Social Studies and Life Skills · Chapter 5
Study notes aligned to the official NEB syllabus.
Geography is not only the study of mountains, rivers and plains. It also studies how the physical setting shapes the way people live, work and relate to one another. The land a community lives on affects its food, clothing and jobs. It also affects its culture and even its history.
This unit looks at four things. First, it looks at Nepal's place in the world. Second, it studies the deep link between human beings and their environment. Third, it looks at the geographical diversity of the world and how it affects people's lives. Fourth, it describes the different ecological regions of Nepal.
Nepal is a small, landlocked country in South Asia. It lies along the southern slopes of the great Himalayan range. India borders it on the east, south and west. China (the Tibet Autonomous Region) borders it on the north. Nepal has no coastline. Two large neighbours enclose it. So Nepal depends on them, especially India, for access to the sea and for much of its trade.
Nepal lies approximately between 26 and 30 degrees north latitude. It lies between about 80 and 88 degrees east longitude. These figures are approximate.
Nepal is small, but it has a remarkable place in the world. It has eight of the world's highest peaks. One of them is Sagarmatha (Mount Everest), the highest point on Earth. Nepal is also the birthplace of Gautam Buddha at Lumbini. This gives it deep cultural and religious importance.
Nepal is a federal democratic republic. It is divided into 7 provinces and 77 districts. It lies between India and China. These are two of the most populous nations in the world. This position gives Nepal strategic importance. It also shapes Nepal's foreign relations, trade and development.
For a Nepali student, knowing the country's location explains many everyday facts. For example, most goods are imported through Indian ports. Tourism built around the Himalaya is also very important to the economy.
Human beings and the environment depend on each other. The environment gives people the basic resources they need to live. These are air, water, soil, forests, minerals and a climate suitable for growing food. In return, human activities keep shaping and changing the environment. This works in both directions. So the health of society and the health of nature are closely tied together.
People adapt their way of life to their environment. In cold mountain areas, people build houses that keep in warmth. They wear thick woollen clothing. In the hot Terai plains, homes and dress suit the heat and heavy rain.
Human actions also affect the environment. Farming, building, cutting forests and burning fuels can cause harm. They can lead to deforestation, soil erosion, pollution and climate change.
Nepal has examples of this. In some places, the clearing of hillside forests has made landslides worse. It has also caused loss of fertile soil. Melting glaciers in the high Himalaya threaten the communities living below.
So a balanced relationship is essential. People should use resources wisely. They should protect nature for the future. This is called sustainable development. Community forestry in Nepal is a well-known example. In it, local user groups manage and protect forests. It shows people and the environment working in harmony.
The world has a huge variety of landscapes. There are towering mountains and vast plains. There are hot deserts and dense forests. There are frozen polar lands and long coastlines. This geographical diversity strongly affects how people live. Climate, landforms, soil and water decide what people can grow. They also decide the work people do, the homes they build and the clothes they wear. They even shape customs and festivals.
For example, people in fertile river plains usually depend on farming. They live in dense settlements. People in dry deserts may herd animals. They may live in scattered groups. Coastal peoples often fish and trade by sea. Mountain peoples adapt to thin air, steep slopes and cold.
Nepal shows this diversity over a short distance. A farmer grows rice in the warm Terai. A hill dweller grows maize and millet on terraced fields. A highland community raises yaks and depends on tourism. Their lives are very different. Geography shapes each of them. So geography helps explain the rich variety of human cultures and livelihoods across the world.
Nepal has three main ecological regions, also called belts. They run roughly from east to west. They form because the land rises quickly from the southern plains to the northern mountains. The three regions are the Himal (Mountain or Himalayan region), the Pahad (Hill region) and the Terai (plain region).
The Himal is the northernmost and highest belt. It has the great Himalayan peaks, including Sagarmatha (Mount Everest). It is cold and has few people. Snow covers it at high altitude. People here raise yaks and sheep. They grow hardy crops where possible. More and more, they depend on tourism and mountaineering.
The Pahad lies in the middle. It is a region of hills, valleys and mountains of moderate height. Its climate is pleasant. It includes important valleys such as the Kathmandu Valley and Pokhara. Much of Nepal's population lives here. People farm terraced fields of maize, millet, rice and vegetables.
The Terai is the southernmost belt. It is a flat, fertile plain. It is an extension of the Gangetic plain of India. It is warm and has plenty of water. It is the most productive farming region. It is often called the granary of Nepal. It produces much of the country's rice, wheat, sugarcane and other crops. It also has dense settlements, industries and major highways.
These three regions give Nepal great diversity in a small area. The diversity covers climate, crops, cultures and ways of life. Understanding the regions is central to understanding Nepal's geography and society.