48 Fun Facts About Nepal

What is the capital and largest city of Nepal?

Kathmandu takes its name from Kasthamandap, a wooden pavilion that legend says was built from the timber of a single tree.

Eight of the world's ten highest mountains stand in Nepal; which of these giants lies entirely outside it?

K2, in the Karakoram, kept its survey label because the remote peak seemed to have no local name, while its neighbour K1 turned out to be Masherbrum.

Chomolungma is the name used north of the border; what is Mount Everest's official name in Nepal?

Sagarmatha was put forward by historian Baburam Acharya, because until then Nepal had no official Nepali name of its own for the peak.

What force is still slowly raising Mount Everest?

India pushing into Asia raised the Himalaya, and because that collision continues today, Everest's height keeps changing.

Who made the first documented ascent of Everest in 1953?

Tenzing Norgay and Edmund Hillary reached the top, and the news reached London just in time to be announced on the morning of Queen Elizabeth II's coronation.

Everest was named in the 19th century after which man?

A British Surveyor General of India, George Everest, lent the peak his name, but the calculation showing it was the world's highest was made by mathematician Radhanath Sikdar.

Which Everest hazard do climbers cross on ladders just above Base Camp?

Khumbu Icefall is where an avalanche killed 16 Nepali guides in 2014, and the Sherpas then stopped climbing for the rest of that season.

Which Himalayan town's short, steeply sloping airstrip is the usual starting point for treks to Everest Base Camp?

Lukla has a runway so steep that landing planes brake while climbing uphill and departing planes gain speed rolling downhill toward a cliff edge.

The Sherpa people are an ethnic group of what origin?

Tibetan migrants crossed the Himalaya into Nepal, and a 2015 genetic study confirmed the Sherpas' recent Tibetan ancestry.

Nepal's three physiographic belts are known by what names?

Himal, Pahad and Terai run from snow peaks to lowland plains; most Nepalis shunned the malarial Terai until malaria control in the 1960s let settlers pour in.

Which drug, sold legally in government-licensed shops, drew 1960s hippies to Nepal's Freak Street?

Hashish stayed legal until Nepal closed the shops and outlawed cannabis in the 1970s, and the hippie haven faded.

Which Nepali site is revered as the birthplace of the Buddha?

Lumbini has a stone pillar recording that Emperor Ashoka came in person to worship there because the Buddha was born on that spot.

The main temple at the Buddha's birthplace in Nepal is named after which woman?

Maya Devi, the Buddha's mother, went into labour in a garden while travelling to her parents' home to give birth, grasping the branch of a sal tree, tradition says.

Which king of Gorkha conquered the valley kingdoms in 1769 and unified Nepal?

Prithvi Narayan Shah took Kirtipur on his third attempt and then ordered the noses of its inhabitants cut off.

Which fact distinguishes Nepal's history from most of South Asia?

It was never colonised, though after its 1816 defeat by the East India Company it had to accept a British Resident in its capital.

The Anglo-Nepali War of 1814-16 ended with which treaty?

Sugauli is where Nepal signed away Garhwal and Kumaon, and Nepal cited that treaty in its 2020 Kalapani border dispute with India.

Who founded the Rana dynasty of hereditary prime ministers in 1846?

Jung Bahadur seized power in the 1846 Kot massacre, when he and his brothers killed the prime minister and dozens of courtiers in a single night.

Britain returned lowland territory to Nepal in 1860 in thanks for its help during what?

The Indian Rebellion of 1857 saw Gurkha troops fight for the British, and the land returned in 1860 became known as Naya Muluk, 'new country'.

Nepali UN peacekeepers were blamed for bringing cholera to which country in 2010?

Haiti suffered an epidemic that killed thousands, and the UN invoked its legal immunity to reject victims' compensation claims.

Which movement launched a violent insurgency in the 1990s to replace Nepal's monarchy with a people's republic?

The Maoists signed a peace deal in 2006 after a decade of war, and parliament then approved abolishing the monarchy as part of that deal.

Who was named by the official inquiry as the perpetrator of the 2001 royal palace massacre?

Crown Prince Dipendra was declared king while in a coma after shooting himself, and he reigned for three days in hospital before he died.

Which king of Nepal was killed in the 2001 royal massacre, along with Queen Aishwarya?

Birendra had given up absolute power after the 1990 pro-democracy protests, agreeing to a new democratic constitution.

Which man, Nepal's last king, was crowned days after the 2001 royal massacre?

Gyanendra dismissed the government in 2005 and restored absolute rule to fight an insurgency, but weeks of protests forced him to reinstate parliament in 2006.

