Arriving in Nepal, the traveler enters an area which is unique in its orographic, botanical and zoological diversity. The geo-historical origins of the imposing Himalayan range, which comprises a considerable portion of Nepal, tell a fascinating story. Through our understanding of plate tectonics, from which the theory of continental drift is derived, we know that the Indian continental plate separated from the old southern continent of Gondwanaland and moved north, where it slid under the old Eurasian plate. In the process, the southerly Sea of Tethys narrowed, and when at the meeting point of the two plates the Himalayas emerged, the sediments of this sea were pushed up in the process. The fossils of sea animals at a height of over 4,000 meters are proof of this.
As the Himalayas arched ever higher, rivers, whose sources are found on the Tibetan plateau, carved deep into the young mountains. This created the impressive traverse valleys which to this day serve to make the range penetrable to traffic and trade at a few points. With the incessant pressure of the Indian continental plate on the Eurasian, the growth in height of the Himalayas continues at a rate of one millimeter per year. A permanent leveling in the form of natural erosion counteracts this process.
The Kingdom of Nepal comprises an area of about 147,000 square kilometers. It stretches over 800 kilometers from the northwest to the southeast, and is an average of 200 kilometers wide. From the Ganges plain to the main range of the Himalayas, Nepal ranges in altitude from 60 meters above sea-level in southeastern Terai up to 8,846 meters at the summit of Sagarmatha (Mt. Everest). More than a quarter of the land area is higher than 3,000 meters, and it is boxed in by mountain ridges, plains, valleys and basins, so that travel is extremely difficult.
It is impressive to find, within the confines of one single country, almost every form of vegetation and landscape, from jungle to glaciers, on a horizontal width of only 200 kilometers. Its geographical position between 30 degrees and 26 degrees 15' north, puts Nepal at about the same longitude as Libya, but the summer monsoon brings the Himalaya region record precipitation. Because of the country's alignment from northwest to southeast, its southeastern tip is 450 kilometers further south than its northwestern extremity. By location it is subtropical; but due to its alititude, it has little in common with a typical subtropical country.
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Location: Southern Asia, between China and India 
