Nepal
Kingdom of Nepal
Prime Leader: Pushpa Kamal Dahal
Land area: 52,819 sq mi (136,801 sq km); total area: 54,363 sq mi (140,800 sq km)
Population (2007 est.): 28,901,790 (growth rate: 2.1%); birth rate: 30.5/1000; infant mortality rate: 63.7/1000; life expectancy: 60.6; density per sq mi: 547
Capital and largest city (2003 est.): Kathmandu, 1,203,100 (metro. area), 729,000 (city proper)
Other large cities: Biratnagar, 174,600; Lalitpur, 169,100
Monetary unit: Nepalese rupee
Languages: Nepali 48% (official), Maithali 12%, Bhojpuri 7%, Tharu 6%, Tamang 5%, others. English spoken by many in government and business (2001)
Ethnicity/race: Brahman-Hill 12.5%, Chetri 15.5%, Magar 7%, Tharu 6.6%, Tamang 5.5%, Newar 5.4%, Muslim 4.2%, Kami 3.9%, Yadav 3.9%, other 32.7%, unspecified 2.8% (2001)
Religions: Hindu 81%, Buddhist 11%, Islam 4%, Kirant 4% (2001)
Literacy rate: 45% (2003 est.)
Economic summary: GDP/PPP (2007 est.): $29.04 billion; per capita $1,200. Real growth rate: 2.5%. Inflation: 6.4%. Unemployment: 42% (2004 est.). Arable land: 16%. Agriculture: rice, corn, wheat, sugarcane, root crops; milk, water buffalo meat. Labor force: 11.11 million; note: severe lack of skilled labor (2004 est.); agriculture 76%, industry 6%, services 18%. Industries: tourism, carpet, textile; small rice, jute, sugar, and oilseed mills; cigarettes, cement and brick production. Natural resources: quartz, water, timber, hydropower, scenic beauty, small deposits of lignite, copper, cobalt, iron ore. Exports: $830 million f.o.b. (2006 est.), but does not include unrecorded border trade with India: carpets, clothing, leather goods, jute goods, grain. Imports: $2.398 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.): gold, machinery and equipment, petroleum products, fertilizer. Major trading partners: India, U.S., Germany, China, Indonesia (2006).
Communications: Telephones: main lines in use: 595,800 (2006); mobile cellular: 1.042 million (2006). Radio broadcast stations: AM 6, FM 5, shortwave 1 (Jan. 2000). Radios: 840,000 (1997). Television broadcast stations: 1 (plus 9 repeaters) (1998). Televisions: 130,000 (1997). Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 18,733 (2007). Internet users: 249,400 (2006).
Transportation: Railways: total: 59 km (2006). Highways: total: 17,380 km; paved: 9,886 km; unpaved: 7,494 km (2004). Ports and harbors: none. Airports: 47 (2007).
International disputes: joint border commission continues to work on small disputed sections of boundary with India; India has instituted a stricter border regime to restrict transit of Maoist insurgents.
Geography
A landlocked country the size of Arkansas, lying between India and the Tibetan Autonomous Region of China, Nepal contains Mount Everest (29,035 ft; 8,850 m), the tallest mountain in the world. Along its southern border, Nepal has a strip of level land that is partly forested, partly cultivated. North of that is the slope of the main section of the Himalayan range, including Everest and many other peaks higher than 8,000 m.
Government
In Nov. 1990, King Birendra promulgated a new constitution and introduced a multiparty parliamentary democracy in Nepal. Under pressure amid massive pro-democracy protests in April 2006, King Gyanendra gave up direct rule and reinstated Parliament, which then quickly moved to diminish the his powers. In December 2007, Parliament voted to abolish the monarchy and become a federal democratic republic. The transition to a republic was completed in May 2008, when the Constituent Assemby voted to dissolve the monarchy.
History
The first civilizations in Nepal, which flourished around the 6th century B.C., were confined to the fertile Kathmandu Valley where the present-day capital of the same name is located. It was in this region that Prince Siddhartha Gautama was born c. 563 B.C. Gautama achieved enlightenment as Buddha and spawned Buddhist belief.
Nepali rulers' early patronage of Buddhism largely gave way to Hinduism, reflecting the increased influence of India, around the 12th century. Though the successive dynasties of the Gopalas, the Kiratis, and the Licchavis expanded their rule, it was not until the reign of the Malla kings from 1200–1769 that Nepal assumed the approximate dimensions of the modern state.
