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Capitals of the world
Kathmandu, capital of Nepal: facts and figures
Kathmandu is the capital of Nepal. It has about 1,500,000 residents, which makes it the 90th most populous capital of the 172 in DailyGeo's atlas, and it sits 1,312 m above sea level. Its nearest neighbouring capital is Thimphu, 427 km away.
Key figures
| Figure | Value |
|---|---|
| Country | Nepal |
| Continent | Asia |
| City population | 1,500,000 residents |
| World rank by population | 90th of 172 |
| Elevation | 1,312 m |
| Founded | 723 |
| Time zone | Asia/Kathmandu |
| Coordinates | 27.72° N, 85.32° E |
| Country population | 29,618,118 residents |
| Country GDP | 45.5 billion US dollars |
| GDP per capita | $1,536 |
| Life expectancy | 70.6 years |
| Internet users | 46.3 % |
| Big Mac price | not reported |
Climate through the year
Kathmandu averages 11.6 °C in winter and 22.5 °C in summer. January is the coldest month of the year and July the warmest, and the city receives 3,032 mm of precipitation in an average year.
| Month | Mean temperature |
|---|---|
| January | 10.3 °C |
| February | 12.6 °C |
| March | 16.0 °C |
| April | 19.2 °C |
| May | 20.3 °C |
| June | 22.3 °C |
| July | 22.6 °C |
| August | 22.5 °C |
| September | 21.5 °C |
| October | 18.6 °C |
| November | 15.1 °C |
| December | 11.8 °C |
Nearest capitals
Distances are great-circle distances between city centres, which is what the Capitals game measures when it tells you how far a guess was from the answer. Thimphu is the closest capital to Kathmandu.
| Capital | Country | Distance |
|---|---|---|
| Thimphu | Bhutan | 427 km |
| Dhaka | Bangladesh | 670 km |
| New Delhi | India | 801 km |
| Islamabad | Pakistan | 1,346 km |
| Naypyidaw | Myanmar | 1,407 km |
How to remember it
Reading a figure once rarely fixes it in memory. Attach Kathmandu to a place and a number you already know: it is 427 km from Thimphu, and it is the 90th largest capital in the atlas. Then practise retrieving it. DailyGeo Capitals gives you one mystery capital a day with distance, direction, language and population clues, the memorising method explains the review schedule, and the capitals index lists all 172.
To see how Nepal compares with every other country on figures like these, the richest countries by GDP per capita ranks them on geopolitix, a country-ranking game by the same maker as DailyGeo.
Sources
- City population and coordinates: DailyGeo's own game data, the same figures the Capitals game plays with. Population follows the urban area rather than the commune, which is why no density is quoted.
- Temperature and rainfall: ten-year means (2015 to 2024) computed from ERA5 reanalysis, retrieved through Open-Meteo. Hersbach, H., et al. (2020). The ERA5 global reanalysis. Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society.
- Elevation: terrain height at the city's coordinates in the Copernicus DEM, read through Open-Meteo rather than taken from a curated claim.
- Time zone: resolved from the same coordinates.
- Country figures: the World Bank, latest reported year for each series: Country GDP, GDP per capita, Country population, Life expectancy, Internet users.
- Founding date: Wikidata, earliest recorded founding claim.
- This capital elsewhere: Wikipedia, UNdata, Wikidata.
- Method and limits: How this data was collected explains how each figure was collected and what it does not cover.
The short answer
Kathmandu is the capital of Nepal, in Asia, with about 1,500,000 residents, averaging 11.6 °C in winter and 22.5 °C in summer.
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Play today's DailyGeo puzzleFrequently asked questions
What is the capital of Nepal?
Kathmandu is the capital of Nepal. It has about 1,500,000 residents and lies in Asia.
How many people live in Kathmandu?
About 1,500,000, which ranks Kathmandu 90th of the 172 capitals in DailyGeo's atlas by city population.
What is the weather like in Kathmandu?
Kathmandu averages 11.6 °C in winter and 22.5 °C in summer, with 3,032 mm of precipitation a year. These are ten-year means from ERA5 reanalysis.
How expensive is Kathmandu?
GDP per capita in the country is $1,536, the latest year the World Bank reports.
Keep learning
- Thimphu, capital of Bhutan: facts and figures
Thimphu is the capital of Bhutan: 115,000 residents, 2,314 m above sea level, 5.1 °C in winter and 17.5 °C in summer. Key figures and sources.
- Dhaka, capital of Bangladesh: facts and figures
Dhaka is the capital of Bangladesh: 21,000,000 residents, 9 m above sea level, 19.6 °C in winter and 28.4 °C in summer. Key figures and sources.
- New Delhi, capital of India: facts and figures
New Delhi is the capital of India: 32,900,000 residents, 217 m above sea level, 14.9 °C in winter and 30.5 °C in summer. Key figures and sources.
- Capitals of the world: the full list by continent
Every capital in DailyGeo's atlas, grouped by continent, with population, elevation and winter and summer temperatures, each linking to its own data page.