Nepal Geography
Nepal is located in between India and China. Nearly twice the size of Portugal, Nepal stretches 850 km from west to east and between 150 to 250 km from north to south. There are four distinct physical regions:
1) The Tarai runs along the northern margins of the fertile north indian gangetic plain. Formerly a malarial region because of its dense jungles, tropical heat and high humidity, most of it is now rich agricultural land. Apart from the gorge of the Narayani river, the Tarai is an unbroken belt, between 20-40 km in width ranging in altitude from 300 meters to the tops of some low hills. The famous Chitwan National Park and the Koshi Tappu National Park both lie within the Terai zone.
2) The Siwaliks are the low hills immediately north of the Terai and reach about 2000 meters in height. There are some intervening valleys of the Inner Terai before the forested higher mountains of the Mahabharat Lekh (2400-4250 meters) are reached.
3) The Middle Basin includes the well known Kathmandu and Pokhara valleys. This approximately 80 km wide basin was formerly covered with lakes formed by glacial rivers. The rich alluvial soil has meant that the region in is intensively cultivated and hance has Nepal’s highest population concentrations. The hills along the northern edge of this basin are the starting points for many treks that go deeper into the Himalaya. The energy needs of the large populations that live immediately to the south has unfortunately meant that these once forested mountains are now largely denuded of cover with consequent and predictable results of floods, landslides and drinking water shortages.
4) The High Himalaya is the northern belt of high peaks and separated by the deep gorges like the Kali Gandaki, which is 6000 meters deep. It is the world’s deepest gorge. The Himalaya, formed when the southern Indian plate collided with the Asian plate. To the north mountains are still rising at between 15 to 30 milimeters a year. Nepal has eight highest mountains which is above 8000 meters
