Nepal

Despite its small size, Nepal contains an impressive diversity of ethnic and caste groups: more than 100 groups and 90 languages are represented. Prior to 2008, Nepal was the world's only Hindu kingdom. Eighty-one percent of the population is Hindu, 11 percent is Buddhist, and 4 percent is Muslim. In 2008, the monarchy was overthrown and the country became the Republic of Nepal.

One of the biggest challenges to development in Nepal is the creation and maintenance of adequate physical infrastructure to support healthcare and education in rural, remote areas. The violence and destruction perpetrated by an insurgent group with general communist aims called Maowadi, or Maoists, along with the Security Forces seeking to eliminate them, was a major impediment to improving country indicators between ...