Terai. More than half of the country's population already lives in this strip of flat land along the border with India, and most of the new cities are currently being built there.
The largest population center was and is still the Kathmandu valley with the twin city Kathmandu / Lalitpur (Patan), the smaller neighboring city Bhaktapur and some small cities like Madhyapur Thimi and Kirtipur . This metropolitan area also includes a few smaller towns near the valley, namely Banepa , Dhulikhel and Panauti . The Kathmandu Valley is largely sprawled and the complete, almost always unscheduled use as settlement area is foreseeable. The Kathmandu area today has a population of just over 1.5 million.
The second larger population center in the mountains, which also has above-average growth rates, is the Pokhara valley with the cities of Pokhara and Lekhnath , whose population has already exceeded the 200,000 limit. Otherwise there are only a few smaller cities worth mentioning scattered in the mountain regions (from east to west):
- Ilam
- Dhankuta
- Bhimeshwar
- Gorkha (formerly Prithvinarayan)
- Tansen
- Putalibazar
- Ghorahi (formerly Tribhuvannagar)
- Tulsipur
- Birendran agar
- Dipayal Silgadhi
In addition, the rest of the larger cities in the country are located in the Terai (east to west):
- Mechinagar
- Biratnagar
- Dharan
- Itahari
- Rajbiraj
- Triyuga
- Janakpur
- Birganj
- Hetauda
- Bharatpur
- Ramgram
- Butwal
- Siddharthanagar
- Nepalganj
- Gulariya
- Tikapur
- Dhangadhi
- Bhim Datta (formerly Mahendranagar )
The name changes of some cities in recent times are due to the fact that the local authority received a new name with the incorporation. Prominent examples of this are the better-known town of Gorkha , the commune was officially called Prithivinarayan until 2009, but was then renamed after the core town of Gorkha. The old royal city of Patan near Kathmandu is officially called Lalitpur today. The old names are still in use.
education
- 96,000 students
- 3.47 students per 1000 inhabitants
- Education spending: $ 224,732,300
- Education spending per inhabitant: $ 8
- Illiteracy rate: 35.3% (women: 44.9%, men: 24.4%) as of 2015
The Nepalese government is in the process of restructuring the education system. Access to primary (grades 1 to 8) and secondary school (grades 9 to 12) is to be expanded and vocational qualification measures are to be introduced in the upper grades. It is funded in these measures by an EU cooperation program, from 2008 to 2011 support funds worth 43 million euros flowed.
Healthcare
In 1999, 923 doctors, 5,500 nurses and about 13,000 health workers were employed in Nepal . There were a total of 4124 beds in 83 hospitals. The infant mortality rate has been reduced significantly. In 1950, 34% of children died before their 5th birthday, compared to 3% in 2017. In 2000 the maternal mortality rate was 0.8%. Life expectancy between 2010 and 2015 was 68.9 years (men: 67.4 years, women: 70.5 years). Much progress has been made in increasing life expectancy and improving other health indicators.
Development of life expectancy
| Period | Life expectancy in years |
|---|---|
| 1950-1955 | 34.0 |
| 1960-1965 | 36.2 |
| 1970-1975 | 42.0 |
| 1980-1985 | 48.3 |
| 1990-1995 | 56.4 |
| 2000-2005 | 64.0 |
| 2010-2015 | 68.9 |
| 2015-2020 | 70.8 |
Source: UN
history
Early days
In the early days , the valley in which today's capital Kathmandu is located was a large mountain lake. After this had disappeared due to an earthquake , numerous people immigrated from the surrounding areas and united to form the mixed people of the so-called Newar .
In the seventh century in the Empire of China, the pagoda style developed by the Nepalese from the Kathmandu valley, which also spread to Japan .
According to tradition, Siddhartha Gautama, also known as "Buddha", was born in Nepal. His birthplace is said to be the city of Lumbini around 500 BC. Have been.
kingdom
After Nepal had been under Indian Rajput rule for a long time, the Newar Jayadharma Malla finally succeeded in unifying and liberating the valley in the 14th century . His grandson, Yakasha Malla , was able to expand the territory even further later and thus ensure great prosperity in his kingdom. His four sons, however, divided the country again among themselves and weakened it in all respects. The Principality of Gorkha expanded its area of influence and united around 50 principalities under Prithvi Narayan Shah to form the Kingdom of Gorkha (1768). By advancing south, the Gorkhali, as they called themselves, came under the control of the British East India Company, which was pushing north. It came to the Gurkha War (also Anglo-Nepalese War ) from 1814 to 1816 with the British East India Company . Gorkha remained an independent kingdom despite the defeat. In 1846, Jang Bahadur Rana came to power through a bloody massacre and introduced a new system of government, according to which the office of prime minister was hereditary. The king (from 1911 Prithvi Bir Bikram Shah Dev's son Tribhuvan Bir Bikram Shah Dev ) only nominally retained his power, the respective prime minister was the sole ruler. At the beginning of the 20th century, Gorkha took the name Nepal , which was once only used for the Kathmandu valley.
In 1914, the then Prime Minister Chandra Shamsher made soldiers available to the British for Gurkha units , even before the official declaration of war on the First World War . Also later in the Anglo-Afghan War of 1919 and in World War II , the country provided troops and thus made its own status as an "independent ally" clear. King Tribhuvan was able to restore a constitutional monarchy under the influence of India . Active and passive women's suffrage became law in 1951. King Mahendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev banned all political parties in 1960.
Civil war and end of the monarchy
From 1996 to 2006 the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) was in a civil war against the monarchy and the Hindu caste system.
King Birendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev was in June 2001 at an allegedly by his son, Crown Prince Dipendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev , perpetrated massacres murdered. Birendra's brother Gyanendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev became king. The insurgents were branded terrorists after September 11, 2001 . More people died in the internal political conflict within the next six months than in the previous six years.
Parliament was dissolved on May 22, 2002, and Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba let the mandate of the elected self-governing bodies expire. On October 4, 2002, King Gyanendra dismissed his prime minister for "incompetence". On October 11, 2002, a new interim government was appointed. The major parties NC, CPN-UML and parts of the RPP, however, refused to participate in the new government because there was no democratic legitimation.
The new Prime Minister Lokendra Bahadur Chand ( RPP ) promised to end the confrontation with the Maoists. A compromise was not in sight, however, as the government strictly rejected a change in the political structure.
Only a few media, such as the magazine Himal, reported critically and informatively on both sides. The brutality of the Maoists has often been spoken of; in fact, they used drastic measures against the army and the police . The latter were also not squeamish when it came to cracking down on the Maoists and, on suspicion, took action against civilians who were believed to be sympathizers or supporters of the Maoists, or even made them disappear.
An estimated two-thirds of the dead were caused by the army and police. Only a few Western journalists reported on the Maoists, who in the meantime represented a decisive power factor in the country. At the end of 2002 they ruled 55 of the 75 districts of Nepal.
