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Nepal ligt ingeklemd tussen de twee Aziatische grootmachten China en India. Het land is smal maar zeer langgerekt en met een oppervlakte van 147.181 km² is Nepal bijna vier keer zo groot als Nederland. De afstand van de oostgrens naar westgrens is ca. 900 kilometer, van de noordgens naar zuidgrens gemiddeld 200 km. Geografisch gezien kan Nepal in drieën worden onderverdeeld, namelijk de zuidelijke strook grenzend aan India, de laagvlakte Terai, in het noorden het Himalaya-hooggebergte, en daar tussenin het centrale heuvelgebied ook wel de ‘Hilly region’ genoemd. Nepal kent door haar enorme hoogteverschillen een unieke variëteit aan klimaten en landschappen. Zo heerst er in de laagvlakten (onder de 500 m) een heet en subtropisch klimaat, in de heuvelgebieden is het subtropisch en in de bergen (max. hoogte 8.848 m. / Mount Everest) heerst een alpenklimaat.
Nepal kent niet alleen immense verschillen in hoogte, maar ook de jaarlijkse hoeveelheid neerslag verschilt drastisch per gebied. 80% van de regen valt tijdens de moesson van half juni tot half september. De rest van het jaar is het, op een enkele bui na, droog. Omdat de moessonregens in het oosten het land binnenkomen en langzaam afdrijven in noordwestelijke richting, valt de meeste regen in het oosten van Nepal en is zowel het noorden als het westen aanzienlijk droger. Dit heeft uiteraard ook zijn weerslag op de landbouwopbrengsten, waardoor de boeren in het oosten relatief rijker zijn dan hun landgenoten in het westen. De moesson eist ieder jaar tientallen dodelijke slachtoffers, mede door erosieproblemen in de berggebieden. Door de hevige regenval vinden aardverschuivingen plaats (landslides), die als niets ontziende modderstromen de berghellingen afdenderen en onderweg alles en iedereen meenemen. Iedere zomer is de hoofdverbindingsweg tussen Kathmandu en Pokhara minstens een paar dagen afgesloten voor verkeer door deze aardverschuivingen.
Het geboorteland van Boeddha, aan de voet van de Himalaya, wordt gekenmerkt door een zeer levendige cultuur, oeroude tradities, overweldigende natuur en een gastvrije bevolking. Achter dit land met meer goden dan mensen en meer tempels dan huizen gaat echter meer schuil. ‘Dwars door Nepal’ ontvouwt deze mysterieuze samenleving en geeft de lezer inzicht in de Nepalese normen en waarden, omgangsvormen en specifieke gewoonten en gebruiken. Dwars door Nepal is te bestellen via info@nepal-academy.nl
Aanbevolen
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A chronology of the history of Nepal
Source: BBC
1768 - Gurkha ruler Prithvi Narayan Shah conquers Kathmandu and lays foundations for unified kingdom.
1792 - Nepalese expansion halted by defeat at hands of Chinese in Tibet.
1814-16 - Anglo-Nepalese War; culminates in treaty which establishes Nepal's current boundaries.
1846 - Nepal falls under sway of hereditary chief ministers known as Ranas, who dominate the monarchy and cut off country from outside world.
1923 - Treaty with Britain affirms Nepal's sovereignty.
Absolute monarchy
1950 - Anti-Rana forces based in India form alliance with monarch.
1951 - End of Rana rule. Sovereignty of crown restored and anti-Rana rebels in Nepalese Congress Party form government.
1953 29 May - New Zealander Edmund Hillary and Nepal's Sherpa Tenzing Norgay become the first climbers to reach the summit of Mount Everest.
1955 - Nepal joins the United Nations.
1955 - King Tribhuwan dies, King Mahendra ascends throne.
1959 - Multi-party constitution adopted.
1960 - King Mahendra seizes control and suspends parliament, constitution and party politics after Nepali Congress Party (NCP) wins elections with B. P. Koirala as premier.
1962 - New constitution provides for non-party system of councils known as "panchayat" under which king exercises sole power. First elections to Rastrya Panchayat held in 1963.
1972 - King Mahendra dies, succeeded by Birendra.
Multi-party politics
1980 - Constitutional referendum follows agitation for reform. Small majority favours keeping existing panchayat system. King agrees to allow direct elections to national assembly - but on a non-party basis.
