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Geography of Nepal
Sandwiched between two Asian giants--China and India--Nepal traditionally has been characterized as "a yam caught between two rocks." Noted for its majestic Himalayas, which in Sanskrit means the abode of snow, Nepal is very mountainous and hilly. Its shape is roughly rectangular, about 800 kilometers long and about 100 to 200 kilometers wide, and comprises a total of 147,181 square kilometers of land. It is slightly larger than Bangladesh or the state of Arkansas. Nepal is a landlocked country, surrounded by India on three sides and by China (Tibet) to the north. It is separated from Bangladesh by an approximately 15 kilometer wide strip of India's state of West Bengal, and from Bhutan by the 88 kilometer wide Sikkim, also an Indian state.
For a small country, Nepal has great physical diversity, ranging from the Terai Plain -- the northern rim of the Gangetic Plain situated at about 60 meters above sea level in the south -- to the 8850-meter-high Mount Everest,
locally known as Sagarmatha (its Nepali name), in the north. From the lowland Terai belt, landforms rise in
successive hill and mountain ranges, including the stupendous rampart of the towering Himalayas, ultimately reaching
the Tibetan Plateau beyond the Inner Himalayas. This rise in elevation is punctuated by valleys situated between
mountain ranges. Within this maze of mountains, hills, ridges, and low valleys, elevational (altitudinal) changes
resulted in ecological variations.
Nepal commonly is divided into three broad physiographic areas: the Mountain Region, the Hill Region, and the Terai Region. All three parallel each other, from east to west, as continuous ecological belts, occasionally bisected by the country's river systems. These ecological regions were divided by the government into development sectors within the framework of regional development planning.
The Mountain Region
The Himalayan range makes up the northern border of the country and represents 16% of the total land area of Nepal. Peaks like Mt. Everest (8848 m), Kanchenjunga (8598 m), and Dhaulagiri (8137 m) are found here and sparse vegetation is found up to 4,500m.
The Hill Region
This region covers 65% of the total land area of the country. Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal is located here. Elevations range from 500 to 3,000 m above sea level. During summer the temperature reaches an average of 32 degrees Celsius. Winters are cold, temperature reaching - 1 degree Celsius sometimes.
The Terai Region
The Terai covers 17% of the total land area of Nepal. It provides excellent farming land and the average elevation of flatlands is 100 to 300 m above sea-level. Sub-tropical forest areas, marshes, and wildlife which include the Royal Bengal tiger, one-horned rhino, and the gharial crocodile are found here.