On January 11 each year, Nepalese people gather on the streets of Kathmandu, its capital city, and celebrate Nepal's Unity Day with parades, flags and flowers at the foot of the statue of their beloved King from 260 years ago - King Prithibi Narayan Shah.
Unity Day in Nepal was celebrated in honor of King Prithibi Narayan Shah, who began the reign of the Shah dynasty in 1769, united the Kathmandu Valley with the rest of the country and established the state of Nepal.
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| King of Nepal Prithibi Narayan Shah |
Nepal is located in South Asia, on the border with the People's Republic of China to the north and India to the west, east and south.
Some interesting facts about Nepal that make it such a special country:
Nepal is a small country but has a great variety of cultures, ethnic groups and languages. It has more than 80 ethnic groups and 120 different languages. Neither group constitutes a majority. Some of the groups are of Indian descent, some from Tibet and some are from local culture.
Although the area of Nepal is small, it stars in the list of the highest mountains in the world: it has eight mountains out of the list of the ten highest in the world. The Himalayas within which the Mount Everest and the Anforna ridge are located are in Nepal and attract the most daring mountain climbers from all over the world.
Nepal has never been under direct foreign rule, probably because of the high mountains and the difficulty in conquering and holding such a mountainous country. Even the mighty British Empire created a peace treaty with the rulers of Nepal. Nepal was a "buffer zone" between two great powers - Imperial China and the Indian British Colony.
The most common religion among the Nepali people is Hinduism. Nepal is home to the famous Pashoptinat Temple dedicated to the god Shiva. Hindus from all over the world tend to visit the Pashoptinat Temple in Kathmandu.
Nepal is considered to be the traditional birthplace of the founder of Buddhism, Siddhartha Gautama, who is actually the famous Buddha. People come from all over the world to immigrate to his birthplace in southern Nepal, to the town of Lumbini.
Nepal is the only country in the world whose flag is not square.
Nepal's main agricultural product is jute, sugar cane, tobacco and grain.
Despite all these wonderful things in Nepal, the country suffers from political instability and poverty among almost half of its population. It is considered an underdeveloped country, but in recent years efforts have been made to promote its economic growth through foreign trade and external investment, mainly in tourism and hydroelectric power generation.
January 11 is also Milk Day