Nepal is a landlocked country in Southern Asia, between the Tibet autonomous region of China and India. It contains 8 of the world’s 10 highest peaks, including Mount Everest – the world’s tallest – on the border with Tibet, and Lumbini, the birth place of Gautama Buddha, the founder of Buddhism.

Visitors to Nepal generally associate the nation with snow-capped mountain peaks. Whilst there are over 90 peaks which lie above 7000m (22,966 ft), approximately one-third of the country is low-lying and subtropical. The nation’s altitude rises from less than 100 metres (328 ft) elevation in the tropical Terai (the northern rim of the Gangetic Plain) to Sagarmāthā (Mount Everest) – the world’s highest mountain at 8,848m (29,029 ft).