Names: conventional long and short form: Nepal local long and short form: Nepal

Capital City: Kathmandu

Population: 28,287,147 (July 2006 est.)

GDP Per Capita: $1,500 (2006 est.)

Currency: Nepalese rupee (NPR)

Languages: 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

Total Area: total: 147,181 sq km land: 143,181 sq km water: 4,000 sq km slightly larger than Arkansas

Region: Asia

Industries: tourism, carpet, textile; small rice, jute, sugar, and oilseed mills; cigarettes, cement and brick production

Agriculture: rice, corn, wheat, sugarcane, root crops; milk, water buffalo meat

Resources: quartz, water, timber, hydropower, scenic beauty, small deposits of lignite, copper, cobalt, iron ore

Labor Force: 10.4 million note: severe lack of skilled labor (2004 est.)
agriculture: 76% industry: 6% services: 18%

Exports: $822 million f.o.b.; note - does not include unrecorded border trade with India (2005 est.)
carpets, clothing, leather goods, jute goods, grain

Imports: $2 billion f.o.b. (2005 est.)
gold, machinery and equipment, petroleum products, fertilizer

Overview: Nepal is among the poorest and least developed countries in the world with almost one-third of its population living below the poverty line. Agriculture is the mainstay of the economy, providing a livelihood for three-fourths of the population and accounting for 38% of GDP. Industrial activity mainly involves the processing of agricultural produce including jute, sugarcane, tobacco, and grain. Security concerns relating to the Maoist conflict have led to a decrease in tourism, a key source of foreign exchange. Nepal has considerable scope for exploiting its potential in hydropower and tourism, areas of recent foreign investment interest. Prospects for foreign trade or investment in other sectors will remain poor, however, because of the small size of the economy, its technological backwardness, its remoteness, its landlocked geographic location, its civil strife, and its susceptibility to natural disaster.

_{CIA World Book}

In 2007 Missouri exported $1,345,430 in goods to Nepal. This ranks Nepal 64^th among the 223 international buyers of Missouri goods. Missouri exports to Nepal increased from the previous year by $930,788 a change of 224.48%. State exports to Nepal have increased over the last 5 years by $1,277,968 a change of 8194.35%. Missouri exports account for .01%. of all 2007 US exports to Nepal.