1985 Edition

Agriculture

over 90% of population engaged in agriculture; main crops — rice, corn, wheat, sugarcane, oilseeds

Airfields

39 total, 38 usable; 5 with permanent-surface runways; 1 with runways 2,4403,659 m, 8 with runways 1,220-2,439 m

Branches

Council of Ministers appointed by the King; Rastriya Panchayat (National Assembly; 112 directly elected, 28 appointed by King)

Royal Nepal Army, Royal Nepalese Army Air Service, Nepalese Police Force

Budget

(FY83/84 revised est.) domestic revenues, $211.2 million; expenditures, $438.3 million

Capital

Kathmandu

Civil air

5 major transport aircraft

Elections

village, town, and district councils (panchayats) elected by universal suffrage; a constitutional amendment in 1980 provided for direct elections to the National Panchayat, which consists of 140 members (including 28 appointed by the King), who serve five-year terms; Nepal's first general election in 22 years was held in May 1981 Political parties and leaders: all political parties outlawed but operate more or less openly; Nepali Congress Party (NCP), Ganesh Man Singh, K. P. Bhattarai, G. P. Koirala Communists.- Communist Party of Nepal (CPN), B. B. Manandhar; two wings of CPN are Communist Party of Nepal/Left (CPN/L), Man Mohan Adhikari, Pushpa Lai Shrestha, and Communist Party of Nepal/Right (CPN/R), Dr. Keshar Jung Rayamajhi; these wings are each split into several factions

Electric power

160,000 kW capacity (1984); 395 million kWh produced (1984), 24 kWh per capita

Exports

$79.2 million (FY82/83 est.); rice and other food products, jute, timber, manufactured goods

Fiscal year

15 July-14 July Communications

GDP

$2.4 billion (FY83/84 current prices), $152 per capita; 9.1% real growth in FY83/84(est.)

Government leaders

BIRENDRA Bir Bikram Shah Dev, King (since 1973); Lokendra Bahadur CHAND, Prime Minister (since July 1984)

Highways

4,136 km total; 1,751 km paved, 556 km gravel or crushed stone, 1,829 km improved and unimproved earth; additionally 322 km of seasonally motorable tracks

Imports

$431.8 million (FY82/83); manufactured consumer goods, fuel, construction materials, fertilizers, food products

Legal system

based on Hindu legal concepts and English common law; legal education at Nepal Law College in Kathmandu; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

Major industries

small rice, jute, sugar, and oilseed mills; match, cigarette, and brick factories

Major trade partner

India

Member of

ADB, Colombo Plan, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, IDA, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTERPOL, IPU, IRC, ITU, NAM, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WHO, WMO, WTO Economy

Military budget

for fiscal year ending 15 July 1984, $51.1 million; 8.4% of central government budget

Military manpower

males 15-49, 4,084,000; 2,062,000 fit for military service, 191,000 reach military age (17) annually

Monetary conversion rate

17.50 Nepalese rupees=US$l (October 1984)

National holiday

Birthday of the King and National Day, 28 December

Official name

Kingdom of Nepal

Other political or pressure groups

numerous small, left-leaning student groups in the capital; Indian merchants in Terai and capital

Political subdivisions

75 districts, 14 zones

Railroads

63 km (1977), all 0.762-meter narrow gauge; all in Terai close to Indian border; 10 km from Raxaul to Biranj is government owned

Suffrage

universal over age 21

Telecommunications

poor telephone and telegraph service; fair radiocommunication and broadcast service; international radiocommunication service is poor; 10,000 telephones (less than 0. 1 per 100 popl.); 3 AM, no FM or TV stations Defense Forces

Type

nominally a constitutional monarchy; King Birendra exercises autocratic control over multitiered panchayat system of government