More than 12,700 people were killed in the guerrilla war . The fighting had increased again in August 2003. From August 18, 2004, the Maoists had even completely cut off the capital from the outside world for a few days or interrupted important overland connections. After the failure of the peace talks and the end of the armistice, several hundred were killed again. However, tourists were able to move around relatively freely and safely - since they are one of the country's most important sources of income, they are treated politely on all sides. According to official information, a tourist was killed indirectly by a bomb explosion.
“Unity in the fight against terrorism” was the government's slogan. Colin Powell visited Nepal in January 2004 and promised help. The Nepalese government was interested in weapons and armaments. On February 1, 2005, King Gyanendra brought some movement back into the political game. He declared a state of emergency and dismissed the entire government. Prime Minister Deuba and other members of the government were placed under house arrest.
Gyanendra accused Deuba of failing as he failed to reach an agreement with the Maoists in view of the next election. Gyanendra promised to restore law and order in the country and to reinstate democracy within three years, but the Maoists and a large part of the population feared that he would not give up his power again anytime soon. Deuba said the king's actions violate the constitution and are anti-democratic. Both the UN and Nepal's most important allies, India, the USA and Great Britain, criticized the king's behavior. Some countries, including Germany and France, briefly withdrew their ambassadors.
From April 7, 2006, a general strike called by the alliance of all seven parties represented in the dissolved parliament and supported by large parts of the people raged across the country.
After more than two weeks of the general strike with daily demonstrations by hundreds of thousands of people across Nepal, the signs increased that the power of the king was declining. The extremely brutal crackdown on the peaceful demonstrators had meanwhile cost at least 13 lives, hundreds injured and thousands imprisoned.
As a result of the major protests and international pressure, especially from India, King Gyanendra announced on April 21, 2006 in a televised address to the nation that he would now put executive power back into the hands of the people. The seven-party alliance was expressly authorized to appoint the next prime minister. The latter rejected the king's offer as too little: it continued to demand the reinstatement of the parliament, which was dissolved in 2002, the convening of a constituent assembly and the restriction of the king's absolutist rule and called for further mass demonstrations.
Under pressure from monarchist circles as well as international pressure - among other things, the USA feared a strengthening of the Maoists, who now controlled almost 80% of Nepal - King Gyanendra finally felt compelled on April 24, 2006 to declare in a televised address the immediate reinstatement of the former parliament . The opposition then declared the general strike over.
On May 18, parliament passed a resolution that was adopted unanimously, making far-reaching changes to the state order: King Gyanendra therefore lost command of the military and only performed representative tasks, but could no longer exert any influence on state affairs. He also lost his immunity from prosecution and had to pay taxes from then on. In addition, Nepal decided on the same day to become a secular state, which means: Hinduism is no longer the state religion .
On May 26, the new government under Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala started peace talks with the Maoist rebels. Several hundred imprisoned rebels have previously been released and the prospect of constitutional reform has been announced. The aim was to end the civil war that had been going on for ten years.
On November 21, 2006, the agreement to end the ten-year civil war was signed by Prime Minister Koirala and Maoist leader Prachanda . On December 28, 2007, the parliament decided to abolish the monarchy and the king lost his function as head of state. Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala held this post on an interim basis.
On December 28, 2007, the transitional parliament voted with more than two thirds of the votes in favor of an amendment to the transitional constitution, which de facto meant the abolition of the monarchy. A majority of 270 of the 329 MPs were in favor of a federal democratic republic as the form of government.
Formal confirmation of the king's disempowerment was given by the constituent assembly at its constituent session on May 28, 2008. The assembly proclaimed the republic with an overwhelming majority. The elections for the constituent assembly had previously resulted in a surprising landslide victory for the Maoists on April 10, 2008, but they missed an absolute majority.
On May 28, 2008, the Republic was proclaimed and Ram Baran Yadav was sworn in as the first President of the Republic on July 23, 2008. In October 2015, Bidhya Devi Bhandari succeeded him in office.
Despite repeated extensions of its two-year term, this first constituent assembly was unable to agree on a new constitution. The elections for a second constituent assembly took place in November 2013 and in 2015 the new constitution was passed. In accordance with the transitional provisions, the constituent assembly assumed the role of regular parliament on September 20, 2015 until new elections. These took place on November 26, 2017 and December 7, 2017.
On April 25, 2015, an earthquake struck 80 kilometers northwest of the capital Kathmandu . It is considered the heaviest in the region for 80 years. Numerous other, sometimes severe, tremors followed over a period of several weeks. In total, more than 8,600 people died.
politics
In Nepal, there is a large wealth gap between the urban and rural populations. More than a third of the approximately 30 million Nepalese are illiterate . 70% of the population are not recognized as equals by the Brahmanically ruled caste system .
The widespread corruption of the police authorities and the state administration means that the population does not trust the existing government and does not expect any help. The legal means, such as the civil law of 1963, which criminalizes all forms of discrimination - especially caste discrimination - do not work in everyday life.
The World Bank and the Asian Development Bank have repeatedly put pressure on the government in Kathmandu to be accountable for spending on development programs to alleviate poverty, but for a long time without success.
It was not until 1987 that King Birendra , under pressure from India, declared himself ready for reforms. The introduction of a new constitution was delayed until November 9, 1990; Only massive pressure from several countries, especially India, which closed its borders, and mass demonstrations by the united opposition parties, consisting of an alliance of the Communist Party of Nepal and the Congress Party, showed success.
The first democratic elections took place on May 12, 1991. The only criticisms of some parties to the new constitution were the possible emergency ordinance by the king, which only had to be confirmed by the House of Representatives after three months, and the retention of the term “Hindu Kingdom”. However, within a very short time the new political elite was even more corrupt in the eyes of the population than the old government. However, this was also related to the higher visibility of corruption through a more open system with a relatively free, committed and critical press that was subject to increased censorship during the Panchayat system.
King Birendra died on June 1, 2001 in a massacre committed by his son, Crown Prince Dipendra (official historiography). At the same time, the son also shot his mother, a few siblings and then himself. Before he succumbed to his injuries three days later, he was crowned his successor. Eventually Birendra's brother Gyanendra became King of Nepal. This, a businessman who is involved in many large companies in Nepal, tripled his royal allowance to the equivalent of 4.5 million euros . In spite of his contradictions, King Birendra had been very popular in the country.
The official statements on the course of events therefore find little faith, as entire royal families in Nepal had already been wiped out.
The governing coalition, formed by the Seven-Party Alliance, an alliance of centrist and left-wing liberal parties, and the Maoists , agreed on December 24, 2007 to abolish the monarchy and to proclaim a republic in spring 2008.
With the vote in parliament on December 28, 2007, the abolition of the monarchy and the transition to a "constitutional democratic Federal Republic" were decided. The Federal Republic was officially proclaimed on May 28, 2008 at the constituent meeting of the Constituent Assembly of Nepal.
