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Environment
Nepal
sits uneasily on the window sill of the southern
Himalaya, wedged between China to the north
and India to the south. With a span of 800
by 200 km it is just another small country,
but in height it's a world-beater. Not only
does it have the world's tallest mountains,
including the cloud-hugging Everest and Annapurna,
it also has the youngest - and they're still
growing. Apart from its four mountain ranges
- Churia Hills, Mahabharat Range, Himalaya
and the Tibetan Marginals - Nepal also has
vast plains in the south, fertile valleys
in the midlands and high-altitude deserts
in the north. The heavily cultivated belt
between the Mahabharat Range and the Himalaya
supports the bulk of the country's population,
which keeps growing.
There
are over 6500 species of trees, shrubs and
wildflowers in Nepal. The height of bloom
is in March and April, when rhododendrons,
the national flower, burst into colour. Nepal
also boasts an astounding diversity of animal
life, with 800 bird species and exotic mammals
such as the royal Bengal tiger and snow leopard,
as well as rhinoceros, elephant, bear, deer,
monkey and jackal. Unfortunately, due to habitat
degeneration and poaching, opportunities for
seeing wildlife are usually restricted to
national parks, reserves and western Nepal,
where the human population is sparse.
Nepal
has a four-season year: the fall season (October
to November), the winter season from December
till mid of February, the spring from mid
of February till the onset of the final season:
the monsoon (June to September). The monsoon
affects the whole country, often flooding
the southern plains, before tailing off as
it moves away to the north and west. Temperatures
vary but are generally hottest in the summer
months of May and June and coldest during
December and January.
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