NewsTracker Answers for week of Sep. 15, 2025

Q: A government ban on social media brought thousands of Generation Z demonstrators to the streets of Nepal last week, ultimately forcing the resignations of the nation’s prime minister and other top officials whom protesters accused of corruption. Government buildings and politicians’ homes were burned in the violent protests. Where is the small country of Nepal, sandwiched between China and India?

Circle the area on this map

Q: Teens and people in their 20s comprise Generation Z, the largest population group in Nepal. The poor country of 31 million people is in which region of the world?

A. East Asia

B. Central Asia

C. South Asia

D. West Asia

C. Nepal and the nations of Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka are considered part of South Asia. Nepal is located in the Himalayan mountain range, which was formed when the Indian tectonic plate collided with the Eurasian plate approximately 55 million years ago. Nepal is home to eight of the world’s ten highest mountains, including Mt. Everest.

Q: Nepal’s prime minister was temporarily replaced by a former supreme court judge favored by the protesters. She has called for new elections. Nepal’s government is just the latest to fall in South Asia. Student-led protests last year toppled a long-time leader of what nearby country?

A. Bangladesh

B. Maldives

C. Pakistan

D. Sri Lanka

A. In Bangladesh, student protests over limits on civil service jobs triggered a national uprising against the government. The prime minister fled to India after ruling Bangladesh for more than 15 years. Just a 12-mile-wide strip of India separates Nepal and Bangladesh. The Maldives, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka are hundreds of miles away from Nepal.

Q: Restrictions on social media were also an issue that stirred protesters in Sri Lanka three years ago. They helped oust a powerful political family that had ruled the island nation off the tip of India. What was the South Asian country called before it changed its name to Sri Lanka in 1972?

A. Anuradhapura

B. Batticaloa

C. Ceylon

D. Dehiwala

C. The name Ceylon came from the Portuguese who invaded the island in the 1500s. The Dutch and British, who later ruled the island, kept the name. Anuradhapura, Batticaloa, and Dehiwala are cities in Sri Lanka.

Q: In Nepal, access to social media is important for free speech and to maintain contact with thousands of Nepalis working in other countries to support their families. The money they send back makes up how much of Nepal’s economy?

A. Half

B. Third

C. Quarter

D. Fifth

B. Last year, the money sent home by workers accounted for 33.1 percent of Nepal’s gross domestic product, according to the CIA World Factbook. Nepal is the poorest of the South Asian nations, and many of its young people have to leave home to take sometimes dangerous jobs in much wealthier countries.