China–Nepal border

Nepal and Tibet

The Himalaya has long been a meeting zone of Indian and Tibetan influences. By the early 19th century the Gurkha kingdom dominated Nepal, and its expansion led to the Nepal–Tibet war of 1854–56, after which a treaty ceded some territory to Nepal and required Tibet to pay the Gurkha king an annual sum.^[1]

Neither Tibet nor Nepal cared much about an exact line, arguing instead over trade routes and taxes. British Survey of India maps showed a boundary that served as the de facto border, since neither power really controlled the high mountains. Border crime, disputed areas and occasional clashes in the 20th century pushed both sides to define it.^[1]

The 1960–61 agreements

In an agreement of 21 March 1960 China and Nepal took the ‘traditional customary line’ as the basis for a treaty: where both sides’ maps agreed, the line would follow them; where they did not, it would follow local jurisdiction. A joint commission met four times in Kathmandu and Beijing, and the position of Everest was treated as special and left to the heads of government.^[1]

The boundary treaty was signed in Beijing on 5 October 1961, and a demarcation protocol followed on 23 January 1963. As many as 20 sectors had been disputed, the most serious at Rasu, Kimathanka, Nara Pass, near Mustang, at Everest and on the Nelu River; most were settled in Nepal’s favour, some in China’s.^[1]

“passing through Cho Oyu Mountain, Pumoli Mountain (Gnire Langur), mount Chomo-lungma (Sagarmatha) and Lhotse, to Makalu Mountain”^[1]

On the roof of the world

The line mostly follows the water divide of the Great Himalaya, though it leaves it in places, such as around Mustang and in the Trishuli river system. Five of its peaks, Everest, Kangchenjunga, Makalu, Dhaulagiri and Annapurna, rise above 26,400 feet, and its passing through Everest and Makalu makes it the highest international boundary in the world.^[1] Rivers such as the Karnali, Kosi and Arun rise on the Tibetan side and cut south through the range in deep gorges.^[1]

People on both sides are mostly Buddhist, and the border peoples, the Bhotia, including the Sherpas, have long moved back and forth across it. In 1965 China was building a road to link Lhasa and Kathmandu.^[1]

Surveyors from Nepal climbed Everest in May 2019 and a Chinese team in 2020, and on 8 December 2020 the two countries jointly announced its height as 8,848.86 m, ending years of disagreement.^[2]