著者

Gurung Roshan

出版者

関西大学史学・地理学会

雑誌

史泉 (ISSN:03869407)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.115, pp.A18-A39, 2012-01-31

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Nepal is a land-locked multi-lingual and multi-cultural country. Nepal is surrounded by two big countries of Asia, China and India. Those countries are also big tea producers, buyers and consumers of the world. Tea was introduced in the late 19th century. In 1863, tea was cultivated for the first time in Ilam, the eastern part of Nepal. But in the early days, the tea cultivation did not develop smoothly. Nepalese government established Nepal Tea Corporation for the development of tea in 1964. Nepal produced only 14,200 kg tea in 1966. Since 1990s, tea cultivation began to accelerate remarkably in Nepal. According to the latest data(2010), Nepal produced 166,607,555 kg tea. Nowadays, Nepal has been exporting black tea to German, Japan, India, and, some other European countries. Two types of tea are produced in Nepal. One is ‘Orthodox Tea’ and another is ‘CTC Tea’. Orthodox tea is produced in hilly regions especially in Ilam district. That is also called ‘High Tea’. Jhapa is the only producer of CTC Tea in Nepal located in the Terai region. CTC Tea is called ‘Low Tea’. Nearly whole production of Orthodox tea is exported to foreign countries. In contrast CTC Tea is for domestic use. Nepal is divided into three ecological regions called Himalayan(Himal ), Hilly(Pahar)and, Terai (Tarai)regions. There are three kinds of tea cultures respectively. In Himalayan region, there is a custom of drinking butter tea, influenced by Tibetan culture. In Hilly region, there is a specific Nepalese tea culture. On the other hand, Terai is a new reclaimed region in the context of Nepal. It is deeply influenced by Indian style tea culture. Tea business has been emerging as a potential export trade of Nepal. Moreover, the growth and expansion of tea sectors have progressed steadily with increased competitiveness and market orientation.