Travel Guide - SAARC

Modern Nepal was created in the latter half of the 18th century when Prithvi Narayan Shah, the ruler of the small principality of Gorkha, formed a unified country from a number of independent hill states. The country was frequently called the Gorkha Kingdom, the source of the term “Gurkha” used for Nepali soldiers.
After 1800, [...]

Official name: People’s Republic of Bangladesh
Geographic coordinates: 23°42′N, 90°21′E
Land area: 51,703 sq mi (133,911 sq km)
Total area: 55,598 sq mi (144,000 sq km)
Population: 150,448,339 (2007)
Government: Parliamentary Republic
President: lajuddin Ahmed (2002)
Prime Minister: vacant
Head of Interim Government: Fakhruddin Ahmed (2007)
Languages: Bengali (Bangla) (official) English
Capital and the largest city: Dhaka
Other large cities: Chittagong, Khulna
Religion: Islam 83%, Hindu 16%, [...]

The Bhutanese name for Bhutan, Druk Yul, means ‘Land of the Thunder Dragon’. There is proof leading Bhutanese history back to AD450, although many of the intervening events remains unsolved by many. Guru Rinpoche is believed to have brought Mahayana Buddhism to Bhutan from Tibet in the eighth century. Bhutan, the world’s last Buddhist kingdom, [...]

Afghanistan is a culturally mixed nation, a crossroads between the East and the West, and has been an ancient focal point of trade and migration. It has an important geostrategical location, connecting South, Central and Southwest Asia.

Bhutan’s indigenous population is the Drukpa. The Sharchops, Ngalops and the Lhotsampas are the three main ethnic groups. Bhutan’s earliest residents, the Sharchops reside predominantly in eastern Bhutan. The Ngalops migrated from the Tibetan plains and are the importers of Buddhism to the kingdom.

India is the largest democracy in the world. For most of its democratic history, the federal government has been led by the Indian National Congress (INC). State politics have been dominated by several national parties including the INC, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Communist Party of India (CPI), and various regional parties.

The Maldives holds the record for being the flattest country in the world, with a maximum natural ground level of only 2.3 m (7½ ft), though in areas where construction exists this has been increased to several metres. Over the last century, sea levels have risen about twenty centimetres (8 in). The ocean is likely [...]

Modern Nepal was created in the latter half of the 18th century when Prithvi Narayan Shah, the ruler of the small principality of Gorkha, formed a unified country from a number of independent hill states. The country was frequently called the Gorkha Kingdom, the source of the term “Gurkha” used for Nepali soldiers.
 
This file is [...]

Pakistan is a rapidly growing population. Pakistan has a mixture of many ethnic groups ranging from Pathans, Baluchis, Punjabis and Sindhis. 97% of the country is and Urdu is the official language, but Punjabi, Sindhi, Pashto, Baluchi, and Brahui are also spoken. English is common among the upper classes and also in the government.

In February 1948, Sri Lanka became an independent member of the British Commonwealth. The country is now in the process of creating peace but in April 2006 this was disrupted by interethnic violence leaving the future of Sri Lanka in a balance. But one can only hope for the peace process for Sri Lanka will [...]