PHYSICAL FEATURES OF NEPAL

 TERAI REGION 

          The  Terai  region  is  in  the  southern  part  of  the  country.  The  Terai  being  an  extension  of  the  Gangetic  plains  of  India,  forms  a  low  land.  It stretches from Mechi   to Mahakali.  It  covers  about  17%  of  the  total  land  of  the  country.  According  to  2001 AD  it  covers  about  49%  of  the  population  of  the  country  and  it  is  an  increasing  rate.  The land topography of this region is plain.  The climate of this region is warm and humid. 

PHYSICAL ASPECT:

The plain part of southern region of Nepal is Terai.  20 districts of Nepal come under this region.  Jhapa, Dhanusa, Nawalparasi, Dang are some  districts.  It’s  breadth  is  20  to  30  kilometers  and  it  is  formed  of  fertile  and  fine  soil.  The  rivers  flowing  from  the  north  to  the  south  bring  sand  pebbles stones  and  make  the  soil  fertile.  There  are many  longitudinal  valley sand  the  Terai  region  can  be  sub-divided  into  three  regions  Inner  Terai,  Bhabar  Terai  and  Main  Terai.

BIOLOGICAL ASPECT:

                The structures of ecosystem of this region are different. So there are different kinds of animals, birds, vegetation and other living organism. The lion, elephant, leopard, musk deer are found in the forest .The king vulture, dove, cuckoo, peacock and various birds are found here. The trees and plants of tropical and sub-tropical climate like Sal tree, bamboo, papal, Katus etc. Mostly the cultivation is done in the southern part of Terai. The cultivation such as paddy, maize, sugarcane is done. The farmers can conduct several agricultural activities for their development of the country.

SOCIO-ECONOMIC ASPECT:

        As the climate of this region is warm and humid there is alluvial soil. This region is also called house of food grains as there are small and large scale industries. The main occupation of people living in this region can be taken as agriculture, trade and service. There are thick and thin settlement in some places. There are also big towns in the place like Biratnagar, Mahendranagar, Siddharthanagar. There is also migration from hilly to the terai due to the different facilities available here. By the census report of 2058 B.S, 48.43% live here. The people sustain their life by involving them in animal husbandry, fish farming occupation.  

PHYSICAL FEATURES OF NEPAL

HILLY   REGION

The  hilly  region  is   situated   in  the   middle  part  of  the  country  between  the  Himalayan  region  and  the  Terai  region.  It  also  spreads  from  east  to  west  and  lies  between  the  altitudes  of  610 m  to  4877 m  from  sea  level.  The  region  occupies  68%  of  the  total  land  area  of  the  country.  It  has  mild  climate  which  is  neither  hot  nor  cold.  The  people  living  in  higher  altitudes  profession  are  animal  husbandry,  cottage  industry  and  cultivation  of  the  cereals  like  maize,  millet,  fruits  and  vegetables  and  the  people  living  in  the  lower  attitude  cultivate  variety  of  cereal  crops  and  cash  crops.  The  hilly  region  has  its  own  ecological  status  due  to  land  topography,  tropical  structure,  climate,  biodiversity  and  creatures.

PHYSICAL ASPECT:

All  the  physical  products  available  in  the  mountain  region  and  the  terai  region  come  under  this  region.  As said before it has mild climate.  Hills  of  different  heights,  wide,  broad,  basins,  narrow  valleys  are  found in  this  region.  In  this  region  35  district  lie  out  of  the  total  country.  Ilam,  Panchthar,  Gorkha,  Sindhuli,  Pyuthan,  are  some  of  the  district  which  lie  in  this  region.  This  region  also  can  be  divided  into  three  sub-divisions  as  Mahabharat  ,  Middle  land  and  Chure  range.  There is also diversity in this region.

BIOLOGICAL ASPECT:

The  hilly  region  is  sub-divided  into  three  range  which  have  some  difference  in  the  structure  of  their  ecosystem.  Various  kinds  of  thick  forest  are  available  in  some  part  of  this  region.  Sal,  Chilaune,  bamboo,  timber,  katus,  oak  like  plants  and  trees  are  available  here.  The cultivation of maize, millet, soyabean, etc  are  done.  Many birds and animals live here.  It  is  a  proper  place  for  animals  husbandry  and  fruits.  Different  kinds  of  biological  aspects  have  helped  this  region  and  is  also  helpful  for  other  valuable  organism.

SOCIO-ECONOMIC ASPECT:

In  this  region  fertile  land  can  be  found  and  there  is  wider  diversity  of  land.  The cultivation of the paddy  is done  in  irrigated  land.  This region is also suitable  for  agricultural  occupation.  People keep domestic animals like cow, sheep, goat, buffalo, etc.  The  people  live  in  plain,  big  and  small  and  narrow  valleys  of  this  region.  There are rural  settlement in  this  area.  The  major  cities  like  Kathmandu  and  Pokhara  lies  in  this  region.  The population is high in Kathmandu valley.  The  castes  such  as  Rai,  Limbu,  Magar,  Damai,  etc  live  here.  There  is  also  a  large  number  of  houses  made  up  of  bricks,  mud, tiles,  etc  and  many  houses  are  made  up  of  stone  and  soil  with  roof  covered  with  tiles.  Similarly  in  urban  areas  the  houses  are  made  up  of  cement  and  iron  bars  using  the  modern  technology.  The  main  occupation  of  the  people  living  in  this  region  is  agriculture.  Some people run business and some have services.  It has a pleasant natural environment and trekking.  Here some people are engaged in the tourism industry. 

