mmunist Party of Nepal/United Marxist
and Leninist (CPN/UML), Prime Minister Man Mohan ADHIKARI, Deputy
Prime Minister Madhav Kumar NEPAL; Nepali Congress Party (NCP),
president Krishna Prasad BHATTARAI, former Prime Minister Girija
Prasad KOIRALA, Leader of the Opposition Sher Bahadur DEUBA; National
Democratic Party (NDP), Surya Bahadur THAPA; Terai Rights Sadbhavana
(Goodwill) Party, Gajendra Narayan SINGH; United People's Front (UPF),
Niranjan Govinda BAIDYA; Nepal Workers and Peasants Party (NWPP),
Narayan Man BIJUKCHHE; Communist Party of Nepal
(Democratic-Manandhar), B. B. MANANDHAR

Other political or pressure groups: numerous small, left-leaning
student groups in the capital; several small, radical Nepalese
antimonarchist groups

Member of: AsDB, CCC, CP, ESCAP, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDA,
IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IOC, ISO
(correspondent), ITU, NAM, SAARC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNIFIL,
UNOSOM, UNPROFOR, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WMO, WTO

Diplomatic representation in US:
chief of mission: (vacant); Charge d'Affaires ad interim Pradeep
KHATIWADA
chancery: 2131 Leroy Place NW, Washington, DC 20008
telephone: [1] (202) 667-4550
consulate(s) general: New York

US diplomatic representation:
chief of mission: Ambassador Sandra L. VOGELGESANG
embassy: Pani Pokhari, Kathmandu
mailing address: use embassy street address
telephone: [977] (1) 411179
FAX: [977] (1) 419963

Flag: red with a blue border around the unique shape of two
overlapping right triangles; the smaller, upper triangle bears a white
stylized moon and the larger, lower triangle bears a white 12-pointed
sun

@Nepal:Economy

Overview: Nepal is among the poorest and least developed countries in
the world. Agriculture is the mainstay of the economy, providing a
livelihood for over 90% of the population and accounting for half of
GDP. Industrial activity is limited, mainly involving the processing
of agricultural produce (jute, sugarcane, tobacco, and grain).
Production of textiles and carpets has expanded recently and accounted
for 85% of foreign exchange earnings in FY93/94. Apart from
agricultural land and forests, exploitable natural resources are mica,
hydropower, and tourism. Agricultural production in the late 1980s
grew by about 5%, as compared with annual population growth of 2.6%.
More than 40% of the population is undernourished. Since May 1991, the
government ha