The kingdom of Nepal was unified in 1768 by King Prithvi Narayan Shah, who had fled India following the Moghul conquests of the subcontinent. Under Shah and his successors Nepal's borders expanded as far west as Kashmir and as far east as Sikkim (now part of India). A commercial treaty was signed with Britain in 1792 and again in 1816 after more than a year of hostilities with the British East India Company.
In 1923, Britain recognized the absolute independence of Nepal. Between 1846 and 1951, the country was ruled by the Rana family, which always held the office of prime minister. In 1951, however, the king took over all power and proclaimed a constitutional monarchy. Mahendra Bir Bikram Shah became king in 1955. After Mahendra died of a heart attack in 1972, Prince Birendra, at 26, succeeded to the throne.
In 1990, a pro-democracy movement forced King Birendra to lift the ban on political parties. The first free election in three decades provided a victory for the liberal Nepali Congress Party in 1991, although the Communists made a strong showing. A small but growing Maoist guerrilla movement, seeking to overthrow the constitutional monarchy and install a Communist government, began operating in the countryside in 1996.
On June 1, 2001, King Birendra was shot and killed by his son, Crown Prince Dipendra. Angered by his family's disapproval of his choice of a bride, he also killed his mother and several other members of the royal family before shooting himself. Prince Gyanendra, the younger brother of King Birendra, was then crowned king.
King Gyanendra dismissed the government in October 2002, calling it corrupt and ineffective. He declared a state of emergency in November and ordered the army to crack down on the Maoist guerrillas. The rebels intensified their campaign, and the government responded with equal intensity, killing hundreds of Maoists, the largest toll since the insurgency began in 1996. In Aug. 2003, the Maoist rebels withdrew from peace talks with the government and ended a cease-fire that had been signed in Jan. 2003. The following August, the rebels blockaded Kathmandu for a week, cutting off shipments of food and fuel to the capital.
King Gyanendra fired the entire government in Feb. 2005 and assumed direct power. Many of the country's politicians were placed under house arrest, and severe restriction on civil liberties were instituted. In Sept. 2005, the Maoist rebels declared a unilateral cease-fire, which ended in Jan. 2006. In April, massive pro-democracy protests organized by seven opposition parties and supported by the Maoists took place. They rejected King Gyanendra's offer to hand over executive power to a prime minister, saying he failed to address their main demands: the restoration of parliament and a referendum to redraft the constitution. Days later, as pressure mounted and the protests intensified, King Gyanendra agreed to reinstate parliament. The new parliament quickly moved to diminish the king's powers and selected Girija Prasad Koirala as prime minister. In May, it voted unanimously to declare Nepal a secular nation and strip the king of his authority over the military.
The Maoist rebels and the government signed a landmark peace agreement in November 2006, ending the guerrilla’s 10-year insurgency that claimed some 12,000 people. In March 2007, the Maoists achieved another milestone when they joined the interim government. Just months later, in September 2007, however, the Maoists quit the interim government, claiming that not enough progress had been made in abolishing the monarchy and forming a republic. They agreed to rejoin the interim government in December, when Parliament voted to abolish the monarchy and become a federal democratic republic.
In April 2008, millions of voters turned out to elect a 601-seat Constituent Assembly that will write a new constitution. The Maoist rebels, who recently signed a peace agreement with the government that ended the guerrilla’s 10-year insurgency, won 120 out of 240 directly elected seats. In May, the assembly voted to dissolve the 239-year-old monarchy, thus completing the transition to a republic. King Gyanendra vacated Narayanhiti Palace in June and began life as a commoner.
Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala resigned in June, after two years in office. In July, the Maoists said they would not participate in the government when their candidate for president, Ramraja Prasad Singh, was defeated. Other parties in the Constituent Assembly united to elect Ram Baran Yadav as president. The move seemed to jeopardize the peace process.
Bhutan
Kingdom of Bhutan
Ruler: King Jigme Khesar Namgyal Wangchukin (2006)
Prime Minister: Lyonpo Jigme Thinley (2008)
Total area: 18,147 sq mi (47,000 sq km)
Population (2008 est.): 2,376,680 (growth rate: 2.0%); birth rate: 32.9/1000; infant mortality rate: 94.3/1000; life expectancy: 55.5; density per sq mi: 50
Capital and largest city (2003 est.): Thimphu (official), 60,200
Monetary unit: Ngultrum
Languages: Dzongkha (official), Tibetan dialects (among Bhotes), Nepalese dialects (among Nepalese)
Ethnicity/race: Bhote 50%, ethnic Nepalese 35%, indigenous or migrant tribes 15%
National Holiday: National Day, December 17
Religions: Lamaistic Buddhist 75%, Indian- and Nepalese-influenced Hinduism 25%
Literacy rate: 47% (2003 est.)
