nPosted on January 11, 2018
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Key points
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The fellow who unified modern Nepal was born a loooong time ago:
The fellow who unified modern Nepal was born a loooong time ago:n
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n295 years ago, to be exact!
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nKing Prithvi Narayan Shah is sometimes called the Father of the Nation.
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nPeople gather in Kathmandu, the capital city of this small Asian country, to honor Prithvi Jayanti – also known as National Unity Day. There are rallies and banners and
placards, flowers to lay at the feet of the King’s statue, and renewed promises to make every group, every language, every ethnicity and culture in Nepal even stronger.
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nHere are some things that make Nepal special:
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nREALLY tall mountains!
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nEven though Nepal is a small nation, it has eight of the world’s tallest ten mountains!!! People come from all over the world to see and/or climb these amazing peaks.
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Including, of course, the famous Mount Everest, the tallest mountain in the world. (The Tibetan name for Everest is Chomolungmain, and the Nepali name for it is Sagarmatha.)
Including, of course, the famous Mount Everest, the tallest mountain in the world. (The Tibetan name for Everest is Chomolungmain, and the Nepali name for it is Sagarmatha.)n
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nNepal has never been under direct foreign rule, including never being actually colonized…probably because of the high mountains and the difficulty of conquering and holding a very mountainous nation. Even the mighty British Empire just made a peace treaty with the rulers of Nepal. Nepal ended up being a “buffer zone” between two big powers – Imperial China and British Colonial India.
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| Nepal is shown in red on this map. |
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nRemember all that diversity of groups, languages, ethnicities, and cultures I talked about above? Well, Nepal is described as having more than 80 ethnic groups and more than 120 different languages – even though it is smaller than my state of California!!
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nAs for religions, most Nepali people follow Hinduism, and Nepal is home of a famous temple dedicated to Lord Shiva. Hindus from all over the world to visit this Pashupatinath Temple.
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Also, Nepal is considered the traditional birthplace of the founder of Buddhism, Siddhartha Gautama. People come from all over the world to make pilgrimages to this birthplace, Lumbini.
Also, Nepal is considered the traditional birthplace of the founder of Buddhism, Siddhartha Gautama. People come from all over the world to make pilgrimages to this birthplace, Lumbini.n
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nHave you noticed that “people come from all over the world” a lot? Yes, tourism is an important aspect of Nepal’s economy – but it would be a more important factor if the country were more stable politically.
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nFor more on Nepal, check out this earlier post.
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nAlso on this date:
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Engineer and inventor Laurens Hammond’s birthday
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Anniversary of the Grand Canyon becoming a National Monument
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nHostos Day
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nAnniversary of the discovery of francium
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nBirthday of the “Father of Wildlife Management”
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International Thank You Day
International Thank You Day
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nPlan ahead:
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nCheck out my Pinterest pages on:
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nJanuary birthdays
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nAnd here are my Pinterest boards for:
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