Nepal is a landlocked country located in South Asia. It lies between latitude 26° 22′ to 30° 27′ north and longitudes 80° 4′ to 88° 12′ east. Nepal occupies 0.03% of the total land of the world, 0.3% of Asia and 3% of the South Asia. Nepal lies between two giant countries of Asia: India and China. It is about 1,127 km away from the sea/ bay of Bengal.
The total area of Nepal is 147,516 square kilometres i.e. 56,956 square miles. The average length of Nepal from east to west is 885 kilometres and the width from north to south is 193 kilometres. Nepal is surrounded by the states of India in the south, west and east: Bihar and Uttar Pradesh in the south, Uttarakhanda in the west and West Bengal and Sikkim in the east; and by Tibet, the autonomous region of China, in the north. Nepal Standard Time is determined on the basis of the longitude 86° 15′ east that passes through Mt. Gaurishankar lying in Dolkha district.
The time of Nepal is 5 hours 45 minutes ahead of Greenwich Mean Time. The time was introduced in Nepal from Baishakh 1, 2042 BS. Out of the fourteen higher mountains in the world which are over 8,000 meters, eight lie in Nepal. There are more than 1,300 peaks in Nepal which are 6,000 meters and over.
There are approximately 301 such peaks in Mustang area alone. There are big rivers such as Koshi, Gandaki, Karnali and beautiful lakes such as Rara, Phewa, Gosaikunda in Nepal along with the Himalayas. Tropical, Meso-thermal, Microthermal, Tiaga and Tundra climates are found in Nepal because of the diversified topography and the wide differences in climate and weather.
The latitudinal differences in Nepal’s geophysical landscape have created geographical differences. Nepal has been recognized in the world as the land of Mt. Everest, the birthplace of Gautam Buddha, the country of the third pole and also as the country of unique national flag.