The Constituent Assembly (Constituent Assembly) was awarded in 2007 by which came into force interim constitution mandated a new constitution for the newly formed Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal (Sanghiya Loktāntrik Ganatantra Nepal) elaboration and adoption after public discussion. The draft of the new constitution should be announced by the Constituent Assembly on May 28, 2010. However, this deadline could not be kept. Representatives of the three major parties in Nepal, the Maoists, Nepali Congress and the moderate Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist Leninist) (CPN-UML) agreed after tough negotiations that same night to extend the deadline by one year. This was extended twice by a further three months shortly before the deadline and by half a year at the end of November 2011. A new constitution was then expected for the end of May 2012, which again failed and led to Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai, who was elected on August 28, 2011, announcing new elections for November 22, 2012. In November 2012, the Constituent Assembly managed to schedule the new elections between mid-April and mid-May 2013. This schedule was also not adhered to. In the end, the elections were held on November 19, 2013.
On November 26, 2017 (for the north of the country) and on December 7, 2017 (for the south of the country), the first elections for the House of Representatives , the lower house of the federal parliament and the provincial parliaments took place after the new constitution was passed in 2015 instead of. The left alliance CPN-UML, CPN-MC could clearly win the elections for the House of Representatives.
After the elections for the first National Assembly , the upper house of the Federal Parliament, on March 14, 2018, the chairman of the CPN-UML Khadga Prasad Oli was elected Prime Minister as the first Prime Minister according to the 2015 constitution and took office on February 15, 2018.
Parties
25 parties were represented in the Constituent Assembly of Nepal . The strongest group was the United Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) with 229 seats. It split off in 1994 from the KP Nepal (unit center). The party cites Mao Zedong and the Peruvian guerrilla organization " Shining Path " ( Sendero Luminoso ). The second strongest force is the Social Democratic Nepalese Congress Party with 115 seats. It was founded in 1950 and, despite several divisions, was the strongest party in all parliamentary elections until the monarchy was abolished. The third strongest force is the Nepala Kamyunishta Parti (Ekikrit Marksbadi ra Leninbadi) , in German "Communist Party of Nepal (United Marxists / Leninists)", with 108 seats. This emerged in 1991 from a merger of two communist parties. In the 1990s they formed the government together with the Congress Party. The Madhesi People's Rights Forum (MJFN) is a federalist and social democratic party. They received 54 seats in the 2008 election. The तराई-मधेश लोकतान्त्रिक पार्टी (Tarai-Madhesi Democratic Party) received 21 seats.
Political indices
| Name of the index | Index value | Worldwide rank | Interpretation aid | year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fragile States Index | 82.6 out of 120 | 49 of 178 | Stability of the country: big warning 0 = very sustainable / 120 = very alarming |
2020 |
| Democracy index | 5.22 out of 10 | 92 of 167 | Hybrid regime 0 = authoritarian regime / 10 = complete democracy |
2020 |
| Freedom in the World Index | 56 of 100 | - | Freedom status: partially free 0 = not free / 100 = free |
2020 |
| Freedom of the press ranking | 34.62 out of 100 | 106 of 180 | Recognizable problems for the freedom of the press 0 = good situation / 100 = very serious situation |
2021 |
| Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) | 33 out of 100 | 117 of 180 | 0 = very corrupt / 100 = very clean | 2020 |
Foreign policy
Nepal pursues a neutral and balanced diplomacy without a fixed alliance policy. Since the country is a landlocked country, relations with its direct neighbors have priority. Of these, India is by far the most important bilateral partner for Nepal, as the country's most important supply lines and transport routes lead to India or pass through Indian territory. Both countries have a very close relationship in terms of economic and security policy. After the devastating earthquake in 2015, India pledged support (US $ 1 billion) for reconstruction. Relations with India are therefore very close, but also characterized by a certain imbalance. To achieve a better balance, the country is intensifying relations with the People's Republic of China, which is playing an increasing role as a bilateral development aid donor and trading partner. The cross-border trade routes are also increasingly being expanded, with ideas even for a tunnel under the Himalayan mountains that would connect the two countries.
Development cooperation in particular plays a dominant role in relations with the western industrialized countries. In addition, a large proportion of the tourists in the country, who are an important source of foreign exchange, come there.
Nepal is part of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation, whose headquarters are in Kathmandu. Other important multilateral organizations in which the country is a member are the BIMSTEC , the movement of the non-aligned states and the United Nations, of which Nepal has been a member since 1960. Within the framework of the United Nations, the Nepalese armed forces traditionally make larger contingents available for UN peace missions .
Human rights policy
Discrimination and exploitation of minorities, lower castes and outcasts, women and children is still widespread, despite constitutional protection. The violent repression of the Nepalese police against gays and transvestites has recently sparked international protests - including by Amnesty International . In Nepal alone, around 20,000 girls between the ages of eight and 18 are sold every year. They end up in the sex trade, mostly in Indian brothels.
The current regulations, however, prohibit the systematic oppression of women: On September 3, 1981, Nepal ratified the UN Convention on Prohibition of Discrimination against Women ( CEDAW ) of 1979, and according to the 1990 Constitution, men and women are equal. After the 1995 Beijing Women's Conference, the Ministry of Women and Social Welfare was established with the aim of promoting women's participation in national development, and on June 15, 2007, Nepal acceded to the Optional Protocol to the CEDAW .
According to Nepal's new constitution, Nepalese citizenship can only be passed on through the father. One of the main consequences of this is that the children of single Nepalese mothers are stateless . The draft constitution originally provided that only children of two Nepalese parents would receive Nepalese citizenship. The previous transitional constitution, which came into force in 2008, however, stipulated that a child could also obtain citizenship through the mother; however, despite a precedent set by the Supreme Court in 2011, this had hardly been implemented in practice. At that time, children remained stateless if the father did not recognize his children, lost his documents, moved away or was unknown. According to estimates, well over 4 million people in Nepal were stateless at the beginning of 2015, almost a quarter of the adult population.
administration
Since the constitution of 2015, Nepal has consisted of seven provinces, which play the role of states within the federal state. Until then, Nepal was divided into 14 administrative zones, which consisted of 75 districts. The administrative zones were grouped into five development regions.
Within the provinces, the previous district structure largely lives on. The districts are further subdivided into parishes and localities.
In addition to the Gregorian calendar , which is widely used around the world , a separate Nepalese calendar is also used for official purposes .
Economy and Infrastructure
With a GDP per capita of only 733 US dollars (2016), Nepal is one of the poorest countries in the world. Adjusted for purchasing power, GDP per capita is 2,679 int. US dollars (2017). The main industry is agriculture. Furthermore, the country lives heavily from remittances from the Nepalese living abroad, especially in the Gulf States . Such transfers make up an estimated 30% of the gross domestic product.
Problems of the Nepalese economy are the landlocked location, complicated bureaucracy, corruption and high trade deficits due to a lack of raw materials. Nevertheless, the country has grown at rates of over 5% per year in recent years until the 2015 earthquake set the economy back and severely damaged the infrastructure.
