Location:

A landlocked country located in the middle of two huge countries India on the south and China on the north, Nepal is almost invisible in small maps. Lot of people tend to think Nepal is a part of India by looking at those maps. However, Nepal is not a part of India, it never was. Anyway, Nepal extends along the south slope of the Himalayas in central Asia.

Natural Features:

The Terai: The Terai lies in the southern part of the country, composed of a 26 to 50 kilometers wide belt of fertile alluvial plain. This belt extends all the way from the western to the eastern border, covers about 17% of the total area. It averages 600 to 1220 meters in altitude.

The Hills: The Mahabharata range separates the Terai from the Hill region. This range averages 1525 meters to 3660 meters in altitude and 16 kilometers in width. Its structure is synclinal and the topography is steep and jagged. Forests are found on the higher elevations whereas lower slopes are used for terraced cultivation. North of this Range, lies the Pahad region covering 64% of Nepal, the major area for Nepalese settlement.

The Himalaya: Everyone who has heard of Nepal must have heard about its Himalayas. Himalayas has been so far the most known fact about Nepal. Nepal has the eight of the world's fourteen highest giants. It has 22 out of 31 peaks over 7600 meters in the world.

Water Bodies: Nepal is a landlocked country. So its water bodies consist of rivers, glaciers and lakes. The main three rivers of Nepal are Koshi, Gandaki, and Karnali. Main glaciers are Kanchenjunga, Yalung, Tukuche, Hidden Valley, Nupchu and Lamtang. There are many lakes in Nepal. The most widely known lake in Nepal is Lake Phewa, which lies in Pokhara. Other major lakes are Rara Lake and Phoksundo Lake (this is the most beautiful lake in Nepal but not many people go there because of lack of proper transportation)

Climate: Weather conditions in Nepal vary from region to region. Summer and late spring temperatures range from about 28 degrees Celcius in the hill region to more than 40 degrees in the Terai. In winter, the temperature ranges from about seven to 23 degrees in the Terai region to way below the freezing point in the Himalayas.

Ecosystem: Nepal is a land of geographical extremes, ranging from near sea-level elevations in the southern Terai to the world's highest mountains. The country contains a variety of ecosystems; treeless sub-alpine pastures and dense fir forests of high valleys, oak and rhododendron woods of the middle hills and tall sal forests of the south. In wildlife, Nepal has many rare birds and animals as well as other animals found around the world. Some rare animals include the one-horned rhinoceros, and rare kinds of crocodiles, tigers, bears, leopards, cheetahs, the barking deer, the Gangetic dolphin etc.