It borders with the Tibet Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China in the North and India in the East, South and West respectively.

AREA: 147,181 sq. kilometers.
ALTITUDE: Varies from 70 meters to 8848 meters.
CAPITAL: Kathmandu.
POPULATION: 1,84,91,097

LANGUAGE:
Nepali is the national language of Nepal. Educated people understand and speak English as well.

TIME:
Nepal Time is 5 hours 45 minutes ahead of GMT and 15 minutes ahead of Indian standard time.

CLIMATE
Nepal has four major seasons, namely, (1) Winter: December-February, (2) Spring: March-May, (3) Summer: June-August, (4) Autumn: September- November.
Nepal can be visited the whole year round.

PEOPLE & RELIGION
Nepalese people are mainly divided into two distinct groups the Indo-Aryans and the Mangoloids. Kathmandu Valley is the spiritual and cultural meeting point of all these groups. Nepal is the only Hindu Kingdom in the world. Hindu Temples and Buddhist shrines are scattered all over the kingdom. Nepal is the birthplace of Lord Buddha, the Light of Asia. There is a complex blending of Hinduism and Buddhism in Nepal.

WHAT TO WEAR
Except in formal gathering informal clothes are acceptable mostly everywhere. Warm garments are required in October-March. An umbrella or a rain coat are must for the rainy season.

CURRENCY & FOREIGN EXCHANGE
Nepali Rupee notes come in Rs. 1, Rs. 2, Rs. 5, Rs. 10, Rs. 20, Rs. 50, Rs. 100, Rs. 500 and Rs. 1000 denominations. Coins come in 5p, 1 0p, 25p, Rs. 1 & Rs. 5 denominations.
Foreign currencies must be exchanged only through the banks or authorized foreign exchange dealers. The receipts from such transactions are to be obtained and retained. Visitors can exchange foreign currency at the foreign exchange counter at the airport upon arrival. Visitor other than the Indian nationals have to make the payment in hotels, travel or trekking agencies and air tickets in foreign currency. Non-lndian visitors are not allowed to import or export Indian Currency. The approximate value of one US Dollar is equivalent to Rs. 50.97 as of June 1995.

ENTRY PROCEDURES
All visitors except the Indian nationals must hold a passport and a valid visa. The visas can be obtained at the Nepalese Diplomatic Missions and Consuls abroad and entry points issue visa for a 15 days. The visa will be extended at the Department of Immigration, Tridevi Marg, Thamel, Tel: 412337/418573. The Department also issues multi entry visa for the visitors.

ENTRY POINTS:
By Air: Tribhuvan Internaitonal Airport, Kathmandu.
By Land: (1) Kakarbhitta (2) Birgunj (3) Belhiya (Bhairahawa) (4) Nepalgunj (5) Dhangadi (6) Jogbani (Biratnagar) and (7) Mahendra Nagar in Nepal-lndia border and Kodari in Nepal-China border. The overland tourists entering the Kingdom with their vehicles must possess an international carnet.

CUSTOMS
All baggage is subject to customs' check at the point of entry. Visitors are allowed to bring in the consumable articles such as liquor one bottle up 1.15 litres, 200 sticks of cigarette, 15 rolls of photo film and 12 rolls of movie camera film. Visitors are also allowed to carry one binocular, one camera, one movie camera, one video camera, one radio, one tape recorder, one bicycle, one wrist watch, one set of fountain pen, one perambulator, 15 radio cassettes & 10 disk records into the country on the condition that they are declared and are to be taken back on return. Carrying narcotics, arms and ammunitions are strictly prohibited. Visitors can export souvenirs to their respective countries. The export of antiuques requires special certificate from the Department of Archaeology, National Archive Building, Ram Shah Path, Kathmandu (Tel: 215358), Gold, silver, precious stones, wild animals and their skins, horns, etc, all drugs whether processed or in their natural state, are prohibited to export.

TRAVEL ROUTE
Royal Nepal Airlines the national flag carrier of Nepal and other International airlines operate scheduled flights to Kathmandu from Bangkok, Bombay, Calcutta, Delhi, Dubai, Dhaka, Paro, Varanasi, Frankfurt, Paris, Hongkong, Karachi, London, Moscow, Singapore and Lhasa.The International Airlines operating their flights to Kathmandu include Aeroflot, Biman Bangladesh Airlines, China South West Airlines, Druk Air, Indian Airlines, Lufthansa, Pakistan International Airlines, Singapore Airlines and Thai International.

AIRPORT TAX
Rs. 600 per person for departure to SAARC (South Asian) Countries and Rs. 700 for departure to other international destinations. For domestic flights those flying within Nepal are required to pay Rs. 50.

MOUNTAIN FLIGHT
Royal Nepal Airlines and other domestic Airlines in the private sector also operate breathtaking mountain flights for the tourists round the year.