Nepal is associated, in most people's imagination, with Everest, vivid plants and picturesque villages and people. The truth, as always, is other. This atlas describes the people, languages, towns and industries, agriculture, food and land management, natural resources, effects of tourism, sources of energy, and transport and education policies.

Nepal is associated, in most people's imagination, with Everest (Sagarmatha to the Nepalese), vivid plants and picturesque villages and people. The truth, as always, is other. It is one of the poorest countries in the world, surrounded by big and powerful neighbours. It is immensely diverse, ranging from the great mountains to the north through the trans-Himalaya, a high barren plateau, through the deep valleys, which include the one which contains the ancient cities of Kathmandu, Patan and Bhaktapur, to the Terai which is an extension of Ganges plain. This atlas describes not only the...