Some Facts for Rafters’ Delight

Nepal measures about 800 kilometers (497 mi) along its Himalayan axis by 150 to 250 kilometers (93 to 155 mi) across. With 147,181 square kilometers (56,827 sq mi) it slightly outranks Bangladesh or the state of Arkansas. Nepal is landlocked by India on three sides and China's Xizang Autonomous Region (Tibet) to the north. West Bengal's narrow Siliguri Corridor or Chicken's Neck separate Nepal and Bangladesh. To the east are India—and Bhutan.

Area

  • Total: 147,181 km²
  • Land: 143,181 km²
  • Water: 4,000 km²


Area - comparative

  • Roughly 1⅔ Tasmania's size
  • Roughly twice New Brunswick's size
  • Slightly less than twice Scotland's size
  • Slightly larger than Arkansas


Land boundaries

  • Total: 2,926 km
  • Border countries: China 1,236 km, India 1,690 km


Coastline

  • 0 km (landlocked)


Maritime claims

  • None (landlocked)


Elevation extremes

  • Lowest point: Kanchan Kalan 70 m
  • Highest point: Sagarmatha (Mount Everest) 8,848 m


Geographic diversity

  • For a small country, Nepal has tremendous geographic diversity. It rises from less than 100 meters (328 ft) elevation in the tropical Terai—the northern rim of the Gangetic Plain, beyond the perpetual snow line to some 90 peaks over 7,000 metres (22,966 ft) including Earth's highest 8,848 meters (29,029 ft) Mount Everest or Sagarmatha. In addition to the continuum from tropical warmth to cold comparable to polar regions, average annual precipitation varies from as little as 160 millimeters (6.3 in) in the rain shadow north of the Himalaya to as much as 5,500 millimeters (216.5 in) on windward slopes.

 

  • Along a south-to-north transect, Nepal can be divided into three belts: Terai, Hill and Mountain Regions. In the other direction it is divided into three major river systems, from east to west: Koshi, Gandaki/Narayani and Karnali (including the Mahakali/Sarda along the western border), all tributaries of the Ganges. The Ganges-Yarlung Zangbo/Brahmaputra watershed largely coincides with the Nepal-Tibet border, however several Ganges tributaries rise inside Tibet.



Climate
Nepal has tremendous variation in climate. Its latitude is about the same as that of Florida so Terai land up to 500 meters (1,640 ft) has a fully tropical climate, with a subtropical zone extending up to 1,200 meters (3,937 ft) which is the lower limit of frost in winter. Warm temperate climates prevail from 1,200 to 2,400 meters (3,937 to 7,874 ft) where snow occasionally falls. Then there is a cold zone to 3,600 meters (11,811 ft) (tree line), a subarctic or alpine zone to 4,400 meters (14,436 ft) and fully arctic climate above that. Precipitation generally decreases from east to west with increasing distance from the Bay of Bengal, source of the summer monsoon. Eastern Nepal gets about 2,500 mm (98.4 in) annually; the Kathmandu area about 1,400 mm (55.1 in) and western Nepal about 1,000 mm (39.4 in). This pattern is modified by adiabatic effects as rising air masses cool and drops their moisture content on windward slopes, then warm up as they descend so relative humidity drops. Annual precipitation reaches 5,500 mm (216.5 in) on windward slopes in the Annapurna Himalaya beyond a relatively low stretch of the Mahabharata Range. In rain shadows beyond the high mountains, annual precipitation drops as low as 160 mm (6.3 in), creating a cold semi-desert.

Environment
The dramatic changes in elevation along this transect result in a variety of biomes, from tropical savannas along the Indian border, to subtropical broadleaf and coniferous forests in the hills, to temperate broadleaf and coniferous forests on the slopes of the Himalaya, to montane grasslands and shrublands, and finally rock and ice at the highest elevations. This corresponds to the Terai-Duar savanna and grasslands ecoregion.

Subtropical forests dominate the lower elevations of the Hill Region. They form a mosaic running east-west across Nepal, with Himalayan subtropical broadleaf forests between 500 and 1,000 metres (1,640 and 3,281 ft) and Himalayan subtropical pine forests between 1,000 and 2,000 metres (3,281 and 6,562 ft). At higher elevations, to 3,000 metres (9,843 ft), are found temperate broadleaf forests: eastern Himalayan broadleaf forests to the east of the Gandaki River and western Himalayan broadleaf forests to the west.

The native forests of the Mountain Region change from east to west as precipitation decreases. They can be broadly classified by their relation to the Gandaki River. From 3,000 to 4,000 metres (9,843 to 13,123 ft) are the eastern and western Himalayan subalpine conifer forests. To 5,500 metres (18,045 ft) are the eastern and western Himalayan alpine shrub and meadows.

Forest
25.4% of Nepal's land area, or about 36,360 km2 (14,039 sq mi) is covered with forest. It is estimated that around 9.6% of Nepal's forest cover consists of primary forest which is relatively intact. About 12.1% Nepal's forest is classified as protected while about 21.4% is conserved.  About 5.1% Nepal's forests are classified as production forest.  Between 2000-2005, Nepal lost about 2,640 km2 (1,019 sq mi) of forest. Nepal's 2000-2005 total deforestation rate was about 1.4% per year meaning it lost an average of 530 km2 (205 sq mi) of forest annually. Nepal's total deforestation rate from 1990-2000 was 920 km2 (355 sq mi) or 2.1% per year. The 2000-2005 true deforestation rate in Nepal, defined as the loss of primary forest, is -0.4% or 70 km2 (27 sq mi) per year.

Glance of Jungle Safari