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The People and Land of Nepal Essay

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The People and Land of Nepal

This paper will make and attempt to analyze the people and land of Nepal. More specifically it will examine the people of the Kathmandu Valley. This paper will show the relationship between the land and the population and how they have affected one another. First lets look at the general physical aspects of the entire nation of Nepal and then narrow it down to the characteristics of the valley. Seventy-five percent of Nepal is covered in mountains, some of the most rugged terrain in the world. The Himalayas and its foothills are what cover most of the nation. These mountains rise to heights greater than 29,000 feet making it naturally isolated and difficult to habitate. Less than one quarter of …show more content…

These are the temperatures of the Kathmandu Valley, the temperatures and conditions would be much different at the higher elevations in the mountains. In the Kathmandu Valley is where there is the most habitable land area. In Nepal the population is eighty-five percent rural, and the urban population is all within this valley. This valley is naturally isolated making resource in the area limited to scarce. People have to do many different things to scratch a meager existence out of the land. As I said before the Valley was once covered in forest, but now most of the forest has been removed by the area's population. The forest was removed for the timber, which is used for building and more often for fuel and energy. It is also has been deforested to clear area for agriculture. Often slash and burn tactics are used, or the trees are pulled out by their roots, which removes the topsoil and makes the ground very difficult to farm on anyway. Once the topsoil is removed, it will never again replenish itself. The isolated environment has forced the people to destroy their forest for fuel and agriculture. The physicality of the region has also made people search for new resources to pool for their needs. Now that forests have become scarce people have begun to rely on water for energy. They are using glacial flow for hydroelectricity. The energy created is used and partially stored and sold, hopefully saving what remains of the battered and burnt

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