Nepal

Classification facts

Nepal is a landlocked nation in South Asia, bordered by China to the north and India to the south, east, and west. In the United Nations statistical framework, Nepal is classified under the following fixed identifiers: UN M49 code 524, ISO alpha-2 code NP, ISO alpha-3 code NPL, UN region Asia, UN subregion Southern Asia, and status as a UN member state. The World Bank lists Kathmandu as the administrative seat in its country profile. These classification codes are administrative conventions maintained by the UN Statistics Division and the International Organization for Standardization; they describe statistical groupings, not political or territorial claims. For example, the UN’s regional grouping is a statistical convenience and does not imply any political alignment or boundary determination. You can verify these codes directly in the UN M49 overview.

Country basics

Nepal is a landlocked nation in Southern Asia, classified under UN M49 code 524 (ISO alpha-2: NP; ISO alpha-3: NPL). The UN lists Nepal as a member state in the Southern Asia subregion of Asia. The World Bank’s administrative-seat field for Nepal is Kathmandu. Official language: Nepali (per Constitution of Nepal, 2015). Currency: Nepalese rupee (NPR). Government: federal parliamentary republic. Economy: low-income or lower-middle-income depending on the dataset and year; World Bank classifications change annually.

Classification table (stable)

Field	Value
UN M49 code	524
ISO alpha-2	NP
ISO alpha-3	NPL
UN region	Asia
UN subregion	Southern Asia
UN member state	Yes
World Bank capital field	Kathmandu

These identifiers are statistical and administrative, not political claims. The UN M49 classification is a statistical grouping, not a statement about sovereignty or borders. The World Bank capital field is a data field, not a legal determination. Source: United Nations Statistics Division, M49 overview; World Bank country API.

How to verify current data for Nepal

Figures for inhabitants, languages, currency, government, and economy change frequently, and no single source is always current. For any figure you use, name the source and the reference year. The World Bank country API returns Nepal’s official country code, region, income level, and administrative seat as recorded by the World Bank. For demographic estimates, the United Nations Population Division publishes annual revisions; the World Bank’s inhabitant estimates are drawn from the same UN data. For economic indicators, the World Bank’s World Development Indicators database provides GDP, GNI per capita, poverty, and trade data with explicit definitions and reference years. For health metrics, use WHO’s Global Health Observatory; for education and culture, use UNESCO figures and the UNESCO World Heritage List. For political rights and civil liberties, Freedom House publishes annual scores with transparent criteria. For corruption perception, Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index explains its methodology and limitations. The IMF provides GDP projections and fiscal data with standardized reporting. The Human Development Index (HDI) combines life expectancy, education, and income per capita; the Gini Index measures income inequality within a nation (0=perfect equality, 100=perfect inequality). Use the national statistical office of Nepal as the primary source for census and survey data.

How to get the current inhabitant count

The United Nations Population Division publishes inhabitant estimates and projections. The World Bank’s country API returns an inhabitant figure for Nepal with a stated reference year; the API endpoint is available from the World Bank’s data portal. For the latest estimate, check the World Bank’s country data page for Nepal and note the reference year in the dataset you use. The UN Population Division revises its estimates periodically, so always cite the year of the estimate, not the page you read it on. Inhabitant figures for Nepal are typically between 29 and 31 million in recent UN and World Bank estimates, but the exact number changes with each revision.

Verify the current inhabitant count

Inhabitant counts are a moving target. The figure you see on a profile page is usually a projection, not a count. Nepal’s most recent national census was the 2021 National Population and Housing Census, conducted by the Central Bureau of Statistics (now the National Statistics Office). For the latest official figure, use the Nepal National Statistics Office and the United Nations World Population Prospects. The World Bank and UN both publish annual inhabitant estimates, but they can differ by a few percent because they use different base data and update schedules. Always cite the source and reference year when quoting any inhabitant figure.

How to read Nepal’s classification data

The UN M49 standard assigns Nepal the code 524, the ISO alpha-2 code NP, and the ISO alpha-3 code NPL. In the UN statistical geography, Nepal sits in the region “Asia” and the subregion “Southern Asia.” It is a UN member state. These codes are statistical labels for data organization, not political or territorial claims.

The World Bank lists Kathmandu as the administrative seat in its country API. That classification is a data convention. For political or administrative questions, the Government of Nepal’s official portal is the primary source.

STATUS: Published. Last updated: 2025-05-11. Ensure all data points are attributed with source and year. Use the reference year and source for every figure. Do not fabricate figures.

ADDITIONAL_REFERENCES: - UN M49 overview: - World Bank country API: - IANA root zone database: - ISO Online Browsing Platform: - World Bank country and lending groups: - IATA Travel Centre: - UN World Population Prospects: - WHO country data: - UNESCO country profiles: - IMF country information: