Kingdom of Nepal
NEPAL. Kingdom of Nepal
A state in South Asia, in the Himalayas. Area - 147,181 thousand km². Capital - Kathmandu (over 700 thousand), major cities: Biratnagar (145 thousand), Lalitpur (130 thousand), Pokhara (110 thousand). Administratively, it is divided into 14 zones consisting of 75 districts. Population - over 24 million (2004); of which Nepalis - 50.3%, Maithili - 11.8%, Bhojpuri - 7.5%, Tharu - 5.4%, Tamang - 4.9%, Newars - 3.7%, and others. Average population density - 157 people per km², growth rate - 2.24% per year. The official language is Nepali. The state religion is Hinduism, practiced by 86.5% of the population. There are also followers of Buddhism (7.8%), Islam (3.5%), and local cults.
The currency unit is the Nepalese rupee = 100 paisa.
It has diplomatic relations with the Russian Federation (established with the USSR on July 20, 1956).
National holiday - July 1 - Birthday of the reigning king (1947).
According to the current constitution of 1990, Nepal is a constitutional monarchy. The head of state is King Gyanendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev (since 2001), who is also the supreme commander. Legislative power belongs to the monarch and a bicameral parliament, consisting of the House of Representatives (lower house, 205 deputies elected by universal direct and secret ballot for a term of 5 years) and the National Assembly (upper house, consisting of 60 members, of which 10 are appointed by the king, 35 are elected by the lower house, and the remaining 15 are elected by an electoral college from 5 economic zones). The term of office of the upper house is 6 years, the National Assembly is to be renewed every 2 years, and its dissolution is not permitted. In May 2002, the king prematurely dissolved the House of Representatives (elected in May 1999) and suspended the activities of the National Assembly.
On February 1, 2005, having displaced another non-parliamentary government and declared a state of emergency in the country, the monarch took full legislative and executive power into his own hands.
Main political parties: Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist) - CPN (UML) - founded in 1991, Nepali Congress (NC) - established in 1947, banned from 1960 to 1990, National Democratic Party (NDP) - created in 1990, People's Choice Party (PCP), Communist Party of Nepal (CPN) - founded by followers of Mao Zedong's ideas.
Trade unions do not have a clearly defined structure and operate separately.
The first state formations on the territory of modern Nepal appeared in the 12th century BC. As a unified state, Nepal emerged as a result of the unification of fragmented feudal principalities in 1769 under the rule of Prithvi Narayan Shah - the founder of the currently ruling royal dynasty. According to the unequal Sugauli Treaty, concluded after the Anglo-Nepalese War of 1814-16, Nepal was forced to accept a British resident and renounce independent foreign relations. In 1846, with the support of the British, their appointee Jung Bahadur Rana carried out a coup. All power passed into the hands of the Rana clan. The kingdom fell into de facto dependence on Great Britain. In 1951, as a result of widespread popular uprisings, the usurpers were overthrown, and the king's power was restored. In 1959, the first parliamentary elections were held, and a constitution was adopted.
However, in 1960, the king dissolved parliament and then banned the activities of all political parties. In 1962, a constitution was adopted that introduced a non-party Panchayat system (councils), which lasted until the late 1980s. In 1990, under pressure from mass protests, a new constitution was adopted, providing for the establishment of parliamentary democracy on a multi-party basis.
The internal political situation in the country has been decisively influenced by the so-called people's war waged by the Communist Party of Nepal (CPN) underground since 1996, aimed at overthrowing the monarchy and establishing a republican system. This leftist extremist organization, exploiting the acute socio-economic problems existing in the kingdom, launched a broad insurgency across significant parts of the country's territory, actively using guerrilla warfare methods and terror against state institutions and the population. To suppress the insurgency, the authorities were forced to use not only police forces but also the army. Alongside this, the authorities attempted to conduct political dialogue with the extremists, but their efforts did not yield positive results. A factor negatively affecting the situation in the country was also the ongoing acute struggle for power between the main legally operating political parties and their inability to interact constructively and cohesively with the king on issues of state development.
In foreign policy, Nepal adheres to the principles of non-alignment and friendship with all countries. It has been a member of the Non-Aligned Movement since 1955, the UN since 1955, the Colombo Plan since 1952, and SAARC since 1985, as well as the South Asian "growth quadrangle." In 2004, it joined the economic cooperation group - BIMSTEC (Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand). The secretariat of SAARC is located in Kathmandu.
Nepal is an agrarian country. 85% of the active population is engaged in agriculture, and economic growth in 2004 was 3.5%. Mineral deposits (limestones, iron ore, slate, copper, lead, mica, magnesite, talc, ochre) are virtually unexplored. Hydropower resources are estimated at 83 thousand MW (about 1% developed). According to the UN classification, Nepal belongs to the group of "least economically developed countries." In terms of living standards, the majority of the population occupies one of the last places in the world. The annual income per capita is $270, and almost half of the country's population lives below the poverty line.
GDP - $6.3 billion (2004): 60% is produced in agriculture (rice, corn, wheat, sugarcane, potatoes, livestock), 14% in industry, mainly represented by small and semi-artisanal enterprises specializing in the production of food and consumer goods (mining and processing industries, jute products, and clothing are also developing). The government's economic policy is aimed at prioritizing the development of the private sector. A program to attract foreign tourists to Nepal is being implemented (350 thousand in 2004).
The main items of Nepalese exports ($800 million in 2004) are wool carpets, jute and cotton products, rice, oilseeds, leather raw materials, medicinal herbs, spices, and handicrafts.
Imports ($1.8 billion in 2004) include petroleum products, chemicals and medicines, industrial goods, machinery and equipment, machine tools, automobiles and spare parts, electrical equipment, construction materials, and food products. The main foreign trade partners of the kingdom are India (over 50% of trade turnover), Germany, Japan, China, the USA, and Singapore.
Foreign aid plays an important role in the economy, covering up to 70% of budget allocations for development purposes, accounting for 35% of the budget's expenditure side. The main donors are Japan, Germany, the USA, India, Switzerland, Sweden, Finland, the UK, and international financial organizations. The kingdom's external debt reached $3.3 billion (2004). Annual debt repayments amount to about $150 million. The country's gold and foreign exchange reserves are $1.6 billion. The budget deficit covered by external sources is about $200 million. Inflation in 2004 was 5%.
Transportation is mainly developed through grants and loans from abroad. The length of the road network is 11,456 km, and the length of narrow-gauge railways is 52 km; there is a cable car that is 42 km long. Nepal has an international airport and 43 local airports, as well as 97 helicopter landing sites.
The literacy rate is about 40%. A major scientific and educational center is Tribhuvan University, which includes 11 colleges.
More than 300 newspapers and magazines are published in Nepal, the overwhelming majority of which are in Nepali (294), with only 6 in English and Hindi. The largest among them are "Gorkhapatra" (75 thousand copies), "Nepali" (43 thousand), "Rising Nepal" (20 thousand). The national information agency is Rastriya Samachar Samiti (RSS). The state corporation "Radio Nepal" covers the entire territory of the country with its broadcasts on short and medium waves. National television of Nepal is also operational.
