President: Francois Hollande Prime minister: Jean-Marc Ayrault
President: Ram Baran Yadav
Population
65,630,692
29,890,686
Life Expectancy
81.460 years
66.510 years
Capital City
Paris
Kathmandu
Largest city
Paris (population: 2,138,550)
Kathmandu (population: 1,442,270)
Human Development Index
0.955
0.53
GDP per capita
$35,600 US
$1,300 US
Literacy Rate
99%
48.6%
Corruption Perception Index
6.9
2.7
Percentage of Women in Parliament
19.6%
33.2%
Wealthiest Citizens
Bernard Arnault ($16.5bn US)
NA
Unemployment Rate
9.300%
46.000%
Death Penalty
Abolished
Abolished
Political System
republic
federal democratic republic
Independence date
486 (Frankish tribes unified); 843 (Western Francia established from the division of the Carolingian Empire)
1768 (unified by Prithvi Narayan SHAH)
Religions
Roman Catholic 83%-88%, Protestant 2%, Jewish 1%, Muslim 5%-10%, unaffiliated 4% overseas departments: Roman Catholic, Protestant, Hindu, Muslim, Buddhist, pagan
Hindu 80.6%, Buddhist 10.7%, Muslim 4.2%, Kirant 3.6%, other 0.9% (2001 census) note: only official Hindu state in the world
Languages
French 100%, rapidly declining regional dialects and languages (Provencal, Breton, Alsatian, Corsican, Catalan, Basque, Flemish) overseas departments: French, Creole patois
Nepali 47.8%, Maithali 12.1%, Bhojpuri 7.4%, Tharu (Dagaura/Rana) 5.8%, Tamang 5.1%, Newar 3.6%, Magar 3.3%, Awadhi 2.4%, other 10%, unspecified 2.5% (2001 census) note: many in government and business also speak English (2001 est.)
Exports
machinery and transportation equipment, aircraft, plastics, chemicals, pharmaceutical products, iron and steel, beverages
euros (EUR) per US dollar - 0.6799 (2008 est.), 0.7345 (2007), 0.7964 (2006), 0.8041 (2005), 0.8054 (2004)
Nepalese rupees (NPR) per US dollar - NA (2007), 72.446 (2006), 72.16 (2005), 73.674 (2004), 76.141 (2003)
Military Budget as percentage of GDP
2.600%
1.600%
Beijing Olympics Medal Count
40
0
Location
Western Europe, bordering the Bay of Biscay and English Channel, between Belgium and Spain, southeast of the UK; bordering the Mediterranean Sea, between Italy and Spain
Southern Asia, between China and India
Area
643,801 km sq
147,181 km sq
Coastline
0 km
0 km
Climate
varies from cool summers and severe winters in north to subtropical summers and mild winters in south
