NEPAL ( नेपाल )

Nepal (Nepali: नेपाल), officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a country in South Asia. It is located mainly in the Himalayas, but also includes parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. It is the 49th largest country by population and 93rd largest country by area. It is landlocked, and borders China in the north and India in the south, east and west, while Bangladesh is located within only 27 km (17 mi) of its southeastern tip and Bhutan is separated from it by the Indian state of Sikkim. Nepal has a diverse geography, including fertile plains, subalpine forested hills, and eight of the world's ten tallest mountains, including Mount Everest, the highest point on Earth. Kathmandu is the capital and the largest city. Nepal is a multiethnic country with Nepali as the official language. The name "Nepal" is first recorded in texts from the Vedic period of the Indian subcontinent, the era in ancient India when Hinduism was founded, the predominant religion of the country. In the middle of the first millennium BCE, Gautama Buddha, the founder of Buddhism, was born in Lumbini in southern Nepal. Parts of northern Nepal were intertwined with the culture of Tibet. The centrally located Kathmandu Valley is intertwined with the culture of Indo-Aryans, and was the seat of the prosperous Newar confederacy known as Nepal Mandala. The Himalayan branch of the ancient Silk Road was dominated by the valley's traders. The cosmopolitan region developed distinct traditional art and architecture. 

By the 18th century, the Gorkha Kingdom achieved the unification of Nepal. The Shah dynasty established the Kingdom of Nepal and later formed an alliance with the British Empire, under its Rana dynasty of premiers. The country was never colonized but served as a buffer state between Imperial China and British India. Parliamentary democracy was introduced in 1951, but was twice suspended by Nepalese monarchs, in 1960 and 2005. The Nepalese Civil War in the 1990s and early 2000s resulted in the establishment of a secular republic in 2008, ending the world's last Hindumonarchy. The Constitution of Nepal, adopted in 2015, affirms Nepal as a secular federal parliamentary republic divided into seven provinces. Nepal was admitted to the United Nations in 1955, and friendship treaties were signed with India in 1950 and the People's Republic of China in 1960.

Nepal contains a disproportionately large diversity of plants and animals, relative to its size. Nepal, in its entirety, forms the western portion of the eastern Himalayan biodiversity hotspot, with notable biocultural diversity. The dramatic differences in elevation found in Nepal (60 m from sea level in the Terai plains, to 8,848 m Mount Everest) result in a variety of biomes. Eastern half of Nepal is richer in biodiversity as it receives more rain, compared to western parts, where arctic desert-type conditions are more common at higher elevations. Nepal is a habitat for 4.0% of all mammal species, 8.9% of bird species, 1.0% of reptile species, 2.5% of amphibian species, 1.9% of fish species, 3.7% of butterfly species, 0.5% of moth species and 0.4% of spider species.^[77] In its 35 forest-types and 118 ecosystems, Nepal harbours 2% of the flowering plant species, 3% of pteridophytes and 6% of bryophytes. Subalpine coniferous forests cover the 3,000 m to 3,500 m range, dominated by Oak (particularly in the west), Eastern Himalayan fir, Himalayan pine and Himalayan hemlock; Rhododendron is common as well. Above 3,500 m in the west and 4,000 m in the east, coniferous trees give way to Rhododendron-dominated alpine shrubs and meadows. Nepal contains 107 IUCN-designated threatened species, 88 of them animal species, 18 plant species and one species of "fungi or protist" group. These include the endangered Bengal tiger, the Red panda, the Asiatic elephant, the Himalayan musk deer, the Wild water buffalo and the South Asian river dolphin, as well as the critically endangered Gharial, the Bengal florican, and the White-rumped Vulture, which has become nearly extinct by having ingested the carrion of diclofenac-treated cattle. The pervasive and ecologically devastating human encroachment of recent decades has critically endangered Nepali wildlife. In response, the system of national parks and protected areas, first established in 1973 with the enactment of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation Act 1973, was substantially expanded. Vulture restaurants coupled with a ban on veterinary usage of diclofenac has seen a rise in the number of white-rumped vultures.

The first Nepalese postage stamps were issued in April 1881 as a set of three which were valued at one anna, two annas, and four annas, inscribed as the Kingdom of Gorkha in Nepali script. These were initially perforated and printed on European-made paper. Within a few months they were released imperforate. In 1886 they were reprinted on hand-made Nepalese paper. Numerous printings of these first three values on the local paper were made for postal use until 1907, when new European-manufactured stamps picturing the god Pashupati were issued. 

Hulak (Postal Day) Dibas is observed on Ashoj 22 of Nepali Bikram Sambat Calander. This year it is in October 8, 2014 in English calendar. The first opportunity of sending and receiving letters though postal service in Nepal from the year B.S 1935, Till 1935 BS, the postal system was used to transfer the message of Kings and rulers. No public was offered postal services or even never given opportunity to know what postal service was. Delivery of personal letters and communications were not possible till the date ‘Nepal Postal House” (Nepal Hulak Ghar was established). The postal service in Nepal was opened to public only from the B.S 1935 (AD 1879). The first Postal Stamp in Nepal was published in the year B.S 1939 (AD 1881).   The letters are being stamped from 1939 BS in Nepal. Nepal acquired membership of the Universal Postal Union (UPU) on 11 October 1956.  The separate Postal Service Department in Nepal was established in B.S 2028 (AD 1972).   Despite of all the hurdles and barriers it is facing, Nepali postal system is working efficiently in compare to the infrastructure, facilities and amenities the government is providing to it. Nepali stamps were issued in April 1881 for the first time as a set of three. These stamps were in set of value of one aanaa, two aanaas and four aanaas. These stamps were printed on European papers. From 1886 Nepal started printing stamps on hand made Nepali paper. Numerous printings of these first three values on the local paper were made till 1907. In 1907 AD, again European manufactured stamps picturing the God Pashupatinath was printed and issued. The remainders of initial stamps bearing three values of 1, 2 and 3 aanaas used and reissued for telegraph in 1917 AD. In the regime of Chandra Samsher Jung Bdr. Rana (Prime Minister, 1901 to 1929) 

Reorganized the postal system by the introduction of a new set of stamps: Shri Pashupati set 1907, printed in England in lieu of the existing crudely and locally produced stamps, the Sripech and crossed Khukuris series. These stamps were of better qualities than of previous ones. There were also some initiatives on admission of Nepali postal service to international and European communities. However, Nepal entered into postal agreement with British Company Government of India on March 1, 1937, which opened the new door to Nepali postal service at least to India.  There are few evidences of government mail system bearing Lal Mohar of 1887 Bhadra 07 VS (20 Aug 1830), which is a good example of existence of postal system in Nepal.

The postal system in Nepal, from the time of Prithivi Narayan Shah to 1935 BS were all used for Royal communications and government’s service. The postal service for we all Nepali was opened only after 1935 when postal service house was established.

Nepal Post (the Nepal Government Postal Services Department) is the Postal Services Department of the Nepali Ministry of Information and Communications and the national post office of Nepal. Nepal Post became a member of the Universal Postal Union on 11 October 1956.