TOTAL 18,700,000 (1989) (10)
DENSITY (sq.km.) 122 (1988) (52)
GROWTH RATE 2.6 (1980 - 89) (10)
% URBAN 9 (1989) (10)
% UNDER 5 16 (1989) (10)

OFFICIAL WORK WEEK

Sunday - Thursday

BUSINESS HOURS

Summer 1000 - 1700 (52)
Winter 1000 - 1600
Friday 1000 - 1500

PUBLIC HOLIDAYS

11 Jan. - Unity Day
29 Jan. - Martyrs Day
18 Feb. - National Day
Feb./Mar. - Shivarati
8 Mar. - Nepalese Women's Day
10 Mar. - Holi Festival
Apr. - Nepali New Year*
Apr. - Lord Buddha's Birthday*
10 Apr. - Teachers Day
May/June - Indra Jatra* (1991) (4)
1 week Oct. - Dasain
24 Oct. - UN Day
7 Nov. - Queen's Birthday
2 days Nov. - Tihar
17 Dec - Constitution Day
28 Dec - King's Birthday

* indicates moveable holiday

VISA

Required (9), (53)

VACCINATION

Yellow fever if coming from infected area (15)

LANGUAGES

Principal Nepali official (80% can speak it), plus many others
Foreign (5)

UNIT OF MEASUREMENT

Metric (52)

CURRENCY

Rupee. US $ 1 = 28.60 (12/89) (4)

GNP/CAPITA US $ 180 (1988) (10)

RELIGIONS (%)

Hindu - official - 80 (51), (52)
Mahayana Buddhism - 8
Bon
Animism

DEVELOPMENT AID (% of GNP)

13(1988) (10)

ETHNIC GROUPS (%)

Indo Aryan (52)
Mongoloid

TIME (GMT) + 5.4 (52)

AREA (sq.km.) 140,797 (5)

CLIMATE

Period

Temperature

Apr.-Aug. - hot

Tarai 40°C, rest 28°C

Nov.-Jan. - cold

Tarai 23°C, rest

0-12°C

Feb.-Mar. - warm

Sept.-Oct. - warm

(52)

BIRTH RATE* 39 (1989) (10)
DEATH RATE* 14 (1989) (10)
INFANT MORTALITY* 125 (1989) (10)
LIFE EXPECTANCY 52 (1989) (10)
LOW BIRTH WEIGHT (%) not available

* Rate indicates incidence per 1000 population

STAPLE FOODS

Food patterns vary between castes and religions, not regions.

Rice
maize flour

Note - beef not acceptable

(7), (53)

ACCOMPANIMENT

pulses
vegetables
milk, cheese - milk products, yoghurt
mustard oil, butter, ghee

(7)

ACCEPTABLE ALTERNATIVES

wheat flour, sorghum, milk powder, potatoes, millet, barley

(7), (51)

SEVERE MALNUTRITION (%)

7; village survey shows 65 malnourished, 4 acute (17), (53)

NUTRITIONAL DEFICIENCIES

endemic goitre - cretinism, deaf - mutism; (53)
iron deficiency anemia;
vitamin A deficiency - xeropthalmia, conjunctival xerosis, Bitot's spots

POP./PHYSICIAN 32,710
N° HEALTH CENTERS 13
POP./NURSE 4,680 (1984) (19)
N° HOSPITALS 96 (52)
COLD CHAIN in airport and in capital (51)

Fourteen local manufacturers producing essential drugs. (52)
Royal Drugs Limited produces 16%.

MAJOR DISEASES

Diarrhea, gastrointestinal diseases
Acute respiratory infections
Skin diseases
Cholera
Tuberculosis
Typhoid
(12), (51), (52)

IMMUNIZATION/CONTROL PROGRAM

Tuberculosis
DPT
Polio
Measles
Leprosy
Malaria
(13), (17), (52)

MINISTRY OF HEALTH ORGANIZATION

Family Planning & Maternal and Child Health

EPI, Tuberculosis, Leprosy, Goitre, Malaria Eradication & Control

Environmental Health

Nutrition

(12), (52)

REFERRAL SYSTEM

Peripheral or Panchayat - village health workers or panchayat - based (52)
health workers, health posts, EPI/MCH Clinic, mobile clinincs

Community - Community Health Leaders

District - District Health Officers, family planning, EPI, MCH, malaria

National hospitals

DISASTER TYPES

NUMBER

PERCENT

Floods

11

32,4

Landslides

6

17,6

Earthquakes

4

11,8

Droughts

4

11,8

Epidemics

3

8,8

Storms

4

11,8

Accident

1

2,9

Heatwave

1

2,9

Total Disasters

34

(1)

FOCAL OFFICE

Informal government acceptance of Central Disaster Relief Operations Committee (51)
(CDRC) resulting from Nepal Red Cross plan.

DISASTER PLAN

no, but Nepal Red Cross has National Disaster Relief Plan (51)

WARNING SYSTEMS

Flood, landslides - Hydrological & Meteorological Dept.
Seismic Centres
Floods, landslides, fires - Satellites
(51)

NATIONAL EMERGENCY RESOURCES

Nepal Red Cross - major relief, storage warehouses with food, supplies, drugs.
National laws permit relief operations.
(51)

PREPAREDNESS STATUS

National Calamity Relief Act - legal framework.
Nepal Red Cross - preparedness courses, programmes.
CDRC has National, Zonal, District Disaster Relief, Village Committees. Some hospital plans.
(51), (52)

EMERGENCY SUPPLIES LIKELY TO BE REQUESTED

helicopters
(51)

COMMUNICATIONS

Telephone communications - 25 telephone exchanges, difficult within the country, but connections to India & Pakistan.
(4), (51), (52)

Radio - Radio Nepal - government owned, short and medium wave. 550,000 sets. Many listen to Indian radio stations. TV - 24,000 sets. Press - 58 dailies, 2 in English.

Roads - 5,925 kms - difficult terrain. Railroad - 53 km narrow gauge. Ropeways exist with 8 and 22.5 metric ton / hour capacity.

2 international airports, 35 air fields. Dependence on India for ocean freight

EMERGENCY NGOs

Nepal Red Cross
(51)

UN AGENCIES

WHO
UNDP
ILO
UNFPA
UNICEF
FAO
World Bank
UNIC
IMF
WFP
(52)