In the Global Competitiveness Index , which measures a country's competitiveness, Nepal ranks 88th out of 137 countries (as of 2017-2018). In 2017, the country ranks 125th out of 180 countries in the index for economic freedom .
Key figures
All GDP values are given in US dollars ( purchasing power parity ).
| year | 1980 | 1985 | 1990 | 1995 | 2000 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
GDP (purchasing power parity) |
6.02 billion | 9.86 billion | 14.39 billion | 20.90 billion | 28.75 billion | 38.45 billion | 40.97 billion | 43.49 billion | 47.05 billion | 49.56 billion | 52.58 billion | 55.50 billion | 59.23 billion | 62.67 billion | 67.62 billion | 70.62 billion | 71.82 billion | 78.59 billion |
|
GDP per capita (purchasing power parity) |
404 | 590 | 767 | 977 | 1,211 | 1,500 | 1,579 | 1,659 | 1,777 | 1,853 | 1,946 | 2,031 | 2.142 | 2,239 | 2,387 | 2,464 | 2,477 | 2,679 |
|
GDP growth (real) |
−2.3% | 6.1% | 14.4% | 3.5% | 6.1% | 3.5% | 3.4% | 3.4% | 6.1% | 4.5% | 4.8% | 3.4% | 4.8% | 4.1% | 6.0% | 3.3% | 0.4% | 7.5% |
| Inflation (in percent) |
9.8% | 4.1% | 8.9% | 7.7% | 3.4% | 4.5% | 8.0% | 6.2% | 6.7% | 12.6% | 9.6% | 9.6% | 8.3% | 9.9% | 9.0% | 7.2% | 9.9% | 4.5% |
| Public debt (as a percentage of GDP) |
... | ... | ... | ... | 58% | 51% | 49% | 43% | 42% | 39% | 34% | 32% | 34% | 32% | 28% | 25% | 27% | 27% |
Mining
Mining is hardly widespread in Nepal, because the unfavorable relief of Nepal and the poorly developed infrastructure mean that the existing mineral resources cannot be mined well. Raw materials such as mica , limestone as well as brown and hard coal are mined . There are also deposits of copper , iron ore , ocher , quartz , kyanite , mercury , shale and cobalt . There are also suspected deposits of gold , lead and other metals in the poorly accessible regions of the Himalayas.
Sectors
68% of the employed Nepalese population work in agriculture , i.e. in the so-called primary sector . Such a high value is typical for a developing country , since the industrial and service sectors are still poorly developed and also require fundamentals that economically backward countries often do not offer. The gross national income is 730 dollars per person (as of 2015) a year.
Despite the high employment of the population in agriculture, their share of the gross national product is only 38%, as not very much is earned in this branch. For example, rice is grown , which occupies more than 55% of the agricultural area, as well as potatoes, maize and various types of grain. 80% of Nepal's export goods are agricultural products.
However, the area that can be used for agriculture is dwindling year after year due to various external influences such as the monsoon and the simultaneous clear-cutting of the forests, which together cause severe erosion. However, production is not yet at risk, as there are still large unused or not fully used areas in the Terai.
After all, 17% of the Nepalese are employed in industry and produce 22% of the total income there. The industrial conditions in Nepal are extremely bad, especially due to the poor infrastructure and the high risk of natural disasters; in addition, policy reforms to support investors are only just beginning. These reforms include, for example, lowering taxes for industrial companies.
Only 3% of the population work in the service sector , but earn 37% of the gross domestic product there. The reasons for the few jobs in this area are the poorly educated tertiary sector and the limited amount of foreign exchange .
With 50 million euros, tourism generates around 30% of the total foreign currency . Every year around 300,000 people travel to Nepal. Many Sherpas earn a good salary by guiding tourists in the mountains. The second largest foreign exchange earner is the export of Tibetan carpets with 25 million euros, which is funded by the UN and Swiss Aid . A large part also comes from development aid from other countries.
Almost 40% of the more than 28 million Nepalese live below the poverty line and the average monthly income is 18 euros. The growth of the gross national product of 2.6% per year is only slightly below the very high population growth, the inflation rate is 11%. The population density varies between 25 inhabitants per square kilometer in the high mountains and 1500 inhabitants per square kilometer in Kathmandu. Only 3 percent of the population were unemployed in 2017. However, most jobs are in the informal sector and the underemployment rate is very high.
The General Federation of Nepalese Trade Unions has existed since 1989 .
Infrastructure
air traffic
The country's only international airport is Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu. There are over 40 regional airfields. This also includes the so-called STOL airfields (short take off and landing) with their short runways.
railroad
For a long time the only railway line in Nepal from the Indian-Nepalese border at Jaynagar / Khajuri to Bijalpura was operated by the Nepal Railways Corporation in 762 mm narrow gauge from 1937 to 2014 and was around 59 kilometers long. In 2014, Nepal and India decided to rebuild the line to Janakpur as a branch line of Indian Railways in 1676 mm gauge and to extend it in the long term to Bardibas. Between 2010 and 2014, Nepal initiated planning for the construction of a new east-west connection, the Mechi-Mahakali Railway . The first construction phases are already in the construction phase. The Nepal Government Railway operated from Amlekhganj to Raxaul in India from 1927 to 1965 . In the early summer of 2019, China granted the Nepalese government a loan of US $ 18 million for plans to connect the country to the Chinese rail network via Tibet.
road
Due to the structure of the landscape, Nepal has a poorly developed road network. The entire country has only around 10,000 km of paved and around 7,100 km of unpaved roads (as of 2007). The most important east-west connection is also part of Asian Highway 2 ; the only road connection to China is the Araniko Highway , which runs from Kathmandu to the Sino-Nepal Friendship Bridge . Left-hand traffic applies in Nepal .
Footpath
The most important means of transportation are your own feet. A huge network of paths runs through the country. Rivers and gorges are crossed on suspension bridges. As part of a program sponsored by Switzerland, a total of over 5000 wire rope suspension bridges were built. The longest is the 1,453 m long Dodhara Chandani Bridge .
Even today, goods are still mainly transported by porters who climb high passes on narrow mule tracks.
State budget
The state budget included expenditures in 2016 of the equivalent of 5.45 billion in the fiscal year US dollars , which were income equivalent to 4.84 billion US dollar against. This results in a budget deficit of 2.8% of GDP .
The national debt was 27.2% of GDP in 2016.
