Geographical Region of Nepal
Nepal is a small Himalayan country which is situated in south Asian region. It is the landlocked country situated between China and India. Nepal is surrounded by Tibet an autonomous Area of China on the north side and by India on the east, south and western part. Nepal is located between 80˚ 4ˈ east to 88 ˚ 12 ˈ east longitude and 26˚ 22ˈnorth to 30˚ 27ˈnorth latitude. It occupies the 0.03 percent land of the World and 0.3 percent land of the Asia continent. Nepal is 22 times smaller than India and 65 times smaller than china. It occupies the 1,47,156 sq.km are area of the world. East-west average length of Nepal is 885 km. Average north-south extension is 193 km. Maximum width of Nepal is 242 km (western part). Minimum width of Nepal is 141 km in eastern part.
Ecological Region of Nepal
Division of Ecological regions
Nepal is divided into three ecological region on the basis of similar climate and geographical conditions. Every region has separate life style and separate population density. Every ecological region has different cultures and products. Every region are not equally developed.
Mountain Region
It is situated in northern part of the country. It occupies the 15% territory of the total area of Nepal.
It lies between 2400m to 8848m from the sea level. It has 885 km length from east to west and it is spread from 24 km to 48 km south-north. It is also divided into three sub-region. Main Mountain region: It is situated above 5000m from the sea level. Main mountain ranges such as Mahalangur, Kumvakarna, Ganesh, Annapurna, Dhaulagiri etc. fall under this region. Inner Mountain: It is located between 2400m to 5000m from the sea level. Humla, Mugu, Dolpa, thakkhola, Manang etc fall under this region and Sherpa, Bhote, etc are the main inhabitants of this region.
Marginal Mountain: - It is spread from 30 km to 45 km from the main mountain. In this mountain region especially Buddhism is followed by most of people. It has 6.73 percent of the total population. Animal husbandry is the main occupation in this region. Herbs and tourism is also main source of income in this region.
Hilly Region
It is situated between 600m to 2400m from the sea level. It covers 68% territory of the total area of Nepal. It has 43 percent of the total population of Nepal. It is also divided into chure range, Mahabharat Range and Mid-land. In hilly region Tamang, Rai, magar, Brahmin, chhetri, Gurung etc. are main inhabitants. In this region Main spoken language is Nepali. Agricultural occupation is the main occupation in this region. Religious diversity can be found in this region. Different fertile valley such as Kathmandu, Pokhara, Arun valley etc. are situated in this region.
Terai Region
Lower plain area of Nepal is called Terai. It ranged from 60m to 600m from sea level. It occupies 17% area of total area of Nepal. Region begins at the Indian border and includes the southernmost part of the flat, intensively farmed Plain area is called the Outer Terai. Nepali is taught in schools and often spoken in government offices, however the local population mostly uses Maithili, Bhojpuri and Tharu languages. Economy of Terai is based on agriculture and industries. Social structure of Terai is totally based on the caste structure.