Disaster Risk Management Profile: Kathmandu Valley, Nepal

Landlocked between China and India, Nepal is rectangular-shaped with a total
area of 147,181 square kilometers. The country is home to eight of world's 10
highest peaks, including Sagarmatha or Mount Everest and a population of
24,797,7059 (Central Beaureau of Statistics-Nepal) with a growth rate of 2.25%
(2004 estimate).
Geographically, the country is divided into three regions: Mountain, Hills and
Tarai (plains area), and administratively, is divided into five development
regions: eastern, central, western, mid-western and far western. The Tarai,
known as the "grain basket" of Nepal because nearly 40% of the area is actively
farmed, is a low, flat, fertile region stretching east-west along the Indian Border
covering 23% of the total area of Nepal. Nearly half of Nepal’s total population
- 47% - live in this region.
The remaining bulk of Nepal’s population - 45% - live in the Hilly region, so
named because the area varies between 610 meters to 4,877 meters above the
sea level. The Hilly region covers 43% of the country of which only 10% is
actively farmed.