In 2006 the share of government expenditure (as a percentage of GDP) was in the following areas:
music
Music and dance are widespread almost everywhere and are often performed at spontaneous evening meetings. Children learn the entertainment songs by imitation and practice adult music from a young age. At festivals, religious and ceremonial music is performed by professional ensembles in a formal setting. Nevertheless, there is only a rudimentary nationwide musical culture. Each of the numerous ethnic groups has its own musical forms that are related to specific social occasions. In addition, playing on a large number of musical instruments is reserved for special musician sets that are used for other sets at religious ceremonies (to be distinguished according to Hindu, Buddhist and nature-religious practices), seasonal festivals (e.g. at the time of rice planting) and transitional celebrations (such as weddings) . In addition, the topographical isolation of the mountain regions results in an extremely wide range of traditional musical forms. It was only through the broadcasts of the state radio, recorded in 1951 with its nationalist aspirations, the first recordings in the 1960s and the distribution of music on cassettes from 1980, that music began to change in the rural regions. A rough orientation follows the three major ethnic groups: the Indo-Nepalese (native Nepali speakers), who make up the largest population group, the Newar as the historical inhabitants of the Kathmandu valley and the Tibeto-Nepalese (such as Sherpas and Gurung ). The music of a number of smaller ethnic groups and peoples has not yet been researched or has been researched little.
Court music
The oldest stone inscription on music from the beginning of the 7th century, which was found in the Kathmandu valley, shows that there was an ensemble with a snail horn and other ritual instruments, possibly with drums. The immigration of Hindu and Buddhist refugees from northern India in the 12th and 13th centuries as a result of the Muslim conquests of the Ghurids up to the establishment of the Sultanate of Delhi had a significant influence on Nepalese culture . Under the kings of the Malla dynasty, who ruled from this time until the 18th century, the Kathmandu valley experienced a cultural boom, which included poetry, dance and courtly music. Written sources from the 17th and 18th centuries show that Indian music theory ( Sanskrit sangitashastra ) was known at the Malla rulers . One of the earliest palm leaf manuscripts of Natyashastra (work on ancient Indian music theory that was written around the turn of the century) was preserved in Kathmandu, and the music theory Sangitaratnakara , written in the 13th century, was also known in the Kathmandu valley .
Under King Mahindrasimha Malla (r. 1717-1722), Muslim musicians came from India and introduced North Indian classical music , which subsequently served as entertainment at court, especially during the Rana dynasty, which ruled from 1846 to 1951. Bir Shumsher Jang Bahadur Rana, who ruled from 1885 to 1901, promoted classical North Indian music most strongly by inviting numerous musicians from the well-known North Indian gharanas (musical traditions). After 1951 state and other funding for Indian classical music ceased, which today only offers a few professional musicians a livelihood.
Newar
The music of the Newar, which is particularly influenced by Indian influences, is extremely complex, as special musicians practice their own musical forms, which are assigned to the many ritual occasions. The carya (Newari caca ) is a tradition of tantric-Buddhist ritual chant that goes back to pre-Islamic times and is practiced by the Buddhist priests of the Newar . This group singing, which is only practiced in the shrines ( agamche ) accessible to members, is musically connected to the time-honored Dhrupad style of Indian classical music and is said to evoke magical powers.
In the Buddhist procession month gunla (in August according to the Nepalese lunar calendar Nepal Sambat ) Newar men go to the Buddhist places of worship every day, while they are accompanied by the devotional music gunla bajan ( gulabaja ). Depending on the type of ensemble, members of the tailoring class play European trumpets and clarinets or the cone oboes mvali and the recorders baeca . In the latter case, men from the lower Manandhar oil presser caste belong to the ensemble and play nine different drums, cymbals and trumpets. In Buddhist death rituals, the buffalo horn neku is supposed to establish contact with the deceased and enable them to be reborn in a favorable way . The tailors perform with their wind instruments and in colorful costumes based on the models of Indian wedding bands.
On important religious holidays, the carya group singing is accompanied by an ensemble of drums (including the double-cone drum pashchima ), cymbals and five pairs of natural trumpets ( paytah , from Sanskrit pancatala ). Similar ensembles accompany ritual dance theater performances with mask dancers such as Mahakali pyakhan , Navadurga pyakhan in Bhaktapur, Devi pyakhan and Kha pyakhan (a version of the Mahabharata ).
The peasants of the Newar cultivate the devotional group singing dapha , which they usually accompany with the barrel drum lalakhin and in an ensemble called navabaja ("nine musical instruments") with nine different drums. Dapha is an emphatic form of musical veneration of the music god Nasahdyah and other Hindu gods, which is related to the north Indian marai kirtan . The tradition handed down from the courtly culture of the Malla kings is mainly maintained in Bhaktapur.
Nepali speaking musician box
The Damai are one of two socially inferior musicians who belong to the “ untouchables ”, who live in the middle altitudes mainly in central Nepal and speak Nepali . They are also tailors, but especially in demand as musicians who perform at religious festivals and private family celebrations such as weddings. The ensemble used for this is called panche baja ("five musical instruments") and essentially consists of the kettle drum damaha , from which the Damai get their name, the small kettle drum tyamko , the tubular drum dholaki ( corresponding to the Indian dholak and dholki ), the semicircular curved one Natural trumpet narsinga , the bowling oboe sahanai (name related to the Indian shehnai ) and the hand cymbals jhyali . Other wind instruments, including the karnal long trumpet, can reinforce the ensemble. This type of ensemble, which is also used in ceremonial music in India, was originally a military orchestra around the kettle drum pair naqqara and came to South Asia from the Arab-Persian region with the Islamic conquests in the Middle Ages. The large nagara , derived from the name of the Persian kettle drum pair and used individually or in pairs, are only allowed to beat Damai musicians at Hindu temple festivals.
The other “untouchable” music caste are the gaine, who wander through central and western Nepal as ballad singers and beggars. In this capacity, they have been documented in writing since the end of the 17th century. They are also called Gandharva after the heavenly musicians . They sing heroic songs ( karkha ), praise kings and gods and entertain with songs about everyday occurrences. They accompany each other on the four-stringed string sarangi , which is called just like the North Indian sarangi , but whose shape corresponds more to the sarinda . The wandering gaine musicians, among whom there are also some women, are probably originally from India. In folk songs ( lok git ), the double-headed cylinder drum madal (name related to the maddale ) provides the rhythm. The old gaine plucked arbajo is rarely heard.
Sino-Tibetan speaking musicians
The Gurung , who live in the mountains of central Nepal, distinguish in their traditional music the more numerous group of happy songs ( sabahim ) from the sad songs (music for the dead, bibhim ). The choir singing by men and young people is accompanied by the drum madal . For the wedding, the Gurung invite a panche baja ensemble of the Damai. The older genres of Gurung music include the dance styles ghantu and sorathi , which have a shamanic core. Girls traditionally dance the ritual dance ghantu ( ghamtu ) at a religious annual festival for the joy of the gods, during which they are possessed by the invoked spirits and some spectators get into a state of trance because they feel the presence of the gods. A male choir sings - accompanied by madal - reciting the 100-scene mythical story of King Parashuram and his wife Ambarawati. Versions of the ghantu dance that have been modified for tourism are now performed at cultural events. The dance sorathi also deals with an old legend of the Gurung and is accompanied by the tubular drum madal . It has developed from an original ritual to a folk dance known throughout Nepal. This fits in with the state's efforts to bring the cultural traditions of the Nepalese ethnic groups into line with Hinduism.
