- published: 28 Aug 2014
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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.
King Tribhuhvan Bir Bikram Shah (त्रिभुवन वीर विक्रम शाह), King of Nepal (June 23, 1906 – March 13, 1955) was King of Nepal from 11 December 1911 until his death (not considering his exile from 7 November 1950 to 18 February 1951). Born in Kathmandu, the capital city of Nepal, he ascended to the throne at the age of five, upon the death of his father, King Prithvi Bir Bikram Shah, and crowned on 20 February 1913 at the Nasal Chowk, Hanuman Dhoka Palace in Kathmandu, with his mother acting as regent. At the time, however, the position of monarch was mainly titular, with real power in the country residing in the powerful, conservative Rana family, which supplied the country with its hereditary prime minister.
Tensions between the royal family and the Ranas came to a head during World War I. The Ranas wanted to join the war in support of Britain, which controlled India to the south. The prime minister, HH Maharaja Sri Sri Chandra Shamsher Jang Bahadur Rana always had his way with the young king, who eventually ordered the troops to go to war.