Pokhara

The Nepali word "pokhari" (Nepali: पोखरी, pronounced [ˈpokʰʌɾi]) means "pond"; pokhara is a local variant.

By radiocarbon dating and investigating the alluvial deposits of Pokhara Valley, researchers have found that there were at least three large medieval earthquakes in 1000, 1255, and 1344 AD. Up to 9 cubic kilometres of conglomerates, massive mud and silt show indications of one or several megafloods that emanated from the Sabche Cirque in the Annapurna range. A more recent 2023 study, by a team of French scientists, estimated that a single landslide, dated approximately to 1190 AD, removed as much as 23 cubic kilometers of material from Annapurna IV - now 7525 meters high, but could have been as high as above 8000 meters prior to the catastrophic event - and sent most of it to where the City of Pokhara were to be built subsequently. Pokhara lies on an important old trading route between China and India. …

Due to the high population density and the frequency of natural disasters, western Nepal is considered one of the most disaster-prone regions in the world. Pokhara is considered particularly vulnerable to earthquakes and floods because the Seti Gandaki River flows through the city. For example, the strongest earthquakes in the region include those of 2015 in Nepal. Pokhara is in the northwestern corner of the Pokhara Valley, which is a widening of the Seti Gandaki valley that lies in the region (Pahad) of the Himalayas. In this region, the mountains rise very quickly, and within 30 kilometres (19 miles), the elevation rises from 1,000 to 7,500 metres (3,300 to 24,600 feet). As a result of this sharp rise in altitude the area of Pokhara has one of the highest precipitation rates in the country (3,350 mm/year or 131 inches/year in the valley to 5600 mm/year or 222 inches/year in Lumle). …

Since the 1990s, Pokhara has experienced rapid urbanization. As a result, service-sector industries have increasingly contributed to the local economy overtaking the traditional agriculture. An effect of urbanization is seen in high real estate prices, among the highest in the country. The major contributors to the economy of Pokhara are manufacturing and service sector including tourism; agriculture and the foreign and domestic remittances. Tourism, service sector and manufacturing contributes approximately 58% to the economy, remittances about 20% and agriculture nearly 16%.

After the occupation of Tibet by China in 1950 and the Indo-China war in 1962, the old trading route to India from Tibet through Pokhara became defunct. Today only a few caravans from Mustang arrive in Bagar. In recent decades, Pokhara has become a major tourist destination: it is considered the tourism capital of Nepal, mainly for adventure tourism and the base for the famous Annapurna Circuit trek. Thus, a major contribution to the local economy is made by the tourism and hospitalities industry. Tourism is the primary source of income for local people and the city. There are two 5-star hotels and approximately 305 other hotels that includes one 4-star, five 3-star, fifteen 2-star and non-star hotels in the city. …

Pokhara has extensive privately operated public transportation system running throughout the city, adjoining townships and nearby villages. Pokhara Mahanagar Bus Bebasaya Samiti (green, brown and blue buses), Mama Bhanja Transport (blue buses), Bindabashini Samiti (blue buses), Phewa Bus Bebasaya Samiti (mini micros) and Lekhnath Bus Bebasaya Samiti (green and white buses) are the private companies that provide public bus transportation facility in and around Pokhara Valley. The public transport mainly consists of local and city buses, micros, micro-buses and metered-taxis. Boating is a required form of transport to get to the Tal Barahi Temple. Besides that, boating can also be used as an alternative to ascending then descending some hills to get to the opposite bank of the lakes in the city. …