In the event of a death, the Gurung men dance the magical serga dance in front of the corpse cremation in the house of the deceased . For this purpose, cylinder drums and the pair of cymbals jhyali are beaten. Shamans recite a sacred text to keep the spirits away from the soul of the dead. In another Tibetan Buddhist ritual to ensure a happy return for the soul, a lama uses Tibetan instruments: the pair cymbal rol-mo , the stemmed hand bell drilbu , the rattling drum tindar ( damaru ) and the bone trumpet kangling .
The rituals of Nepalese healers and shamans (Nepali jhankri ) take place over several months at different shrines, which are preferably dedicated to Mahadeva (epithet of the god Shiva ). They are usually accompanied by a frame drum . In the east and center of the country, the double- skin drumstick dhyangro is used for this. A smaller single-headed frame drum (regional close, rnga, re or ring ), which is beaten by magical healers ( pucu ), for example , is much rarer .
Pop music and jazz
Folk songs ( lok git ) recorded for the first time in the 1950s were initially popularized by singers such as Dharmaraj Thapa (1924–2014) and since the 1960s by Kumar Basnet (* 1943), the " Elvis Presley of Nepal". Jhalak Man Gandarbha (1922-2003) sang folk songs from his gaine caste.
Nepalese folk songs combined with elements from classical Indian ragas and western harmonies form a group of “modern songs” ( adhunik git ), which were also introduced in the 1950s. The first singers were Nati Kaji (1925-2003), Shiva Shankar (1932-2004) and Ambar Gurung (1937-2016). The repetitive rhythmic patterns played by tabla or madal are in the style of Indian “light classical” . The melody instruments of the "modern songs" include the Nepalese bamboo flute and sarangi , from India sitar , santur and harmonium, and some Western instruments including keyboards . Another pop music singer is Purna Nepali (* 1954). 1974 AD is a rock band founded in Kathmandu in 1994 and the group Kutumba plays a kind of world music with Nepalese instruments.
Pushkar Bahadur, a Nepalese trumpeter, emigrated to Calcutta in the early 1940s , where he played Western jazz in a European band under the name George Banks. His son Dambar Bahardur became one of the founders of Indian jazz as Louis Banks . In the 1960s they both played jazz as professional musicians in Kathmandu before Louis Banks returned to Calcutta in 1971 and formed his own band there.
The Jazzmandu jazz festival has been taking place in Kathmandu every year since 2002. International groups want to combine the genre, which is little known in Nepal, with Nepalese folk music traditions.
Sports
Football is considered the most popular sport in Nepal, followed by cricket . Volleyball is Nepal's official national sport.
Nepalese cricket has seen strong growth in recent years - mainly thanks to the geographic proximity and influence of the South Asian cricket nations - and enjoys international recognition. On June 28, 2014, the International Cricket Council awarded T20I status to the Nepalese national cricket team and ODI status on March 15, 2018 . However, Nepal has not yet managed to qualify for a Cricket World Cup . In contrast to many other smaller cricket-playing countries, where the national teams consist largely of foreign cricketers, Nepal's national team mainly features local players who have learned to play cricket at home.
Nepal's national soccer team has not yet managed to qualify for a soccer world championship . In 2015 Nepal won its first international tournament with the SAFF U-18 Championship and in 2017 they managed to defend their title. In 2016, Nepal also won the Bangabandhu Cup.
See also
literature
- Dieter Höss: Nepal: People and Landscapes on the Great Himalaya Trail. Tyrolia, Innsbruck 2017, ISBN 978-3-7022-3625-0 .
- Christian Kracht , Eckhart Nickel : Instructions for use for Kathmandu and Nepal. (2009) 4th edition, Piper, Munich 2018, ISBN 978-3492276153 .
- Wolf Donner : Nepalese: people, cultures and the state between monsoon forest and mountain desert . Edition Kathmandu, Bergisch Gladbach 2008, ISBN 978-3-939834-01-4 .
- Bernhard Kölver (Ed.): Aspects of Nepalese Traditions. ( Proceedings of a seminar held under the auspices of Tribhuvan University Research Division and the German Research Council March 1990 ) Franz Steiner, Stuttgart 1992
- Johannes Winter, Matthias Becker: Tourism and internal conflicts in Nepal: Political ecology as a conceptual basis for evaluation . In: H. Faust, T. Reeh, K. Gee (eds.): Leisure and Tourism: Conceptual and regional studies from a cultural-geographic perspective (= ZELTForum - Göttinger Schriften zu Landschaftsinterpretation und Tourismus . Volume 2 ). Duehrkohp & Radicke, Göttingen 2004, ISBN 3-9809276-1-X , p. 161-182 .
- Jürgen C. Aschoff: Tibet, Nepal and the cultural area of the Himalaya . With Ladakh, Sikkim and Bhutan. Annotated bibliography of German-language books from 1627 to 1990 (articles up to 1900). Garuda, Dietikon / Switzerland 1992, ISBN 3-906139-07-7 ( online ( memento of November 2, 2005 in the Internet Archive )).
- Thomas Benedikter: War in the Himalayas: Background to the Maoist uprising in Nepal. A political study of the country . Lit, Münster 2003, ISBN 3-8258-6895-8 .
- Dor Bahadur Bista: Fatalism and Development: Nepal's Struggle for Modernization . Patna 1991.
- Kanak Mani Dixit, Shastri Ramachandaran (Ed.): State of Nepal . Kathmandu 2002.
Web links
- Link catalog on the topic of Nepal at curlie.org (formerly DMOZ )
- Information from the German Foreign Office
- Database of indexed literature on the social, political and economic situation in Nepal
- NepalNews.com - Nepalese news site in English
- Asian Human Rights Commission - Human Rights in Nepal
- University of Cambridge: Digital Nepal , 2001 census data, maps, ethnographic materials (including digitized journals), digitized rare books and manuscripts
- Nepal Research. Website on Nepal and Himalayan Studies. nepalresearch.org
- Nepal at suedasien.info
- Nepal journals online
- Languages of Nepal in Ethnology
- Languages Nepal's World Atlas of Language Structures Online
- Glacial Lakes and Glacial Lake Outburst Floods in Nepal. International Center for Integrated Mountain Development, Kathmandu, March 2011
Individual evidence
- ↑ Prez, VP to be addressed as 'His Excellency'. Kantipur, July 23, 2008, accessed July 25, 2008 .
- ↑ a b Correspondents' report : Nepal releases new political map showing Lipulekh and Kalapani as part of its territory. In: Hindustan Times . May 20, 2020, accessed May 21, 2020.
- ↑ population, total. In: World Economic Outlook Database. World Bank , 2020, accessed February 21, 2021 .
- ↑ Population growth (annual%). In: World Economic Outlook Database. World Bank , 2020, accessed February 21, 2021 .
