Langtang National Park is a protected area in north-central Nepal. It was created in 1976 as Nepal's first Himalayan national park and the country's fourth protected area. The park covers 1,710 square kilometers in the Nuwakot, Rasuwa, and Sindhulpalchok Districts of the central Himalayan region. It includes 26 villages and the Langtang valley. To the north and east, the park connects to Qomolangma National Nature Preserve in Tibet. The eastern boundary follows the Bhote Koshi River, and the western boundary follows the Trishuli River.
Gosainkunda Lake is located at an elevation of 4,300 meters inside the park. The Dorje Lakpa mountain range, which reaches 6,988 meters, divides the park from west to east and then south to east. The highest point in the park is the summit of Langtang Lirung, which stands at 7,245 meters.
Langtang National Park is part of the Sacred Himalayan Landscape.
History
In 1970, royal approval helped create Langtang National Park, which became the first protected area in the Himalayas. The park was officially established in 1976 and expanded with an added area of 420 km (160 sq mi) in 1998.
On July 31, 1992, Thai Airways International Flight 311 crashed into the park. The Airbus A310 was trying to land at Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu. All 113 people on the flight died.
In April 2015, the village of Langtang, located inside the park, was destroyed by an avalanche made of ice, rock, and mud caused by the April 2015 Nepal earthquake. At least 215 people were killed. In 2016, the International Astronomical Union named a 9.8 km wide crater on Mars after the village as a tribute.
Climate
The park's climate is mainly influenced by the southwest summer monsoon. Most of the yearly precipitation happens from June to September. Temperatures change a lot because of the big differences in height.
Flora and fauna
Langtang National Park has many different types of plants and ecosystems. There are 14 types of plant life and 18 types of ecosystems. These include tropical forests at lower elevations (below 1,000 meters or 3,300 feet) up to high mountain areas with alpine scrub and ice that stays all year round.