Nepal’s history has been strongly influenced by its position in the Himalaya mountains on the northeastern border of India and on the only practicable route between the part of Tibet bordered by the river Ganges and China. The word “Nepal” first appeared in 879 AD, meaning “the start of a new era”. Though the country’s…

Nepal is the poorest country in South Asia and the 17th poorest in the world. Approximately 25 percent of Nepalis live below the poverty line. There is a substantial difference in poverty levels among Nepal’s various ethnic and caste groups, and between different regions of the country. An unemployment rate of 42 percent has created…

The civil war that lasted from February 1996 to November 2006 represents perhaps the bloodiest chapter in Nepal’s history. The conflict between government forces and the guerrillas of the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) led by the former teacher Pushpa Kamal Dahal, known as Comrade Prachanda, left at least 15,000 people dead and perhaps 150,000…

The tiny Nepalese Catholic Church is organised into 8 parishes with 39 churches, 16 local priests, 60 religious and 165 sisters, in all a single vicariate. The total Catholic community is around eight thousand people. Since the arrival of the Portuguese Jesuit João Cabral at the Nepalese court in 1628, the Church of Nepal has…