- ^ World Economic Outlook Database April 2021. In: World Economic Outlook Database. International Monetary Fund , 2021, accessed May 9, 2021 .
- ↑ Table: Human Development Index and its components . In: United Nations Development Program (ed.): Human Development Report 2020 . United Nations Development Program, New York 2020, ISBN 978-92-1126442-5 , pp. 345 (English, undp.org [PDF]).
- ↑ http://www.auswaertiges-amt.de/DE/Laenderinformationen/00-SiHi/NepalSicherheit.html
- ↑ tagesschau.de: Human traffickers abuse poverty in Nepal. Retrieved June 5, 2017 .
- ^ Richard Salisbury, Elizabeth Hawley: The Himalaya by the numbers : a statistical analysis of mountaineering in the Nepal Himalaya. Kathmandu: Vajra, 2011 ISBN 978-9937-506-64-9 Summary (PDF; 710 kB)
- ↑ Nepal Human Development Report 2009, p. 34 (PDF; 2.2 MB)
- ^ LP Dhakal: Die-back of Sissoo. In: fao.org. Retrieved February 19, 2015 .
- ↑ Ethnologue-Report Nepal ( Memento from June 6, 2006 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Diwasa, T., Bandhu, CM, and Nepal, B. (2007). The Intangible Cultural Heritage of Nepal: Future Directions. Number 14 in UNESCO Kathmandu Series of Monographs and Working Papers. UNESCO, Kathmandu. (PDF; 970 kB)
- ^ The Constitution of Nepal, 1962.
- ↑ a b c d e World Population Prospects - Population Division - United Nations. Retrieved December 18, 2017 .
- ^ BBC report
- ↑ Nepal in Figures, English 2014. Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), Government of Nepal. (Table: Population by Religion, 2011 )
- ^ State of neglect. The Kathmandu Post, December 23, 2013
- ↑ Most Baha'i Nations (2005). Association of Religion Data Archives
- ↑ Mihály Hoppál : The Book of Shamans. Europe and Asia. Econ Ullstein List, Munich 2002, ISBN 3-550-07557-X . Pp. 86f, 421.
- ^ The World Factbook - Central Intelligence Agency. Retrieved July 14, 2017 .
- ↑ European External Action Service : Project overview of EEAS projects in Nepal , accessed on February 28, 2013
- ↑ Answer of the Commission to a parliamentary question by the Austrian MEP Hans-Peter Martin , accessed on February 28, 2013
- ^ Nepal Ministry of Finance: Economy Survey 1999 . Kathmandu 1999, here from nepalmed.de, data on health care , accessed on Aug. 30, 2009
- ↑ Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, Health Reform Nepal , accessed on Aug. 30, 2009
- ↑ Wayback Machine. (PDF) December 5, 2014, accessed on July 14, 2017 .
- ^ Mart Martin: The Almanac of Women and Minorities in World Politics. Westview Press Boulder, Colorado, 2000, p. 272.
- ^ Report of the Rheinischer Merkur (no longer available) ( Memento of August 13, 2004 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Ed Douglas. "Inside Nepal's Revolution ... .. (just to check .. !!!)". National Geographic Magazine, p. 54, November 2005. Douglas lists the following figures: "Nepalis killed by Maoists from 1996 to 2005: 4,500. Nepalis killed by government in same period: 8,200."
- ↑ Report at ZEIT online
- ↑ Report at suedasien.info (no longer available)
- ^ Report of the Peace Research Working Group at the University of Kassel ( Memento from February 5, 2004 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Report at eKantipur.com
- ^ Dpa Deutsche Presse-Agentur GmbH: Monarchy abolished in Nepal , from May 28, 2008
- ↑ a b NEPAL Pratinidhi Sabha (House of Representatives), LAST ELECTIONS. INTER-PARLIAMENTARY UNION, accessed September 16, 2018 .
- ↑ Hundreds of dead after an earthquake in the Himalayas . In: The time . Retrieved April 26, 2015.
- ↑ Earthquake in Nepal: Police report more than a thousand dead . In: Spiegel Online . Retrieved April 26, 2015.
- ↑ Number of victims rises to a record high - Nepal wants aid worth billions. In: Focus Online . May 18, 2015, accessed May 20, 2015 .
- ^ Message from AFP Nepal wants to abolish monarchy - December 24 , 2007 ( Memento from June 9, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Bhattarai, Krishna P. (2008): Modern World Nations: Nepal. Chelsea House Publishers, New York. p. 74
- ↑ House amends interim constitution; Nepal is now a federal democratic republic. (No longer available online.) In: Nepal News. Archived from the original on October 14, 2008 ; accessed on February 19, 2015 .
- ↑ Nepalese monarchy to be abolished. In: news.bbc.co.uk. December 24, 2007, accessed February 19, 2015 .
- ^ Constituent Assembly of Nepal. (No longer available online.) In: can.gov.np. February 10, 2015, archived from the original on January 21, 2014 ; Retrieved February 19, 2015 .
- ↑ Nepal constitution drafting extended as premier promises to quit. Earth Times, May 29, 2010
- ↑ Menaka Guruswamy: Making of the Constitution in Nepal. In: thehindu.com. June 22, 2010, accessed February 19, 2015 .
- ↑ Kiran Chapagain: Nepal Avoids Constitutional Crisis , NYTimes.com, May 29, 2011, accessed August 26, 2011
- ↑ irinnews.org: IRIN Asia | NEPAL: Timeline of the constitution dilemma , August 30, 2011, accessed September 2, 2011
- ↑ Anil Giri: Nepal's Constitution Assembly gets another six-month extension , allheadlinenews.com, November 29, 2011, accessed November 29, 2011
- ^ Bhattarai elected as Nepal's PM. In: bbc.co.uk. August 28, 2011, accessed February 19, 2015 .
- ↑ BBC News - Nepal calls elections as constitution deadline passes , bbc.co.uk, May 28, 2012, accessed July 17, 2012
- ↑ Nepal calls April-May Election to end deadlock . ( Memento of November 21, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Pakistan Nation, November 21, 2012, accessed December 8, 2012
- ↑ a b KP Sharma Oli To Be Sworn In As Nepal Prime Minister Today. In: Outlook India. February 15, 2018, accessed September 16, 2018 .
- ^ Fragile States Index: Global Data. Fund for Peace , 2020, accessed February 21, 2021 .
- ^ The Economist Intelligence Unit's Democracy Index. The Economist Intelligence Unit, accessed February 21, 2021 .
- ^ Countries and Territories. Freedom House , 2020, accessed February 21, 2021 .
- ↑ 2021 World Press Freedom Index. Reporters Without Borders , 2021, accessed May 9, 2021 .
- ^ Transparency International (Ed.): Corruption Perceptions Index . Transparency International, Berlin 2021, ISBN 978-3-96076-157-0 (English, transparencycdn.org [PDF]).
- ↑ AFP: China-Nepal railway with tunnel under Mount Everest 'being considered' . April 9, 2015, ISSN 0307-1235 ( online [accessed May 20, 2018]).
