The Desert and Semi-Desert Region .

                     Nepal comprises the  semi-desert and some desert lands which are  created by the  influence of rain shadow . this unlucky part of the country is situated  mostly on the north of the Great Himalayan range. The biggest shaded part of this country is found in the west mainly behind Mt. Makalu , Mt Annapurna, Mt. Dhaulagiri and Mt.Kanjiroba. Though  this desert land  extends right  from Mt.. Manasalu to the west up to Mt. Kanjiroba , yet the places like Mustang, Dolpo and Manang (may be due to less precipitation and very windy situation) possess very low temperature. The wind begins to blow here right from 7 hours to 21 hours. The velocity of the wind dreaches up to 120km.per hour . Due to the very speedy wind , in addition to the altitudinal and latitudinal  effects, these places  are very cold. The speedy wind makes every thing dry  within a short  period. Nobody in this locality keeps open the doors and the windows  of his house .So, these places are very windy, dusty and cold , due to these  adverse climate there occurs wind erosion, which is more dangerous than the water erosion. Here the drainage pattern is of dendritic type having many torrents and big rivers which have originated  mostly from the southern watersheds of the Great Himalayas . only a few like Krnali (Humla) , Bhotekoshi (Rasuwa),Bhotekoshi(Sindhu palchok ) and  Arun  (Bhojpur) have  originated from Tibet, the autonomous region of the People’s Republic of china. The rivers with their tributaries flow southwards , crossing different  ranges . they are , then , deflected towards east and west until they pass with force  south-wards, finally breaking  through the Siwaliks and  Terai into  the Indian plain where they join the Ganges . Of  the biggest rivers, the Mechi and the Saptakoshi lie in the east, the Bagmati and the Gandaki in the centre, and the Karnali and the Mahakali in the west , with their tributaries making  the three main river basins in the country.

              Though there  are found many different types of deposits like gold copper, mica, iron,lead, cobalt, ickle, zinc in different areas of the country, yet there are only few minerals like iron in Phulchouki to the south of Kathmandu valley , zinc and lead oxide at the foot of the  Ganesh Himal in Rasuwa district, magnasite in the Sindhu Palchok disdtrict , sulphate in the Jhapa district, and mica in Haibung, which lies in Sindhu Palchok district. As to  the gasoline  resources, there had been a preliminary survey through FAO and  a report was prepared too. The report shows the  possibility of petroleum being available  in many places, but due to  some reasons the  feasibility survey  could  not be carried out. Nepal  is  also home of wide  variety of wild  animals and birds . In the Himalayas there are very few wild animals and birds but in the Sub-Himalayan region there are found  many varieties  of wild animals like  barking deer, musk deer, sambar (Cervus unifolor), wild sheep and goats (local name  jharal and Ghoral  repectively), leopards , panthers , different  varieties of  bears. Jackals, wild dogs, red pandas , foxes, and reptiles like snakes, wild lizards, otters, pangolins, etc. and birds like pheasants,  doves, vultures and other common birds . among  pheasants hanfay , monal, and kalige are famous. Danfay is the national  bird. In the Mahabharat region all the wild animals and birds found in the Sub-Himalayan region are abailable , except panda, ghoral , jharal , musk deer, danfay and munal.