1988 Edition

Budget

revenues, A$59.5 million (FY86/87 est.)

Climate

varies from cool summers and severe winters in north to subtropical summers and mild winter in south

temperate; marine; cool summers and mild winters

Coastline

451 km

Comparative area

about the size of North Carolina

about the size of Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island combined

Contiguous zone

12 nm

Environment

contains eight of world's ten highest peaks; deforestation; soil erosion; water pollution

dikes protect 30% of land area that is below sea level from North Sea

Ethnic divisions

Newars, Indians, Tibetans, Gurungs, Magars, Tamangs, Bhotias, Rais, Limbus, Sherpas, as well as many smaller groups

99% Dutch, 1% Indonesian and other

Exclusive fishing zone

200 nm

Fiscal year

1 July-30 June

Infant mortality rate

143/1,000 (1983)

8/1,000 (1984)

Labor force

4.1 million; 93% agriculture, 5% services, 2% industry; great lack of skilled labor

5.3 million (1984); 50.1% services, 27.8% manufacturing and construction, 16.1% government, 6.0% agriculture; unemployment rate 14.4% (1985 average)

Land boundaries

2,800 km total

1,022 km total

Land use

17% arable land; NEGL% permanent crops; 13% meadows and pastures; 33% forest and woodland; 37% other; includes 2% irrigated

25% arable land; 1% permanent crops; 34% meadows and pastures; 9% forest and woodland; 31% other; includes 15% irrigated

Language

Nepali (official); 20 mutually unintelligible languages divided into numerous dialects

Dutch

Life expectancy

men 47, women 45

76

Literacy

20%

99%

Monetary conversion rate

1.50 Australian dollars=US$l (February 1987)

Nationality

noun — Nepalese (sing, and pi.); adjective — Nepalese

noun — Netherlander(s); adjective— Netherlands

Organized labor

29% of labor force

Population

17,814,294 (July 1987), average annual growth rate 2.43%

14,641,554 (July 1987), average annual growth rate 0.51%

Religion

only official Hindu kingdom in world, although no sharp distinction between many Hindu (about 88%) and Buddhist groups; small groups of Muslims and Christians

40% Roman Catholic, 31% Protestant, 24% unaffiliated, 5% none

Special notes

landlocked; strategic location between China and India

located at mouths of three major European rivers (Rhine, Maas or Meuse, Schelde)

Terrain

Tarai or flat river plain of the Ganges in south, central hill region, rugged Himalayas in north

mostly coastal lowland and reclaimed land (polders); some hills in southeast

Territorial sea

12 nm

Total area

140,800 km2; land area: 136,800 km2

37,310 km2; land area: 33,940 km2

Administrative divisions

75 districts, 14 zones

12 provinces and 4 special municipalities governed by centrally appointed commissioners of Queen

Branches

Council of Ministers appointed by the King; Rastriya Panchayat (National Assembly; 112 directly elected, 28 appointed by King)

executive (Queen and Cabinet of Ministers), which is responsible to bicameral parliament (States General) consisting of a First Chamber (75 indirectly elected members) and a Second Chamber (150 directly elected members); independent judiciary; coalition governments are usual

Capital

Kathmandu

Amsterdam, but government resides at The Hague

Communists

Communist Party of Nepal (CPN); factions include V. B. Manandhar, Man Mohan Adhikari, Bharat Raj Joshi, Rai Majhi, Tulsi Lai, Krishna Raj Burma, Sahana Pradhan

about 6,000

Dependent areas

Aruba, Netherlands Antilles

Elections

village, town, and district councils (panchayats) elected by universal suffrage; a constitutional amendment in 1980 provided for direct elections to the National Panchayat, which consists of 140 members (including 28 appointed by the King), who serve five-year terms; Nepal's first general election in 22 years was held in May 1981; general elections successfully held in May 1986; local district elections scheduled for Spring 1987 Nepal (continued) Netherlands Political parties and leaders: all political parties outlawed but operate more or less openly; Nepali Congress Party (NCP), Ganesh Man Singh, K. P. Bhattarai, G. P. Koirala

