Nepal Essay

Nepal is a geographically diverse country which is located in Central Himalaya Range and between China in the north and India in the south. Nepal extends from 26°22ꞌ to 30°27ꞌN in latitude and 80°04ꞌ to 88°12ꞌ E in longitude. The length of the country is approximately 885 km from east to west, and the north-south width varies from 130 km to 260 km. Within this small range, the altitude varies from 60m above mean sea level in the southern plain to the Mount Everest i.e. 8848m in the north. Physiologically, the regions have been divided into Terai/plain (60-200 m), Siwalik (200-1000 m), lesser Himalayas (1000-5000 m), Higher Himalayas (> 5000 m) and Tethys/Trans Himalayas (2500-4000 m). About 86% of the total area of the country is comprised

The tropical evergreen is found between 60m-1200m height from the sea level. The temperate deciduous forest is found in the Mahabharat ranges from 1200m to 2100m. Temperate coniferous forest also found in the Mahabharat ranges. It lies in the altitude between 2101m to 3350m from sea level. Alpine vegetation is found in the mountainous region from the altitude of 3351 m to 5000m. Due to extreme cold and snow, there is less rainfall and temperature. Tundra vegetation is found at the higher Himalayas as above the 5000m altitude from the sea level. This area is covered with thick snow and has extreme climate condition. Due to this, it is impossible to germinate vegetation. Mosses and lichens are found there. The Himalaya of Nepal consists of 3252 glaciers with an area of 5322 km2 and reserved about 481 km3 volume of ice above 3500 mean sea level (Bajracharya et al., 2002) which discharges water regularly to the First Category Nepali River i.e. rivers originated above the snow