🇳🇵 Nepal

The earliest known modern human remains in South Asia date to about 30,000 years ago, and the oldest discovered archaeological evidence of human settlement in Nepal dates to roughly the same time. Prehistoric palaeolithic, mesolithic and neolithic sites have been found in the Siwalik hills of Dang district.

By 4000 BC Tibeto-Burmese populations had arrived in Nepal, either directly from Tibet across the Himalayas or via Myanmar and north-east India. Their arrival layered onto earlier pre-Dravidian and Dravidian inhabitants and shaped Nepal's enduring ethnic diversity.

Around 600 BC small kingdoms and clan confederations emerged across southern Nepal and northern India. From the Shakya polity came the prince who renounced his status and became Gautama Buddha, traditionally dated 563–483 BC, giving Nepal enduring religious significance.

By 250 BC southern Nepal had come under Mauryan influence, and Ashoka made a pilgrimage to Lumbini, erecting an inscribed pillar at the Buddha's reputed birthplace. The inscriptions mark the starting point of properly recorded Nepalese history; he also built monuments in the Kathmandu valley.

The Licchavis pushed the Kiratas eastward and took power in the Kathmandu valley around AD 400. They left monuments and a series of inscriptions from which the history of the period is almost entirely reconstructed.

In 641 the Tibetan Empire despatched an army supporting Narendradeva's return to the Licchavi throne, bringing Nepal under subjugation. Parts of Nepal subsequently fell under direct Tibetan influence.

The Licchavi dynasty declined in the late 8th century and Thakuri rule followed, lasting to the middle of the 11th century. Little is documented from this era, which is consequently known as Nepal's dark period.

An empire of the Khas people emerged in the 11th century, extending at its height over much of western Nepal, parts of western Tibet and Uttarakhand. Its language, later renamed Nepali, became the lingua franca of Nepal and adjoining Indian regions.

Around 1100 AD Simraungadh became the capital of the Karnats of Mithila or Tirhut, a kingdom that endured more than 200 years and at times ruled Kathmandu. It later passed under Muslim rule and then to the Senas of Makwanpur.

By the 14th century the Khas empire had fragmented into a loose association of twenty-two states known as the Baise rajyas. This fragmentation defined the political map of western Nepal until unification.

The Mallas established themselves in Kathmandu and Patan by the middle of the 14th century, initially under Tirhut suzerainty, and asserted independence by the late 14th century as Tirhut declined. In the late 14th century Jayasthiti Malla introduced widespread socio-economic reforms.

By the middle of the 15th century Kathmandu had become a powerful empire which, according to Kirkpatrick, stretched from Digarchi or Shigatse in Tibet to Tirhut and Gaya in India. This marked the high point of Malla territorial reach.

In the late 15th century the Malla realm was split into Kathmandu, Patan, Bhaktapur and Banepa. Rivalry among the brotherly kingdoms drove a flowering of art and architecture, including the Durbar Squares, but their mistrust enabled their fall and Nepal's unification in the late 18th century.

Mughal rule in India drove an influx of high-caste Hindus into Nepal, who intermingled with the Khas. By the 16th century some 50 Rajput-ruled principalities existed, including the 22 Baisi and 24 Chaubisi states, and Nepal came to be seen as a bastion of unadulterated Hinduism.

A dispute over control of mountain passes and the inner Tingri valleys of Tibet prompted Qing China to make war on Nepal. The Nepali were compelled to retreat to their own northern borders, capping Gorkha expansion in that direction.

The Gorkha ruler captured Kathmandu, Patan and Bhaktapur by 1769 and moved his capital into the valley, ending centuries of fragmented rule among smaller principalities. His campaign set the territorial basis for the modern Nepali state.

Bhanubhakta Acharya (1814–1868) was the first to compose major and influential works in Nepali, the language accessible to the masses. His translation of the Hindu epic marks the beginning of modern Nepali literature.