After Nepal abolished its monarchy, what became of the royal palace where the 2001 massacre happened?

A museum was set up there after Nepal's government nationalised the palace in 2007 and the last king moved out.

Nepal's 2015 constitution gave its seven new provinces what instead of names?

Numbers served until each provincial assembly agreed a permanent name by a two-thirds vote, so Province No. 1 became Koshi only in 2023.

Nepal's flag is unique among national flags for what reason?

It is not rectangular because it joins two pennants that once belonged to rival branches of Nepal's ruling family.

Until 1962, what did the sun and moon on Nepal's flag have?

Human faces were removed in 1962 to modernise the flag, when civil engineer Shankar Nath Rimal standardised it at King Mahendra's request.

The red of Nepal's flag represents bravery and which national flower?

The rhododendron's nectar gives bees a toxin that turns their honey into 'mad honey', which can cause light-headedness and even hallucinations.

Nepal's official language grew out of the tongue of which people?

The Khas speech of the western Karnali hills spread with the Gorkha kingdom's conquests, which is why it was called Gorkhali before it became Nepali.

Which animal did Nepal declare its national animal in 2015?

The cow, sacred to Hindus, was named in the same 2015 constitution that declared Nepal a secular state.

During Nepal's five-day Tihar festival, which animal gets a whole day of garlands and treats?

Dogs are honoured on Kukur Tihar because Hindu tradition links them to Yama, the god of death, as his messengers or guards.

Which major Hindu temple in the capital stands on the banks of the Bagmati River?

Pashupatinath's riverbank ghats hold open-air Hindu cremations, and many devotees hope to be cremated there.

What is the Kumari?

A pre-pubescent girl worshipped as a living goddess, a Kumari from Bhaktapur faced losing the title in 2007 after travelling to the US to promote a documentary.

What is Nepal's staple meal of dal bhat?

Lentil soup with rice is eaten daily across Nepal, valued because together they supply both protein and carbohydrates.

What are Nepali momos?

Spiced dumplings like these spread into India in the 1960s, carried by the large wave of refugees who arrived after the 1959 uprising.

Which Hindu festival is the longest in Nepal's calendar?

Dashain lasts 15 days, and on its tenth day, which celebrates the goddess Durga's victory, people receive red tika and blessings from their elders.

Gurkha soldiers are closely associated with which weapon?

The khukuri knife carries a legend that a Gurkha who draws it in anger must draw blood, yet it is mostly an everyday work tool.

Besides Nepal, Gurkha units serve in the armies of India, Britain and which city-state's police?

Singapore formed its police Gurkha unit in 1949 to replace a Sikh unit, and those Gurkhas helped guard the 2018 Trump–Kim summit.

Which Indian Army chief said a man who claims not to fear death 'is either lying or he is a Gurkha'?

Sam Manekshaw led India's army in the 1971 war with Pakistan, a victory that led to the creation of Bangladesh.

Which British actress, whose father served with the Gurkha Rifles, backed the Gurkha Justice Campaign?

Joanna Lumley lent her fame to the campaign, and in 2009 Britain let Gurkha veterans with at least four years' service settle in the UK.

Janakpur in southern Nepal is revered as the birthplace of which Hindu goddess?

Sita is said to have married Rama in Janakpur, and a golden statue of her found there in 1657 marks the site of today's Janaki Mandir.

Which Chinese dynasty went to war with Nepal in the late 18th century?

Qing forces halted Nepal's expansion in 1792, marching almost to its capital before a treaty ended the war.

Which Nepali national park in the southern lowlands is a UNESCO World Heritage Site famous for tigers and rhinos?

Chitwan became Nepal's first national park in 1973, after rhino poaching led the government to set up an armed Rhino Patrol and a national park law.

Which SAARC institution does Nepal host?

Its permanent secretariat sits in Nepal's capital, but SAARC stalled after India boycotted the 2016 summit in Pakistan.

Despite the popularity of cricket and football, which sport did Nepal's cabinet name the national sport in 2017?

Volleyball arrived in the 1930s with Nepalis returning from the British Army, and the 2017 decision cited how widely it was played.

Nepal's Bidhan Lama won Seoul Olympic bronze in which demonstration sport?

Taekwondo was only a demonstration sport in Seoul, so his bronze is not counted among Nepal's official Olympic medals.

Which traditional board game is thought to have originated in Nepal?

Bagh-chal has been solved by computer: researchers showed that with perfect play by both sides, the game ends in a draw.

Nepal's tourism had to recover from which 2015 disaster?

An earthquake killed more than 8,000 people in April 2015 and set off a deadly avalanche into Everest Base Camp.