With its ancient culture and the Himalayas as a backdrop, landlocked Nepal was closed to the outside world until the 1950s.
Since then the country has seen the creation of a multi-party parliamentary system, a decade-long Maoist insurgency and the abolition of its monarchy.
Flanked by China and India, it is home to eight of the world's highest mountains including Mount Everest, known locally as Sagarmatha.
As one of the world's poorest countries, Nepal's economy relies heavily on aid and tourism.
A devastating earthquake in April 2015 killed thousands of people, flattened villages and reduced numerous heritage sites to ruin.
Since then political infighting has delayed much of the reconstruction despite billions of dollars having been pledged.
The territory of Nepal has a recorded history since the Neolithic age. The name "Nepal" is first recorded in texts from the Vedic Age, the era which founded Hinduism, the predominant religion of the country. In the middle of the first millennium BCE, Gautama Buddha, the founder of Buddhism, was born in southern Nepal. Parts of northern Nepal were intertwined with the culture of Tibet. The Kathmandu Valley in central Nepal became known as Nepal proper because of its complex urban civilisation. It was the seat of the prosperous Newar confederacy known as Nepal Mandala. The highest elevation in Nepal is Mount Everest, Earth's highest mountain, rising 8,848 m (29,029 ft) above sea level. The Himalayan branch of the ancient Silk Road was dominated by the valley's traders. The cosmopolitan region developed distinct traditional artand architecture. By the 18th century, the Gorkha Kingdom achieved the unification of Nepal. The Shah dynastyestablished the Kingdom of Nepal and later formed an alliance with the British Empire, under its Rana dynasty of premiers. The country was never colonised but served as a buffer state between Imperial China and Colonial India. In the 20th century, Nepal ended its isolation and forged strong ties with regional powers. Parliamentary democracy was introduced in 1951, but was twice suspended by Nepalese monarchs in 1960 and 2005. The Nepalese Civil War resulted in the proclamation of a republic in 2008, ending the reign of the world's last Hindu monarchy.
Modern Nepal is a federal secular parliamentary republic. It has seven states. Nepal is a developing nation, ranking 144thon the Human Development Index (HDI) in 2016. The country struggles with the transition from a monarchy to a republic. It also suffers from high levels of hunger and poverty. Despite these challenges, Nepal is making steady progress, with the government declaring its commitment to elevate the nation from least developed country status by 2022. Nepal also has a vast potential to generate hydropower for export.