1985 - NCP begins civil disobedience campaign for restoration of multi-party system.
1986 - New elections boycotted by NCP.
1989 - Trade and transit dispute with India leads to border blockade by Delhi resulting in worsening economic situation.
1990 - Pro-democracy agitation co-ordinated by NCP and leftist groups. Street protests suppressed by security forces resulting in deaths and mass arrests. King Birendra eventually bows to pressure and agrees to new democratic constitution.
1991 - Nepali Congress Party wins first democratic elections.
1994 - Koirala's government defeated in no-confidence motion.
1995 - Communist government dissolved.
1995 - Radical leftist group, the Nepal Communist Party (Maoist), begins insurrection in rural areas aimed at abolishing monarch and establishing people's republic, sparking a conflict that would drag on for over a decade.
1997 - Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba loses no-confidence vote, ushering in period of increased political instability, with frequent changes of prime minister.
2000 - GP Koirala returns as prime minister, heading the ninth government in 10 years.
2001 1 June: Nepal royal family massacred
2001 4 June - Prince Gyanendra crowned King of Nepal after Dipendra dies of his injuries.
2001 July - Maoist rebels step up campaign of violence.
2001 November - Maoists end four-month old truce with government, declare peace talks with government failed. Launch coordinated attacks on army and police posts.
Emergency
2001 November - State of emergency declared after more than 100 people are killed in four days of violence. King Gyanendra orders army to crush the Maoist rebels. Many hundreds are killed in rebel and government operations in the following months.
2002 May - Parliament dissolved, fresh elections called amid political confrontation over extending the state of emergency. Sher Bahadur Deuba heads interim government, renews emergency.
2002 October - King Gyanendra dismisses Deuba and indefinitely puts off elections set for November. Lokendra Bahadur Chand appointed as PM.
2003 January - Rebels, government declare ceasefire.
2003 May-June - Lokendra Bahadur Chand resigns as PM; king appoints his own nominee Surya Bahadur Thapa as new premier.
2003 August - Rebels pull out of peace talks with government and end seven-month truce. The following months see resurgence of violence and frequent clashes between students/activists and police.
2004 April - Nepal joins the World Trade Organisation (WTO).
2004 May - Royalist Prime Minister Surya Bahadur Thapa resigns following weeks of street protests by opposition groups.
2004 June - King Gyanendra reappoints Sher Bahadur Deuba as prime minister with the task of holding elections.
Direct power
2005 1 February - King Gyanendra dismisses Prime Minister Deuba and his government, declares a state of emergency and assumes direct power, citing the need to defeat Maoist rebels.
2005 30 April - King lifts the state of emergency amid international pressure.
2005 November - Maoist rebels and main opposition parties agree on a programme intended to restore democracy.
2006 April - King Gyanendra agrees to reinstate parliament following weeks of violent strikes and protests against direct royal rule. GP Koirala is appointed as prime minister. Maoist rebels call a three-month ceasefire.
2006 May - Parliament votes unanimously to curtail the king's political powers. The government and Maoist rebels begin peace talks, the first in nearly three years.
2006 16 June - Rebel leader Prachanda and PM Koirala hold talks - the first such meeting between the two sides - and agree that the Maoists should be brought into an interim government.
2006 November - The government and Maoists sign a peace accord, declaring a formal end to a 10-year rebel insurgency. The rebels are to join a transitional government and their weapons will be placed under UN supervision.
2007 January - Maoist leaders enter parliament under the terms of a temporary constitution. Violent ethnic protests erupt in the south-east; demonstrators demand autonomy for the region.
Maoists join government
2007 April - Former Maoist rebels join interim government, a move that takes them into the political mainstream.
2007 May - Elections for a constituent assembly pushed back to November.
2008 April - Former Maoist rebels win the largest bloc of seats in elections to the new constituent assembly, but fail to achieve an outright majority.
2008 May - Nepal becomes a republic.
2008 July - Two months after the departure of King Gyanendra, Ram Baran Yadav becomes Nepal's first president.
2008 August - Maoist leader Prachanda forms coalition government, with Nepali Congress going into opposition.
2009 May - Prime Minister Prachanda resigns, saying in a televised address that he is stepping down in response to an "unconstitutional and undemocratic" move by President Yadav to stop the elected Maoist government from sacking the army chief.
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