PHYSICAL FEATURES OF NEPAL

THE HIMALAYAN REGION:

      The Himalayan Region lies to the north of the country which covers the mountainous area of the country. 15% of the total land area has been encompassed by this region.  Only 2% is arable as the land is very cold, covered with rugged surface and snow. The altitude ranges between 4,877 meter to 8,848 meter above sea levels. In this region there are many pastures, gorges, passes, small lakes, glaciers and falls. So this region is suitable for animal rearing and tourism. Due to geographical situation and climatic conditions, this region has a very less density of population. In 2001 AD, this region accommodated 7.3% the population of the country but at a decreasing rate. Almost all big rivers running through the country originate from this region. In this region people die due to starvation. The fruits produced in Hilly and Himalayan region decay before reaching Terai region people. The people leave the place of their origin of difficult living and migrate to the place of the destination of possible easy living. So density of the people increases in the Terai region. So their appear a big gap between the places of easy and difficult living within the country. The Terai, valleys, river basins, tars and gentle slopes become much more developed than other parts. So, regional disparity occurs, and local resources cannot be utilized properly, administration cannot be carried out smoothly and national dis-integrity may occur. To overcome such problem, there is the need of development regions. However,  there  is  a  diversity  in  ecosystem  and  human  activities  according  to  geographical  belts.

  

    Eco-System  Of  Mountain  Belt  And  Its  Related  Aspects

PHYSICAL ASPECTS:

The  land  topography,  rivers,  streams,  climate,  etc  constitute  the  physical  aspects  of  mountain  belt.  About  35%  of  the  total  land  of  the  country  makes  the  mountain  region  but  only  2%  of  the  land  is  cultivable.  The climate of this region is moist, cold and dry.  Even the snowfall takes in this region. The  highest  and  the  most  luring  mountains  lie  in  this  region  such  as  Sagarmatha  i.e. Mt. Everest Kanchanjunga, Lantang, Mahalangar, Ganesh, Annapurna, Dhaulagiri, Kangiroba, etc.  Out  of  75  districts  16  districts  lie  in  this  region  some  of  which  are  Taplejung,  Dolkha,  Mustang, Darchula,  etc.  It  can  be  divided  into  three  sub-regions  which  are  Main  Himalayas,  Inner  Himalayas  and  Marginal  Himalayas.  The  status  of  diversity  of  ecosystem  can  be  known  from  the  study  of  these  three  sub-regions.

BIOLOGIAL ASPECTS:

This  region  can  also  be  considered  as     the  shelter  of  vegetations,  agricultural  crops,  different  kinds  of  birds  and  animals.  Cultivation  of  millet,  barley,  wheat,  maize,  buckwheat,  etc  are  done  in  this  region.  Cultivation  of  green  vegetable,  potato,  radish,  etc  and  fruits  like  apple,  lemon,  peach,  etc  are  common  in  this  region.  In some ditches and valleys, cultivation of paddy is  done.  Besides,  there  are  alpine  forests  and  grass  fields  in  some  places.  Oaks,  maples,  pines,  birches,  rhododendron,  blue  pine,  etc  are  also  found  in  this  belt.  Small plants and bushes are found above 4000 meters.   Birds  and  animals  like  ghoral,  snow  leopard,  bog,  black  bear,  pygmy,  pheasant,  Munal,  Kalij,  etc  are  available  in  this   region. 

SOCIO-ECONOMIC ASPECTS:

Due  to  hard  and  cold  climate  and  difficult  land  topography,  farming  is  very  difficult.  However,  the  farming  of  Yak  and  sheep  is  done  on  a  large  scale.  But  due  to  snowfall  from  time  to  time,  vegetation  cannot  grow  and  develop.  The  chief  occupation  of  the  people  living  in Himalayan  region  is  animal  husbandry.  The  settlement  zone  is  up to  the  height  of  about  4572  meters.  Tribes  like  Mugal,  Managi,  Thakalis,  Sherpa’s,  etc  live  in  this  region. The  lifestyle,  fooding,  clothing,  occupation  of  the  people  of  Himalayan  region  is  different  from  that  of  other  regions.  Houses  are  built  with  beaten  stone  and  wood  with  doors  and  windows  small.  People wear thick woolen garments.  According  to  the  census  of  2058 B.S,  the  population  of  Himalayan  region  was  7.3%  out  of  the  total  population  of  the  country.  The  chief  source  of  income  is  animal  husbandry  and  small  closed  trades.  Due  to  the  limitations  of  physical  facilities  such  as  transport ,  communication,  electricity,  etc,  the  life  of  people  has  turned  out  to  become  very  difficult.