must be held at least every four years for lower house (last held in May 1986); following an amendment to the constitution that took effect in 1983, elections are held for the upper house every four years (most recent August 1983) Political parties and leaders: Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) Willem van Velzen; Labor (PvdA), Marianne Sint; Liberal (VVD), Leendert Ginjaar; Democrats 66 (D'66), Saskia van der Loo; Communist (CPN), Henk Hoekstra; Pacifist Socialist (PSP), Marko Mazeland; Political Reformed (SGP), H. Slagboom; Reformed Political Union (GPV), J. Blokland; Radical Party (PPR), Janneke van der Plaat; Democratic Socialist 70 (DS'70), Z. Hartog; Rightist Peoples Party (RVP), Hendrik Koekoek; Reformed Political Federation (RPF), P. Lamgeler; Center Party (CP), H. Janmatt; Evangelical People's Party (EVP), J. Renes; Party for Better Housing (PVA), J. H. Borsboom; Roman Catholic Party of the Netherlands (RKPN), Klaas Beuker; Netherlands Christian Democrats (NCD), J. A. Tacx

Government leaders

BIRENDRA Bir Bikram Shah Dev, King (since 1973); Marich Man SINGH (Shrestha), Prime Minister (since 1986)

BEATRIX Wilhelmina Armgard, Queen (since April 1980); Ruud LUBBERS, Prime Minister (since November 1982)

Legal system

based on Hindu legal concepts and English common law; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

civil law system incorporating French penal theory; constitution of 1815 frequently amended, reissued 1947; judicial review in the Supreme Court of legislation of lower order rather than Acts of Parliament; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations

Member of

ADB, Colombo Plan, ESCAP, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, IDA, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTERPOL, IPU, IRC, ITU, NAM, SAARC, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WHO, WMO, WTO

ADB, Benelux, Council of Europe, DAC, EC, ECE, EIB, ELDO, EMS, ESCAP, ESRO, FAO, GATT, IAEA, IBRD, ICAC, ICAO, ICES, ICO, IDA, IDE — Inter-American Development Bank, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, INRO, INTELSAT, International Lead and Zinc Study Group, INTERPOL, IPU, IRC, ITC, ITU, IWC— International Wheat Council (with respect to interests of the Netherlands Antilles and Suriname), NATO, OAS (observer), OECD, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WEU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WSG

National holiday

Birthday of the King and National Day, 28 December

Queen's Day, 30 April

Official name

Kingdom of Nepal

Kingdom of the Netherlands

Other political or pressure groups

numerous small, left-leaning student groups in the capital; Indian merchants in Tarai and capital; several small, radical Nepalese antimonarchist groups operating from north India

large multinational firms; Federation of Netherlands Trade Union Movement (comprising Socialist and Catholic trade unions) and a Protestant trade union; Federation of Catholic and Protestant Employers Associations; the nondenominational Federation of Netherlands Enterprises; and IKV — Interchurch Peace Council

Suffrage

universal over age 21

universal over age 18

Type

nominally a constitutional monarchy; King Birendra exercises autocratic control over multitiered panchayat system of government

constitutional monarchy

Voting strength

(May 1986 election) CDA 54 seats, PvdA 52 seats, VVD 27 seats, D'66 9 seats, SGP 3 seats, PPR 2 seats, PSP 1 seat, GPV 1 seat, RPF 1 seat; two members of the CDA were expelled from the party in 1984 and are now serving as independents

Agriculture

over 90% of population engaged in agriculture; rice, corn, wheat, sugarcane, oilseeds; an illegal producer of cannabis for the international drug trade

animal husbandry predominates; horticultural crops, grains, potatoes, sugar beets; food shortages — grains, fats, oils

Aid

donor — ODA and OOF economic aid commitments (1970-84), $12.0 billion

Budget

domestic revenues, $300 million; expenditures, $536 million (FY84/85 est.)