Rivalry with the British East India Company over disputed Himalayan foothill territory and border states led to war, in which the British initially underestimated the Nepali forces and were defeated until they committed far greater military resources; the fighting established the Gurkha reputation as fierce soldiers. Two years of conflict ended with the 1816 Sugauli Treaty, under which Nepal ceded roughly a third of its claimed lands and accepted a British resident in Kathmandu, fixing most of Nepal's present-day southern border.

A discovered plot by the reigning queen against the rising military leader Bir Narsingh Kunwar triggered armed clashes in the Kot courtyard and the killing of several hundred princes and chieftains. Kunwar, thereafter Jung Bahadur Rana, made the premiership powerful and hereditary and reduced the Shah kings to figureheads; Rana prime ministers then ruled Nepal as autocrats for more than a century, keeping the country largely closed to outsiders, until an alliance between King Tribhuvan and Nepali Congress rebels ended the system in 1951.

The staunchly pro-British Rana regime supported Britain during the Indian Rebellion of 1857 and later in both World Wars. This alignment secured Nepal's autonomy and material rewards from the colonial power.

In return for Nepalese military help in sustaining British control during the 1857 rebellion, parts of the western Terai were transferred to Nepal in 1860. The territory became known as Naya Muluk, the new country.

The Hindu practice of Sati, in which a widow immolated herself on her husband's funeral pyre, was outlawed in 1919. It was among the few social reforms of an otherwise tyrannical regime.

In 1923 Britain and Nepal formally concluded a friendship treaty that replaced the 1816 Sugauli Treaty. It confirmed Nepal's standing as an independent state in British eyes.

Slavery was formally abolished in Nepal in 1924. Debt bondage nonetheless persisted as a social problem in the western hills and the Terai.

A vibrant underground political movement in the capital gave birth to the Nepal Praja Parishad in 1936. It was dissolved seven years later following the execution of the four great martyrs.

The 1950 treaty with India provided for an unusually close relationship between the two states. It remains a cornerstone of Nepal's policy of balanced relations with its two giant neighbours.

With Indian support and the cooperation of King Tribhuvan, the Nepali Congress overthrew the Rana autocracy in 1951 and established parliamentary democracy. The revolution opened Nepal to the outside world, expanded its international trade and began the modern era of education and development.

Nepal joined the United Nations in 1955, formalising its place in the international system. It has since become a major contributor to UN peacekeeping, supplying more than 119,000 personnel to 42 missions since 1958.

Relations with China were established on 1 August 1955 and a Treaty of Peace and Friendship followed in 1960. Ties have since rested on the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence, with China viewed favourably owing to the absence of border disputes and its infrastructure assistance.

Founded in 1957, the Nepal Academy became the foremost institution for the promotion of arts and culture in the country. Its creation followed the flourishing of Nepali literature after the advent of democracy in 1951.

Tibetan refugees started crossing into Nepal in 1959 and continue to arrive each year. By late 2018 Tibetans accounted for 64% of Nepal's 20,800 confirmed refugees.

After a decade of wrangling between the palace and government, King Mahendra dismissed the elected government in 1960, dissolved parliament, banned political parties and imprisoned or exiled politicians. The partyless Panchayat system, formally initiated in 1962, ruled through tiers of councils answerable to the crown and modernised infrastructure while curtailing liberties and imposing heavy censorship; it lasted three decades until mass protests forced its end in 1990.

Nepal outlawed untouchability in 1963 and subsequently enacted further anti-discriminatory laws and social welfare initiatives. The measure marked a formal break with entrenched caste exclusion.

A communist insurgency was suppressed in the 1970s, driving scattered leftist factions to coalesce under the United Left Front. That consolidation later proved decisive in overthrowing the Panchayat.

The system of national parks and protected areas was first established with the 1973 Act and subsequently expanded substantially. Protected areas now cover 28,959.67 km2, nearly a fifth of the country's land.

Lhotsampa refugees expelled from Bhutan started arriving in the 1980s and numbered more than 110,000 by the 2000s. They constituted 31% of Nepal's confirmed refugee population in late 2018.

