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The history of Nepal has been influenced by its position in the Himalayas and its two neighbours, modern day India and China. Due to the arrival of disparate settler groups from outside through the ages, it is now a multiethnic, multicultural, multi religious, and multilingual country. Central Nepal was split in three kingdoms from the 15th century until the 18th century, when it was re-unified under the Shah monarchy. The national and most spoken language of Nepal is Nepali. Nepal experienced a struggle for democracy in the 20th century. During the 1990s and until 2008, the country was in civil strife. A peace treaty was signed in 2008 and elections were held in the same year. In a historical vote for the election of the constituent assembly, Nepalese parliament voted to oust the monarchy in June 2008. Nepal became a federal republic and was formally renamed the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal. ==Toponymy== The derivation of the word Nepal is the subject of a number of different theories: * The Sanskrit word ''nipalaya'' means "at the foot of the mountains" or "abode at the foot"; ''Nepal'' may be derived from this. * The Tibetan word ''niyampal'' means "holy land". ''Nepal'' may be derived from it.〔 * ''Nep'' are the people that used to be cow herders (''gopal'') who came to the Nepal valley from the Ganges Plain of modern-day India. Combining the two words yields ''Nepal''.〔 * Some inhabitants of northern Nepal came from Tibet, where they herded sheep and produced wool. In Tibetan, ''ne'' means "wool" and ''pal'' means "house". Thus, ''Nepal'' is "house of wool". * The Newar people, who inhabit the Kathmandu Valley, have the word ''nepa'' in their Nepal Bhasa language, meaning "country of the middle zone". ''Nepal'' may have been derived from this.〔 * A popular theory is that Lepcha people used the words ''ne'' ("holy") and ''pal'' ("cave") and thus ''Nepal'' to describe a "holy cave".〔 * According to Buddhist legend, the deity Manjusri drained the water from Nagadaha (a mythical lake that is believed to have filled the Kathmandu Valley). The valley became inhabitable and was ruled by Bhuktaman, a cow-herder, who took advice from a sage named "Ne". ''Pāla'' means "protector" or "taking care", so ''Nepal'' reflected the name of the sage who took care of the place, according to Nepali scholar Rishikesh Shaha.〔〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「History of Nepal」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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