revenues, $40.6 billion; expenditures, $49.5 billion; deficit, $8.9 billion (1985 est); 3.3214 guilders=US$l (1985 average)

Crude steel

7.4 million metric ton capacity, 5.5 million metric tons produced, 380 kg per capita (1985)

Electric power

160,000 kW capacity; 395 million kWh produced, 25 kWh per capita (1986)

20,956,000 kW capacity; 63,090 million kWh produced, 4,340 kWh per capita (1986)

Exports

$162 million (FY85/86 est.); rice and other food products, jute, timber, manufactured goods

$67.9 billion (f.o.b., 1985); foodstuffs, machinery, chemicals, petroleum products, natural gas, textiles

Fiscal year

15 July-14 July

Fishing

catch 480,000 metric tons; exports of fish and fish products, $535.6 million; imports, $303.3 million (1985)

GDP

$2.4 billion (FY85/86 current prices), $140 per capita; 3% real growth (FY84/85 est.)

$124.2 billion, $8,570 per capita; 59.2% private consumption, 18.4% investment, 16.3% government consumption, 1.1% inventories, 5.1% net foreign demand, 2.0% real GNP growth (1985)

Imports

$460 million (FY85/86); manufactured consumer goods, fuel, construction materials, fertilizers, food products

$64.9 billion (c.i.f., 1985); machinery, transportation equipment, crude petroleum, foodstuffs, chemicals, raw cotton, base metals and ores, pulp

Major industries

small rice, jute, sugar, and oilseed mills; match, cigarette, and brick factories

food processing, metal and engineering products, electrical and electronic machinery and equipment, chemicals, petroleum products, natural gas

Major trade partner

India

Major trade partners

(1984) exports — 71.9% EC (29.8% FRG, 13.8% BelgiumLuxembourg, 10.5% France, 9.4% UK), 5.0% US, 1.9% Communist countries; imports— 53.3% EC (21.8% FRG, 11.4% Belgium-Luxembourg, 8.7% UK), 8.8% US, 5.3% Communist countries

Monetary conversion rate

21.8 Nepalese rupees=US$l (October 1986)

Natural resources

quartz, water, timber, hydroelectric potential, scenic beauty

natural gas, oil

Shortages

crude petroleum, raw cotton, base metals and ores, pulp, pulpwood, lumber, feedgrains, oilseeds

Airfields

1 total, 1 usable with permanent-surface runways 1,220-2,439 m

38 total, 38 usable; 5 with permanent-surface runways; 1 with runways 2,440-3,659 m, 8 with runways 1,220-2,439 m

Branches

Royal Nepalese Army, Royal Nepalese Army Air Service, Nepalese Police Force

Civil air

3 major transport aircraft, one on order

5 major and 11 minor transport aircraft

Highways

about 27 km total; 21 km paved, 6 km improved earth

5,958 km total (1986); 2,645 km paved, 815 km gravel or crushed stone, 2,257 km improved and unimproved earth; additionally 241 km of seasonally motorable tracks

Inland waterways

none

Military budget

for fiscal year ending 15 July 1987, $32 million; 5% of central government budget 75 km Sec regional map V

Military manpower

males 15-49, 2,300; fit for military service, 1,200; 100 reach military age (18) annually 200km . Birgan Set regional map VIII

males 15-49, 4,171,000; 2,157,000 fit for military service; 197,000 reach military age (17) annually

Ports

1 minor

Railroads

none

52 km (1985), all 0.762-meter narrow gauge; all in Tarai close to Indian border; 10 km from Raxaul to Blrganj is government owned

Telecommunications

adequate intraisland and international radio communications provided via Australian facilities; 1,600 telephones (20.8 per 100 popl.); 4,000 radio receivers, 1 AM, no FM, no TV stations; 1 satellite ground station Defense Forces No formal defense structure and no regular armed forces

poor telephone and telegraph service; fair radio communication and broadcast service; international radio communication service is poor; 18,400 telephones (0.1 per 100 popl.); 4 AM, 1 TV stations; 1 satellite ground station Defense Forces