Nepal: The Republic

·         On May 30, 2008 in Nepal, government formally told the deposed monarch to vacate the royal palace within the next two weeks.

·         On May 29, 2008 in Nepal, aides of King Gyanendra hoisted national flags inside the courtyard of the Narayanhity Palace by replacing the royal flags “insignia of Shah Dynasty”,  as kingdom became a republic after 240 years of rule by the Shah dynasty.

·         Nepal's new constituent assembly voted on May 28 to abolish the monarchy, giving king and his family 15 days to leave the residence.

·         The abolition of the monarchy was a key demand of the former Maoist rebels who emerged from April's elections to the assembly as the biggest party.

·         The landlocked Kingdom of Nepal  is of roughly rectangular shape, 650 km wide and 200 km broad, with an area of 147,181 Sq km

·         Nepal is commonly divided into three physiographic areas: the Mountain, Hill, and Terai Regions.

·         The Terai Plains bordering India are part of the northern rim of the Indo-Gangetic plains. They were formed and are fed by three major rivers: the Kosi, the Narayani (India's Gandak River), and the Karnali.

·         The Hill Region (Pahar in Nepali) abuts the mountains and varies from 1,000 to 4,000 m in altitude. Two low mountain ranges, the Mahabharat Lekh and Shiwalik Range (also called the Churia Range) dominate the region.

·         The Mountain Region contains the highest region in the world. The world's highest mountain, Mount Everest (Sagarmatha in Nepali) at 8,850 m is located on the border with China.

·         Eight of the world's ten highest mountains are located in Nepal.

·         Kanchenjunga the world's third highest peak, is also located on its eastern border with Sikkim.

·         Although Nepal shares no boundary with Bangladesh, the two countries are separated by a narrow strip of land about 24 km wide, called the Chicken's Neck.

·         Nepal has been under the sway of an hereditary monarchy or ruling family for most of its known history, largely isolated from the rest of the world.

·         A brief experiment with multi-party politics in 1959 ended with King Mahendra suspending parliament and taking sole charge.

·         Democratic politics was introduced in 1991 after popular protests, but it has been extremely factionalised with frequent changes of government.

·         The current monarch has twice assumed executive powers - in 2002 and 2005.

·         The monarchy's fall from grace has come swiftly and was heralded by the 2001 massacre in which the then-Crown Prince Dipendra killed his family and several other royals