Kathmandu district is one of the three districts located in Kathmandu Valley, which itself is located in the hills of Bagmati Pradesh. The district is located from 27°27′E to 27°49′E longitude and 85°10′N to 85°32′N latitude. The district is surrounded by:
The altitude of the district ranges from to above sea level.
Geography and Climate
In the urban center, the temperature fluctuates between 32 °C in summer to -2 °C in winter. The annual rainfall of the district is 176.4 ml.
Culture
Kathmandu district is a part of Kathmandu valley, which is a melting pot of various cultural groups, ethnicities, races, languages and religions. This vibrant culture is illustrated in the culture of the natives of the district, known as Newars, who are a multiethnic, multiracial, multireligious people bound by a Sanskritized Sino-Tibetan language of Kirat origins known as Nepal Bhasa. All the ancient settlements of the district have specific street festivals arranged according to specific dates of the Nepal Sambat calendar. The main festivals celebrated are:
Yanya Punhi – literally meaning Kathmandu's full moon, a week-long festival during the Yenla of Nepal Sambat, a festival started by Gunakamadev, the founder of Kathmandu city to commemorate the establishment of city
Gunla – a month in which musical bands and ordinary people make pilgrimage to Swayambhunath temple
Mohani
Dashain – the main festival of Nepal, celebrated by visiting the various Shaktipeeths around the city
Shivaratri – a very special festival in which people make small fire all around the city and take different types of toxic in order to show love to Lord Shiva
Buddha Jayanti
Sa Paru – a comic festival to commemorate dead relatives, celebrated during the full moon of Goon la
Pahan Chare – a festival of Animist origin celebrated by procession of matriarchs of Kathmandu
Shree Panchami – in the past children used to formally start education on this day. Presently, deities of wisdom, Saraswati and Manjushree are worshipped on this day
Swanti or Tihar – a five-day festival, the third day of which is called Laxmi Puja, when the families do their annual financial calculation and the next day marks the New Year according to Nepalese calendar, Nepal Sambat.
Along with these festivals, with the influx of population from other parts of Nepal, India, Tibet and South Asia, other festivals such as Teej, Chhath, Sakela, Lhosar, Janai Purnima, Deuda etc. are also celebrated.
Economy
Most of the offices and industries of Nepal are in Kathmandu. The major economic hubs are New Road, Durbar Marg, Putalisadak, Asan. The district exports handicrafts, artworks, garments, pashmina, paper etc. Tourism is one of the main industries of the district. Hindu and Buddhist pilgrims from all over the world visit various religious places located in the district such as Pashupatinath, Swayambhunath, Boudhanath, Buddhanilkantha etc. Freak Street and Thamel are noted tourist destinations for Western tourists.
The district consists of 11 Municipalities. These are as follows:
Budanilkantha
Chandragiri
Dakshinkali
Gokarneshwar
Kageshwari Manohara
Kathmandu
Kirtipur
Nagarjun
Shankharapur
Tarakeshwar
Tokha
Demographics
The total population of the district is 1,744,240 out of which 913,001 are male and 831,239 female in 436,355 households. Average family size was 4.6 in 2001 and 4.0 in 2011 62.7% of the population speak Nepali, 16.9% Newari, 8.3% Tamang, 2.1% Maithili, 1.2% Gurung, 1.2% Magar, 1.2% Sherpa, 1.1% Bhojpuri, 1.1% Hindi, 0.9% Rai and 0.6% Tharu as their first language. 32.9% of the population in the district speak Nepali, 2.1% English, 0.6% Newari and 0.6% Hindi as their second language.
