The City of Kathmandu (Nepal)

Nepal, the birthplace of Buddha, is an independent country located between Tibet and China. For hundreds of years Nepal had been a monarchy. In 2008, it was declared as the Federal Republic of Nepal. The tallest mountain in the world – Everest, also called Chomolungma, is located there. The mountain range of the Himalayas is crossing the country having eight of the highest peaks in the world. 

For thousands of years, the country was closed for foreigners, for which the explorations of the area started to be carried out from the 19th century. As the birthplace of Buddhism, Nepal is home to thousands of temples. Because of its diverse geography and picturesque landscape, Nepal attracts thousands of tourists and mountaineers. 

Kathmandu is the capital of Nepal. The name of the city derives from the Kasthamandap temple, one of the popular tourist attractions in Nepal. According to a manuscript the city was called Kasthamandap meaning ‘wooden shelter.’ Till nowadays Buddhist priests refer the city with its old name. Kathmandu was a trade route between India and Tibet. This made the architecture of the city as a fusion of different cultures, hence adopted to the local one.
It is the largest urban area in the territory of Nepal and one of the least expensive cities in the world. The population of the city is more than 970,000 inhabitants (according the recent consensus of 2011), and it covers an area of 50 square kilometers. The city is located in the Kathmandu valley, in the middle of Nepal. 

Kathmandu is the economic center of the country, representing the tourism gateway of Nepal. After the end of the political unrest in the country, tourism became one of the main industries in the country. With the flourishing of the tourism, Nepal became a member of a number of international tourism associations. Starting from 1950, a developed system of five and four star hotels emerged in Kathmandu. Accordingly, the considerable part of the Nepal industry is the tourism; it is listed in the 10 most visited countries in the world, and the first most visited in Asia. 

An inscription found in the valley of Kathmandu indicates that  the city has a history of two thousand years. Religion is the considerable part of the everyday life of the residents. The majority of them follows Buddhism and Hinduism, though other religions find their place, shaping the cultural and religious diversity of  Kathmandu. The residents speak Nepali, and the educated population speaks English.

The so called sister cities of Kathmandu – Lalitpur and Bhaktapur, together with Kathmandu (including tourist attractions in the three cities) are included in the Unesco Heritage List.