Economic summary: GDP/PPP (2007 est.): $3.359 billion; per capita $5,200. Real growth rate: 22.4%. Inflation: 4.9% Unemployment: 2.5% (2004 est.) Arable land: 3%. Agriculture: rice, corn, root crops, citrus, foodgrains; dairy products, eggs. Labor force: n.a.; note: major shortage of skilled labor; agriculture 93%, industry and commerce 2%, services 5%. Industries: cement, wood products, processed fruits, alcoholic beverages, calcium carbide. Natural resources: timber, hydropower, gypsum, calcium carbide. Exports: $154 million f.o.b. (2000 est.): electricity (to India), cardamom, gypsum, timber, handicrafts, cement, fruit, precious stones, spices. Imports: $196 million (c.i.f., 2000 est.): fuel and lubricants, grain, machinery and parts, vehicles, fabrics, rice. Major trading partners: India, Bangladesh, Japan, Germany, Austria (2004).
Communications: Telephones: main lines in use: 25,200 (2003); mobile cellular: 22,000 (2005). Radio broadcast stations: AM 0, FM 1, shortwave 1 (2004). Television broadcast stations: 1 (2005). Internet hosts: 985 (2003). Internet users: 15,000 (2003).
Transportation: Railways: 0 km. Highways: total: 4,007 km; paved: 24 km; unpaved: 3,983 km (2002). Ports and harbors: none. Airports: 2 (2004 est.).
International disputes: approximately 104,000 Bhutanese refugees live in Nepal, 90% of whom reside in seven UN Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees camps; Bhutan cooperates with India to expel Indian separatists.
Geography
Mountainous Bhutan, half the size of Indiana, is situated on the southeast slope of the Himalayas, bordered on the north and east by Tibet and on the south and west and east by India. The landscape consists of a succession of lofty and rugged mountains and deep valleys. In the north, towering peaks reach a height of 24,000 ft (7,315 m).
Government
Bhutan's first national elections in March 2008 marked the country's shift from an absolute monarchy to a constitutional monarchy.
History
Although archeological exploration of Bhutan has been limited, evidence of civilization in the region dates back to at least 2000 B.C. Aboriginal Bhutanese, known as Monpa, are believed to have migrated from Tibet. The traditional name of the country since the 17th century has been Drukyul, Land of the Drokpa (Dragon People), a reference to the dominant branch of Tibetan Buddhism that is still practiced in the Himalayan kingdom.
For centuries, Bhutan was made up of feuding regions until it was unified under King Ugyen Wangchuck in 1907. The British exerted some control over Bhutan's affairs, but never colonized it. Until the 1960s Bhutan was largely isolated from the rest of the world, and its people carried on a tranquil, traditional way of life, farming and trading, which had remained intact for centuries. After China invaded Tibet, however, Bhutan strengthened its ties and contact with India in an effort to avoid Tibet's fate. New roads and other connections to India began to end its isolation. In the 1960s Bhutan also undertook social modernization, abolishing slavery and the caste system, emancipating women, and enacting land reform. In 1985, Bhutan made its first diplomatic links with non-Asian countries.
A pro-democracy campaign emerged in 1991, which the government claimed was composed largely of Nepali immigrants. As a result, some 100,000 Nepali civil servants were either evicted or encouraged to emigrate. Most of them crossed the border back into Nepal, where they were housed in UN-administered refugee camps. They continue to languish there a decade later.
In 1998, King Jigme Singye Wangchuck, who is Bhutan's fourth hereditary ruler, voluntarily curtailed his absolute monarchy, and in March 2005 released a draft constitution (not yet put to a referendum) that outlined plans for the country to shift to a two-party democracy. In Dec. 2006, he abdicated in favor of his son, and Crown Prince Jigme Khesar Namgyal Wangchukin became king. Prime Minister Lyonpo Khandu Wangchuk resigned in July 2007 so he could join a political party in anticipation of the country's first elections, scheduled to be held in early 2008. Lyonpo Kinzang Dorji took over as the interim prime minister.
Parliamentary elections, Bhutan's first national election, were held in March 2008, with turnout at about 80%. The pro-monarchy Druk Phuensum Tshogpa, translated as the Bhutan Peace and Prosperity Party, won 44 out of 47 seats in Parliament, trouncing the People’s Democratic Party. The election marked Bhutan's transition from an absolute monarchy to a democracy. In April, Lyonpo Jigme Thinley, of the Peace and Prosperity Party, became prime minister.
to be continued (Srilanka)