Until Nepal became a republic in 2008, the country had been ruled by monarchs for most of its modern history and had survived in relative isolation after a short dip into multi-party politics in 1959 ended with King Mahendra suspending parliament and taking sole charge in 1962.

A dispute with India led to India’s closing of most border crossings from 1989 to 1990, and the resultant economic crisis sparked demands across the country for political reform. Democratic politics was introduced in 1991 as a response to popular protests, but was marked by frequent changes of government. The last king of Nepal, Gyanendra, twice assumed executive powers in the early 2000s and Maoist rebels waged a decade-long campaign against the monarchy, leaving more than 12,000 people dead and 100,000 people displaced.

When King Gyanendra's direct rule ended under public pressure in April 2006, the rebels entered talks with the parliamentary government on how to end the civil war and peace deal was agreed in November, although the Maoists continued their anti-monarchy stance. Parliament agreed to their conditions in December 2007, with the Maoists emerging as the largest parliamentary party after elections in April 2008 and the monarchy abolished a month later.
 
Though the civil war may be over, political instability has continued to plague Nepal; politicians are yet to honour their part of the deal with the Maoists and the country is still at odds with Bhutan over the repatriation of thousands of Bhutanese refugees of Nepalese descent who fled violence in Bhutan in the 90s.

Nonetheless, recent years have seen support for sustainability issues such as reforestation and the importance of natural habitat for wildlife and Nepal’s tourism industry is booming.