Liberalisation of Nepal's economy began in 1985 and accelerated after 1990. Foreign trade grew twenty-threefold from Rs 45.6 billion in 1990/91 to Rs 1.06 trillion by fiscal year 2016/17.

Weeks of mass protests led by banned political parties pressed King Birendra to lift the ban on parties and accept a constitutional monarchy. A new constitution promulgated in November 1990 established a multiparty parliamentary system.

Heavy rain since mid-June left at least 27 people dead, one missing and 69 injured nationwide, with continuing landslides disrupting the Mechi and Arniko highway corridors into August. Several sections linking Kathmandu to the southern plains remained blocked.

Kathmandu reasserted its claim to the Limpiyadhura-Kalapani-Lipulekh area under the 1816 Sugauli Treaty after India and China announced a pilgrimage route through the disputed pass. India rejected the objection, saying the route had been in use since 1954.

Nepal sought to raise electricity sales to India from about 1,000 megawatts to roughly 4,000 megawatts, citing regional energy shortages linked to the Middle East conflict. The Nepal Electricity Authority has targeted becoming a net power exporter as new plants come online.

The fiscal year 2026/27 budget, presented to parliament on 29 May 2026, was the largest in Nepal's history and targeted 7 per cent growth. It exempted annual incomes up to Rs 1 million from personal income tax and trimmed the number of ministries.

The bank cited fallout from the Middle East conflict and the September 2025 unrest, warning that slower tourism and higher transport costs would weigh on services. It forecast a pickup to 4.4 per cent over FY27-28 as reconstruction and hydropower expansion continued.

The warrants also named former Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal and relatives of all three men, and a former minister, Deepak Khadka, was arrested. Investigators examined assets accumulated by former ruling-party leaders and their families.

Balendra Shah took office on 27 March 2026 following his Rastriya Swatantra Party's landslide victory in the March general election. The result marked a decisive break from the established party system.

Led by former Kathmandu mayor Balendra Shah, the party won the biggest majority since Nepal's 1959 election, while the Nepali Congress and CPN-UML suffered their worst-ever results. Turnout was about 60 per cent in the first vote since the September 2025 unrest.

The arrest followed a judicial commission's finding that at least 76 people were killed when security forces fired on Gen Z protesters in September 2025. Former Home Minister Ramesh Lekhak and former Police Chief Chandra Kuber Khapung were also implicated.

Widespread protests over a social media ban, economic inequality and corruption turned into rioting that killed or injured dozens and damaged Parliament and other buildings. Oli fled Kathmandu and sought refuge with the army, which assumed nationwide security control and negotiated with protest leaders, who selected former chief justice Sushila Karki as interim prime minister.

Demonstrations on 8 and 9 September 2025 saw parliament and other government buildings burned; at least 76 people died, though early tallies during the unrest ranged from 72 to 77. Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli resigned on 9 September as the unrest spread.

Karki became Nepal's first woman prime minister after protest leaders rallied behind her, and parliament was dissolved the same day to prepare for elections. Her caretaker government set the vote for 5 March 2026 and largely comprised technocrats.

Half a dozen pro-monarchy demonstrations took place in Kathmandu favouring the return of former King Gyanendra. Thousands welcomed Shah on his arrival in Kathmandu on 9 March 2025, which the Rastriya Prajatantra Party read as evidence of frustration with the government.

The 2022 general election produced a hung House of Representatives in the second federal parliament. A coalition government under Pushpa Kamal Dahal was formed in December 2022.

The London branch of the Barakat Gallery returned a 16th-century carved wooden Torana and a 17th-century stone statue taken from sacred sites near Kathmandu. In 2023 further suspected looted Nepalese artefacts were identified in major museums and auction houses, advancing Nepal's cultural restitution claims.

Falling foreign currency reserves prompted the government to restrict imports of non-essential goods in 2022. The move underlined the vulnerability of an economy heavily dependent on remittances and imported fuel.

