Marine Life Conservation

Geography - note:
landlocked; strategic location between China and India; contains
eight of world's 10 highest peaks, including Mount Everest - the
world's tallest - on the border with China

People Nepal

Population:
27,070,666 (July 2004 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 39.4% (male 5,500,698; female 5,151,705)
15-64 years: 57% (male 7,912,553; female 7,518,430)
65 years and over: 3.6% (male 483,998; female 503,282) (2004 est.)

Median age:
total: 19.9 years
male: 19.7 years
female: 20 years (2004 est.)

Population growth rate:
2.23% (2004 est.)

Birth rate:
31.96 births/1,000 population (2004 est.)

Death rate:
9.66 deaths/1,000 population (2004 est.)

Net migration rate:
0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2004 est.)

Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.07 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.05 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.96 male(s)/female
total population: 1.06 male(s)/female (2004 est.)

Infant mortality rate:
total: 68.77 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 70.53 deaths/1,000 live births (2004 est.)
male: 67.1 deaths/1,000 live births

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 59.4 years
male: 59.73 years
female: 59.06 years (2004 est.)

Total fertility rate:
4.29 children born/woman (2004 est.)

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:
0.5% (2001 est.)

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:
58,000 (2001 est.)

HIV/AIDS - deaths:
2,400 (2001 est.)

Nationality:
noun: Nepalese (singular and plural)
adjective: Nepalese

Ethnic groups:
Brahman, Chetri, Newar, Gurung, Magar, Tamang, Rai, Limbu, Sherpa,
Tharu, and others (1995)

Religions:
Hinduism 86.2%, Buddhism 7.8%, Islam 3.8%, other 2.2%
note: only official Hindu state in the world (1995)

Languages:
Nepali (official; spoken by 90% of the population), about a dozen
other languages and about 30 major dialects; note - many in
government and business also speak English (1995)

Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 45.2%
male: 62.7%
female: 27.6% (2003 est.)

Government Nepal

Country name:
conventional long form: Kingdom of Nepal
conventional short form: Nepal

Government type:
parliamentary democracy and constitutional monarchy

Capital:
Kathmandu

Administrative divisions:
14 zones (anchal, singular and plural); Bagmati, Bheri,