COUNTRY PROFILE

Nepal Flag, Capital and Country Facts

Nepal lies between India and China on the southern edge of the Himalayas. The world’s only non-rectangular national flag matches a country with unusually high elevation differences. From the flat terai to the highest mountains on earth, landscape and climate change in a short distance. Kathmandu combines a densely populated valley with important religious and artisanal traditions.

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Nepal Flag: Meaning & Country Facts · supplied learning collection

Nepal at a glance

Capital: Kathmandu
Quiz continent: Asia
Languages in reference record: Nepali as an official language; numerous other national languages
Currency: Nepali Rupee (NPR)
Population: 29,618,118 (2025, World Bank)
Area: 147,181 km²
Coastal setting: Landlocked
ISO codes: NP / NPL
Internet country suffix: .np

Highest mountain: Mount Everest, about 8,849 m
Southern Plain: Terai
Time zone: UTC+5:45
Republic since: 2008
Religious site: Lumbini
Significant earthquake: 2015

Nepal Flag: Design, Meaning and History

The flag consists of two red triangular pennants with a blue border arranged one above the other. In the upper part is a white moon symbol, in the lower part a white sun. It does not have a rectangular background field; the free contour of the two triangles is the actual flag shape. Especially this silhouette makes Nepal immediately recognizable even without detailed knowledge.

Red is associated, among other things, with rhododendron and bravery, blue with peace. Sun and moon belong to older rule and image traditions. Its current stylized form was established in 1962. Historical variants featured faces in the celestial bodies; the national flag depicted here does not use these faces. Popular interpretations of the triangles are to be distinguished from the precisely defined geometric construction.

Capital: Kathmandu

Kathmandu is located in a high-altitude basin in the central part of the country. The capital is thus neither a city of the southern lowlands nor a place of settlement directly on Mount Everest. The valley forms its own cultural and economic space. Its location linked historical trade routes between the Indian subcontinent and Tibet.

The UNESCO World Heritage Kathmandu Valley comprises several monument areas and not just a single square. These include palace complexes as well as Hindu and Buddhist sanctuaries. The city and its neighbouring towns suffered severe damage in the 2015 earthquake. Reconstruction therefore affects living religious and urban places, not only isolated museum buildings.

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Nepal: Geography, History and Culture

To the south lies the flat Terai as part of the North Indian deep plain landscape. North are followed by hill country and finally the High Himalayas. Mount Everest reaches about 8,849 meters and is located on the border with China. The same state thus contains tropical lowlands and extremely cold high mountain ranges; altitude is an essential climate factor. These landscape levels each have their own agricultural possibilities and natural limits of settlement.

Nepali is an official language, but the population speaks many other languages, including Maithili, Bhojpuri, Tamang and Nepalbhasha. The diversity is related to different historical settlement areas. Hindu and Buddhist traditions meet in many places, without this resulting in an identical religious practice for all people.

Nepal has historically been united as a kingdom and has been a republic since 2008. The factbook archive stand from 2025 describes a landlocked country with difficult mountain connections. Tourism is visible, but agriculture, migration and remittances are also important for the bigger picture. The well-known summits alone therefore explain neither the everyday life of the cities nor the economic conditions in remote valleys.

Sagarmatha

Sagarmatha National Park is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and includes the Everest region. The Nepalese name reminds us that internationally known mountains also have local names.

Chitwan

Chitwan National Park is also a World Heritage Site. Its lowland landscape is in clear contrast to the high-alpine Everest region.

Lumbini

Lumbini is UNESCO World Heritage Site as the birthplace of Buddha. The site is located in the southern lowlands and complements the often mountain-centered image of Nepal.