Geographic vocabulary — Nepal's three regions (lessons 27-28)
The Terai (plains), Pahad (hills), and Himal (high mountains) — vocabulary for landforms, elevation, river systems, and the political 7-province administrative map.
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FSI 1979, lessons 27 and 28 combined. Nepal in three horizontal bands. Minutes 1–7: the Terai — flat subtropical plains on the Indian border, hot, malarial historically, agriculturally productive, ~17% of Nepal's land but 50% of the population. Cities: Birgunj, Janakpur, Nepalgunj. Minutes 8–14: the Pahad (middle hills) — terraced agriculture, 1,000–3,000m elevation, where Kathmandu and Pokhara sit. The word 'pahaad' literally means hill but in Nepali topography means the inhabited mid-elevation belt. Minutes 15–21: the Himal — the high mountain band above 3,000m, sparsely populated, sherpa-Tibetan-Tamang cultural zones, the trekking regions tourists come for. River vocabulary drilled throughout: khola (small stream), nadi (river), saanga (confluence). Closing drill at minute 20: the 7-province administrative map of Nepal — Province 1 (East) to Sudurpaschim (Far West), useful for understanding political news.
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Attribution
Audio courtesy of the US Foreign Service Institute (Public Domain) and hosted by Live Lingua. This page links directly to their CDN; we do not re-host or modify the audio.