The number of international visitors crossed one million in 2018, excluding Indian tourists arriving by land. Tourism, which began with Nepal's opening to westerners in 1951 and the hippie trail of the 1960s and 1970s, had recovered from wartime disruption despite infrastructure bottlenecks.

Volleyball was proclaimed Nepal's national sport in 2017. The designation replaced informal precedence among sports in the country.

In 2017 Nepal enacted tighter restrictions on religious conversion. The measure sat uneasily with the secular character declared by the constitution.

The 2017 elections were the first conducted under the 2015 constitution. The NCP, formed by the merger of CPN (UML) and CPN (Maoist Centre), became the ruling party federally and in six of seven provinces.

The scheme launched in 2016 covers treatment of up to Rs 50,000 for five family members for an annual premium of Rs 2,500. Uptake has been limited but the programme is expected to expand.

India's 2015 blockade severely disrupted Nepal's supply of essential goods. Chinese assistance during the crisis markedly increased China's favourability in Nepalese opinion.

The quake and its aftershocks on 25 April 2015 killed 8,857 people, injured 22,304 and destroyed hundreds of thousands of homes, including historic monuments in the Kathmandu Valley. Reconstruction was estimated to cost around seven billion US dollars.

The new charter, adopted on 20 September 2015, established Nepal as a federal republic with seven provinces and expanded rights provisions. Madhesi and other groups in the southern plains protested that the settlement under-represented them, and border blockades followed.

In Constituent Assembly elections held in November 2013 the Nepali Congress won the largest share of seats, and in February 2014 it formed a coalition with the second-placed UML, with Nepali Congress president Sushil Koirala as prime minister.

After months of negotiations, in March 2013 the main parties agreed to create an interim government headed by then Chief Justice Khil Raj Regmi, with a mandate to hold elections for a new Constituent Assembly.

When the Constituent Assembly failed to draft a constitution by the May 2012 deadline set by the Supreme Court, Prime Minister Bhattarai dissolved it, plunging the country into renewed political uncertainty.

The 2011 census counted 26.5 million people, almost a threefold increase from nine million in 1950. It also noted 1.9 million absentees, mostly male labourers overseas, depressing the sex ratio to 94.2 and the growth rate to 1.35%.

The traditional men's and women's national dresses were removed as official national costume in 2011 to eliminate favouritism. The change reflected the multi-ethnic character of the new republic.

On 28 May 2008 the newly elected first Constituent Assembly, in its first act, abolished the monarchy and declared Nepal a federal democratic republic and a secular state, ending 240 years of Shah rule and the world's last Hindu monarchy. Former King Gyanendra left the royal palace, which was later opened to the public as a museum.

Between 2008 and 2011 there were four different coalition governments, led twice by the United Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist, which won a plurality in the 2008 election, and twice by the Communist Party of Nepal-United Marxist-Leninist (UML).

Several months of negotiations culminated in a late-2006 comprehensive peace accord and the promulgation of an interim constitution, ending the decade-long civil war.

Following the successful peaceful revolution of 2006, the Maoists entered the political process and adopted multi-party democracy as their official line. They emerged as the third largest party and their entry ended the armed conflict.

Nepal joined the WTO on 23 April 2004. Membership integrated the landlocked economy further into the multilateral trading system.

Amid the civil war, 2002 saw the dissolution of the cabinet and parliament and the king's assumption of absolute power, which he consolidated with a full takeover in 2005.

King Birendra, Queen Aishwarya and seven other relatives were killed at a family gathering on 1 June 2001. Dipendra was briefly proclaimed king while comatose before he died three days later, and Prince Gyanendra succeeded him amid lasting public doubt over the official account.

The insurgency began on 13 February 1996 with the aim of abolishing the monarchy and founding a people's republic. More than 17,000 people were killed and about 1,300 disappeared before the Comprehensive Peace Accord ended the conflict in November 2006.