Nepal is a landlocked country in South Asia, bordered by China to the north and India to the east, south, and west. It covers approximately 147,516 square kilometres and extends about 800 kilometres from east to west, but only 150 to 250 kilometres from north to south. Within this narrow distance, elevation rises from around 60 metres in the Terai to 8,848.86 metres at Mount Everest, known in Nepal as Sagarmatha.
Administrative Geography
Nepal is a federal country divided into seven provinces, 77 districts, and 753 local levels. Kathmandu, situated in the central hill region, is the national capital. Nepal’s administrative boundaries cross very different physical environments, ranging from densely settled plains and river valleys to remote mountain districts.
Major Physical Regions
Nepal is commonly divided into three broad geographical regions: the Mountain, Hill, and Terai regions. A more detailed classification divides the country into five physiographic zones: the Terai, Siwalik or Chure, Middle Mountains, High Mountains, and High Himalaya.
The Terai forms Nepal’s southern lowland belt and is part of the wider Indo-Gangetic Plain. Its flat terrain, fertile alluvial soil, warm climate, transport links, and access to groundwater make it the country’s principal agricultural and settlement region.
North of the Terai lies the Siwalik, also called the Chure, a young and geologically fragile range of low hills. Between the Chure and the higher Mahabharat Range are the Inner Terai valleys, including Chitwan, Dang, Surkhet, Sindhuli, and Udayapur. These broad valleys contain forests, rivers, farmland, settlements, and growing urban centres.
The Hill Region includes the Mahabharat Range, middle mountains, basins, and valleys. Kathmandu and Pokhara valleys lie within this varied landscape. Terraced farming is widespread, while settlements are commonly concentrated along ridges, river corridors, and valley floors.
The northern Mountain Region contains the High Mountains and High Himalaya. Nepal has eight peaks above 8,000 metres, including Everest, Kanchenjunga, Lhotse, Makalu, Cho Oyu, Dhaulagiri, Manaslu, and Annapurna I. The region also contains glaciers, alpine meadows, deep gorges, high valleys, and cold desert landscapes such as Mustang and Dolpo.
Rivers, Climate, and Biodiversity
Nepal’s rivers generally flow from north to south. The Koshi, Gandaki, and Karnali are the three major river systems. Other important rivers include the Mahakali, Bagmati, Babai, Rapti, Kamala, Kankai, and Mechi. These rivers support irrigation, drinking-water supplies, ecosystems, hydropower, and agriculture, but they can also cause erosion and flooding.
Climate changes sharply with elevation. The southern plains have tropical and subtropical conditions, the hills are mainly temperate, and the high mountains have alpine and permanently cold environments. This climatic variation supports grasslands, subtropical forests, temperate forests, wetlands, alpine vegetation, and high-altitude ecosystems.
Natural Hazards
Nepal’s active geology, steep slopes, monsoon rainfall, and glaciated mountains make it highly exposed to earthquakes, landslides, floods, debris flows, avalanches, droughts, and glacial lake outburst floods. These hazards strongly influence settlement, infrastructure, land use, and development planning.
Conclusion
Nepal’s geography is defined by extreme elevation, compressed climatic zones, young mountain systems, fertile plains, and powerful rivers. These physical features have shaped the country’s biodiversity, economy, cultures, transport networks, settlement patterns, and everyday life.
