Research on Nepal

The first thing l I did when looking up Nepal is look to find out where it is located.  When I saw that it is in between China and India, I figured that it was going to end up being a little bit of both Chinese and Indian Culture.  Having been over to that area, I remember how harsh the weather was.  It is alot like Spokane with the four seasons, but each season is amplified.  Nepal has some very hot summers, harsh winters, and even a sub tropical summers in the south.  I always found the transition between harsh winters and extremely hot summers very hard to deal with.  I imagine that this makes a very hardened type of people or nomads that are from here.  

When I looked to see what ethnic groups there were in Nepal, I was very surprised that there were many and the highest percentage was no more than 16%.  Nepal really is a melting pot or salad bowl when it comes to ethnicity.  This may be one of the most diverse places that I have ever seen.  When it comes to religion, Hindu makes up a large part at 81%.  I found this to be interesting because Nepal was the birth place of Buddha, so I wonder if Nepal has always been this way or changed over time.  Maybe Buddha was Hindu.  I also know that China has taken Tibet and made it apart of their country and wonder if they are looking to absorb Nepal also.  From what i found in my research they are not.  The Dali Lama calls Nepal his home now, after Tibet was absorbed back into China.  I guess the Chinese aren't after him, it was mostly just about Tibet.

Next I looked at the type of government that Nepal has.  The have  "Federal Democratic Republic".  This title seemed very odd to me for some reason that I cant place my finger on.  I feel like it is a translation that does not translate well.  They operate by English common law and Hindu legal concepts.  I found this to be interesting because it reflects a time when British ruled parts of India and how that rubbed off on the whole area.  They were able to take ideas from their old governors and meld them with their nation's belief system.

Since Nepal is so close to Everest, I wanted to look up Sherpas.  They are an ethnic group that is found mostly by the mountainous regions.  They are famous for being guides and porters to people climbing mountains and going on other expeditions.  I thought that it was very interesting that Sherpas do not suffer from the effects of altitude and low oxygen because of their genetics and upbringing.  Hearing how people adapt to environments is something that i have always found to be interesting.  It must be funny for them to see others deal with altitude and low oxygen.  It reminds me of southern Africa, as many of the people have sickle cell anemia because the shape of the blood cells give them an immunity to malaria.  having sickle cell anemia means that their blood does not get as much oxygen, so they would never make it up a mountain before passing out and dying.  The ways in which bodies adapt to their environment shows how different people really are.