NEPAL: Landlocked Nepal, wedged between India and China, occupies an area of 147,000 sq km and has a population of about 27 million.
- The Himalayan nation has eight of the world's 14 highest mountains, including Everest.
- It is the world's only Hindu kingdom, with almost 90 per cent of its people Hindus and the balance including Buddhists, Muslims and Christians.
- Nepal is one of the world's poorest countries and its economy depends on aid and tourism. More than 80 per cent of the people earn their livelihoods from agriculture. Western aid, at $450 million (€365 million) in 2004, was nearly 30 per cent of the annual budget.
- Tourism accounted for about 4 per cent of the country's $6.3 billion gross domestic product in 2004.