- ↑ Foreign Office: Foreign Office - Foreign Policy . In: Foreign Office DE . ( Online [accessed May 20, 2018]).
- ^ Children in Indian brothels ( Memento from February 8, 2007 in the Internet Archive ), Schweizer Radio DRS , February 6, 2007
- ^ War in the Himalayas - Background to the Maoist uprising in Nepal. A political geography, p. 198
- ^ [Ministry of Women and Social Welfare (MWSW) - Nepal], International Labor Organization WOMEN IN NEPAL - Asian Development Bank Programs Department West Division - December 1, 1999 In: oit.org
- ↑ Optional Protocol of October 6, 1999 to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. In: tu-dresden.de. Retrieved February 19, 2015 .
- ↑ Nepal's new constitution comes into force. Born of necessity. (No longer available online.) Tagesschau.de, September 20, 2015, archived from the original on September 22, 2015 ; accessed on September 20, 2015 .
- ^ Controversy over the constitution in Nepal. No father - no passport. (No longer available online.) Tagesschau.de, January 21, 2015, archived from the original on January 22, 2015 ; accessed on September 20, 2015 .
- ↑ Thomas Latschan (with dpa): Millions of Nepalese do not get a passport. January 29, 2015, accessed September 20, 2015 .
- ^ Constitution of Nepal, Article 56 (3) . 2015 ( Online [PDF] Unofficial English Translation).
- ^ Constitution of Nepal, Article 56 (4) and . 2015 ( Online [PDF] Unofficial English Translation).
- ↑ [1]
- ↑ At a Glance: Global Competitiveness Index 2017–2018 Rankings . In: Global Competitiveness Index 2017-2018 . ( Online [accessed December 6, 2017]).
- ↑ [2]
- ^ Report for Selected Countries and Subjects. Retrieved August 30, 2018 (American English).
- ^ Chronicles of Nepal , accessed on February 28, 2017
- ↑ a b erwaertiges-amt.de: Nepal - Wirtschaft , October 2011, accessed on December 6, 2011
- ↑ Fischer Weltalmanach Editor: Fischer Weltalmanach 2017 . Fischer Verlag, 2016, ISBN 978-3-596-72017-0 , pp. 322 .
- ^ The World Factbook - Central Intelligence Agency. Retrieved August 6, 2018 .
- ^ ZDF: Nepal gets its first modern train route. December 15, 2018, accessed March 10, 2019 .
- ↑ RAILWAY DEVELOPMENT IN NEPAL. (PDF) ACM Nepal, June 22, 2017, accessed March 10, 2019 .
- ↑ Wolfgang Pomrehn: China: With the train through the Himalaya. In: Telepolis on heise online . June 14, 2019, accessed June 16, 2019 .
- ^ "World Factbook" publication of the Central Intelligence Agency . Retrieved July 6, 2013.
- ^ Helvetas - Nepal. In: helvetas.org. Retrieved February 19, 2015 .
- ↑ a b c The World Factbook
- ^ Report for Selected Countries and Subjects. Retrieved July 14, 2017 (American English).
- ↑ The Fischer World Almanac 2010: Figures Data Facts, Fischer, Frankfurt, September 8, 2009, ISBN 978-3-596-72910-4
- ↑ Pirkko Moisala: Nepal. In: Alison Arnold (Ed.): Garland Encyclopedia of World Music. Volume 5: South Asia: The Indian Subcontinent. Routledge, London 1999, p. 702
- ^ Gert-Matthias Wegner: Nepal. I. Music in the Kathmandu Valley. 4. Popular music. In: Grove Music Online, 2001
- ^ Carol Tingey: Music for the Royal Dasai . In: European Bulletin of Himalayan Research, No. 12-13, 1997, pp. 81-120, here p. 104
- ↑ Richard Widdess: text, Orality, and Performance in Newar Devotional Music. In: Francesca Orsini, Katherine Butler Schofield (Eds.): Tellings and Texts. Literature and Performance in North India. Open Book Publishers, 2015, pp. 231–245, here p. 234
- ^ Gert-Matthias Wegner: Nepal. II. On music in general. In: MGG Online November 2016 ( Music in the past and present , 1997)
- ↑ See Richard Widdess: Caryā and Cacā: Change and Continuity in Newar Buddhist Ritual Song. In: Asian Music , Volume 35, No. 2 Spring – Summer 2004, pp. 7–41
- ^ Gert-Matthias Wegner: Nepal. III. Local musical traditions. 1. Newar. In: MGG Online, November 2016 (1997)
- ↑ Pirkko Moisala: “Nobody should be forced to make a living by begging”: Social exclusion and cultural rights of Gāine / Gandharva musicians of Nepal. In: Yearbook for Traditional Music , Volume 45, 2013, pp. 13–27, here p. 15
- ^ Felix Hoerburger : Folk Music in the Caste System of Nepal . In: Yearbook of the International Folk Music Council, Volume 2, 1970, pp. 142–147, here p. 142
- ^ Gert-Matthias Wegner: Nepal. III. Local musical traditions. 3. Nepalese musician box. In: MGG Online, November 2016
- ↑ Sampada Malla: Dance of the Spirits: Amazing Ghantu. ECS Nepal
- ↑ Surendra Bikram (Subi) Shah: Sorathi Dance. In: Dances of Nepal. A compilation of research journal. Nepal Music Center Trust, Kathmandu 2015
- ^ Gert-Matthias Wegner: Nepal. III. Local musical traditions. 3. Gurung. In: MGG Online, November 2016
- ↑ Mireille Helffer: The Drums of Nepalese Medium . In: European Bulletin of Himalayan Research, 1997, pp. 176-195, here pp. 177f, 193
- ↑ Alisha Sijapati: Here are five classic Nepali songs that refuse to die. The Kathmandu Post, March 15, 2019
- ^ Gert-Matthias Wegner: Nepal, Kingdom of. I. Music in the Kathmandu Valley. 4. Popular music. In: Grove Music Online, 2001
- ^ Warren R. Pinckney, Jr .: Jazz in India: Perspectives on Historical Development and Musical Acculturation . In: Asian Music, Fall 1989 - Winter 1990, Volume 21, No. 1, pp. 35–77, here p. 40
- ↑ Sewa Battarai: Kathmandu, and all that jazz ... Nepali Times, October 26, 2018
- ^ Football at the heart of the Himalayas. FIFA , March 5, 2009, archived from the original on March 9, 2019 ; accessed on July 9, 2019 .
- ↑ It's official: Volleyball is the national sport of Nepal. OnlineKhabar, May 23, 2017, archived from the original on July 1, 2017 ; accessed on May 23, 2017 (English).
- ↑ Nepal, Netherlands get T20 international status. Cricinfo, June 28, 2014, accessed February 20, 2021 .
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- ↑ Nepal looks to make case as neutral venue. Cricinfo, July 15, 2014, accessed February 20, 2021 .
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