Did You Know? Interesting Facts About Nepal

Traversing the steppes in Nepal, 2005

Traversing the famous “stepped” landscape in Nepal, AdventureWomen walk up thousand year old steps through the rice fields

Did you know these 12 interesting facts and trivia about Nepal? We didn’t!

  1. The word Himalaya means the home or abode of snow.
  2. The geological age of the Himalaya is approximately 70 million years.
  3. Himalayan rivers are older than the Himalayan peaks.
  4. In Nepal there are 8 of the world’s 14 highest mountains above 8000 meters, including Mt. Everest.
  5. Nepal has 8% of the total species of birds found in the world.
  6. The highest lake on earth, Tilicho, is in Nepal. It rests at 4800 meters.
  7. Nepal has the deepest lake at the highest elevation. She Phoksundo is 145 meters deep and rests at 3600 meters.
  8. The Kaligandaki is the deepest gorge on earth, dropping 1200 meters.
  9. Nepal also has the highest valley on earth, the Arun valley.
  10. Nepal is the birth place of Lord Buddha – the apostle of peace and is also the only country where people worship the living goddess Kumari.
  11. Nepal has the densest concentration of World Heritage Sites. Kathmandu valley alone has 7 World Heritage Cultural sites within a radius of 15 kilometers.
  12. In Nepal there are as many as 80 ethnic groups speaking more than 100 different languages.