Geography
Lies between Asia's two major giants—China and India, Nepal is a sovereign, independent Himalayan Kingdom (lying between 800 4' and 880 12' East Longitude and 260 22' and 300 27' North Latitude). Nepal is the country of amazing extremes, which is surrounded by Tibet, the Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China, in the north, and India in the east, south and west. Covering a total area of 147,181 sq. kilometers, the country expands to about 885 kilometers from the east to the west. Its breadth (north-south) ranges between 145-241 kilometers.

Geographically, the country can be divided into three regions— Himalayan region, hilly region and the plain area in the Terai. The Himalayan region that covers 20 per cent of the total area ranges between 4,877-8,848 meters. The region has 8 of the world's 14 highest peaks above 8,000 meters. The mountain region covers about 64 per cent of the total land area. Terai region is the low land occupying 17 per cent land.

Climate
Nepal has four main seasons that include Winter (December-February), Spring (March-May), Summer (June-August), and Autumn (September-November). Visitors can visit Nepal throughout the year. Lightweight closing is recommended for May-October. And warm garments are necessary for October-March. During summer, an umbrella or a raincoat is essential. Climatic variation is one of Nepal's unique characteristics. Various types of climate can be found from the tropical to the plain of the Terai region.

High Altitude Sickness
An acute mountain sickness (AMS), also known as altitude sickness, may affect those who ascend rapidly to more than 3,000 meters of height. The initial symptoms of AMS include nausea, vomiting, loss of appetite, insomnia/sleeplessness, persistent headache, dizziness, light headedness, confusion, dis-orientation, drunken gait, weakness, fatigue, lassitude, slight swelling of hands and face, breathlessness and breathing irregular and reduced urine output.

Medical facility
Health care services are available at the government hospitals and private nursing homes in Kathmandu and other cities outside the Kathmandu Valley. In the countryside, primary health care services are available. You are advised to consult your family doctor regarding any health-related problem before visiting Nepal and follow his/her advice. However, if you are taking any medicines, bring them with you. It would be better if you could bring some first aid medicines for cold, headache, fever, diarrhea, bandages, handy-plasters, anti-septic lotion, etc.

People
Around 23 million people belonging to more than 40 ethnic communities live in this world's only Hindu Kingdom, which is also known as a hidden Shangri-La. The different ethnic groups of the country speak around 70 dialects.