Nepal Sambat (Devanagari: नेपाल सम्बत) is the national lunar calendar of Nepal. The era started on 20 October 879 AD and was in widespread use for all daily purposes until the beginning of the 20th century. It appeared on coins, stone and copper plate inscriptions, royal decrees, chronicles, Hindu and Buddhist manuscripts, legal documents and correspondence.

The name Nepal Sambat was used for the calendar for the first time in Nepal Sambat 148 (1028 AD).

Following a period of neglect, Nepal Sambat has been revived as Nepal's glory and symbol of national unity. In 2008, the government named it a national era. On 25 October 2011, the government decided to bring Nepal Sambat into use as the country's national calendar, and formed a taskforce to make recommendations on its implementation.

Nepal Sambat was replaced as the national calendar after the Gorkha conquest of the Kathmandu Valley in 1768 which resulted in the end of the Malla dynasty and the advent of the Shah dynasty. The Shahs used Saka era. However, Nepal Sambat remained in official use for a time after the coming of the Shahs. The treaty with Tibet signed during the reign of Pratap Singh Shah is dated Nepal Sambat 895 (1775 AD).

Nepal (नेपाल) (ⁱ/nɛˈpɔːl/ ne-PAWLNepali: नेपाल [neˈpal] ( listen)), officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked sovereign state located in South Asia. It is located in the Himalayas and bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by the Republic of India. Specifically, the Indian states of Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, and Sikkim border Nepal, while across the Himalayas lies the Tibetan Autonomous Region. With an area of 147,181 square kilometres (56,827 sq mi) and a population of approximately 27 million (and 2 million absentee workers living abroad), Nepal is the world's 93rd largest country by land mass and the 41st most populous country. Kathmandu is the nation's capital and the country's largest metropolis. Kathmandu Valley itself has estimated population of 5 million.

Nepal has a rich geography. The mountainous north has eight of the world's ten tallest mountains, including the highest point on Earth, Mount Everest, called Sagarmatha in Nepali. It contains more than 240 peaks over 20,000 ft (6,096 m) above sea level. The fertile and humid south is heavily urbanized.