The total population of Nepal is around 29.9 million with a male to female ratio of 50:50 and an annual population growth rate of roughly 1.8% (World Bank n.d.(a)). The population characteristics vary according to the geographic settings within the country. People living in the Terai Belt which is a low lying landscape have the characteristics of the people living in the Indo-Gangetic Plain in India. The people living throughout the middle and upper hills as well as in the High Mountain Belts are mostly the Tibeto-Burman speaking Mongoloid people (UNESCO 2008).

Nepal is multi cultural, multi linguistic and multi ethnic society. Although Hinduism is the predominant religion that approximately 81% of the population practice, the country is a secular state. Available statistics shows that there are 103 caste/ethnic groups and at least 92 different languages spoken in Nepal. Approximately 13% of the population were dalits or so called "untouchables". These are the people who are vulnerable to a range of social discriminations. Also, about 38% of the population is comprised of indigenous ethnic groups who speak around 92 different languages or dialects. While the majority of the population, around 80%, is Hindu, Buddhist represents over 10% of the total population (UNESCO 2008). 

The annual Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate of the country for 2010 was over 4.6% (World Bank n.d.(b)) and the country's principal economic activity is agriculture which employs about 80% of the population and provides approximately 36% of GDP. The informal sector engages quite a sizeable proportion of the population. Other economic sectors consist of manufacturing, trade, tourism and hospitality services. However, these sectors operate mostly in urban areas, particularly the Kathmandu Valley. Agriculture is the primary source of income in the rural areas where 86% of the population and over 90% of poor people live. Foreign aid accounts for more than half of the country's development budget (UNESCO 2008).

Nepal used to be a constitutional monarchy, but after years of political turmoil, the King of Nepal was asked to step down and the country became a Federal Democratic Republic with the president becoming the head of state. Its unicameral 601-seat Constituent Assembly was first elected in April 2008 and is in the process of drafting a new permanent Constitution (UNESCO 2008). The Constituent Assembly (CA) is now in the process of preparing its first draft. Under the terms of the Interim Constitution, the new constitution was to be promulgated by May 28, 2011. However, the country did not get the first draft Constitution within the Assembly deadline (Radio Netherlands Worldwide 2011).

Nepal is administratively divided into 14 administrative zones and 75 districts, which are grouped into 5 development regions: (i) Eastern region; (ii) Central region; (iii) Western region; (iv) Mid-Western region; and (v) Far-Western region. The nation's capital is Kathmandu, where the central administration is located. In terms of the lowest level of administration, Nepal is divided into 3995 village development committees and 36 municipalities (UNESCO n.d.).

Nepal is characterized by deep and wide spread inequality along gender, castes and ethnic groups and between geographical areas. These social inequalities have left women, children and disadvantaged ethnic groups the most exposed to discrimination, particularly in the country's rural areas. Eradicating widespread poverty is still one of Nepal's major development challenges with 31% (UNESCO 2008) of the population estimated to be living in poverty. There is a strong correlation between ethnic status and caste membership, poverty and development. The forbidding terrain of the country and lack of infrastructure all contribute to its socio-economic development gains notably in education being unevenly distributed, leading to wide disparities in educational opportunities across regions, ethnic groups and between rural and urban populations (UNESCO 2008, UNESCO n.d.).