Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
may live very well by the standards of their own culture and
country. Yet, because they work in a subsistence, rather than
cash, economy, they are considered (statistically) to be “poor.”
Their worldview may extend no farther than the horizon
they can see from their home. These people live in what are
called less-developed countries (LDCs). In terms of income, a
comparison between the Nepalese and residents of the United
States or Canada is revealing. The per capita income in Nepal
is less than $400 a year. This means that a typical Nepal-
ese makes only about one percent as much as a resident of
Northern America. Looking at it another way, they make less
in one year than most workers in developed countries make
in a single week.
Only about 16 percent of Nepal's population is urban. Most
of these people, like the great majority of Americans and Cana-
dians, live in a modern, industrial, or service-oriented cash
economy. They go to work, earn wages, and, with their income,
purchase the goods and services that they need. Such people
are outward looking. They are much more “worldly” in terms
of trade, communications, information, travel, and their view
of their global neighbors. It is in this contextﾭthe vast differ-
ences that separate Nepal's rural and urban populationsﾭthat
this chapter is set.
GOVERNMENT AND ECONOMY
A very close relationship exists between a country's govern-
ment and its economy. In Chapter 3, you learned how chaotic
Nepal's government has been throughout the country's his-
tory. As a result, economic development has lagged. If, on the
other hand, an economy is weak, a government will not have
the revenue it needs for development and to provide essen-
tial services. It works both ways. Because of poor govern-
ment and a weak economy, Nepal remains one of the world's
least developed countries. In fact, on the United Nation's
(UN) Human Development Index (HDI), Nepal ranks 142nd
