Kathmandu Valley lies at the crossroads of the ancient civilizations of Asia and has at least 130 important monuments including several places of pilgrimage for Hindus and Buddhists. Kathmandu is the capital and largest municipality of Nepal. It is the only city of Nepal with the administrative status of Metropolitan City. Kathmandu is the place where the core of Nepal's largest urban agglomeration located consisting of Lalitpur, Kirtipur, Madhyapur Thimi, Bhaktapur and a number of smaller communities. Kathmandu is also known informally as "KTM" or the "tri-city". According to the 2011 census, Kathmandu has a population around 5.5 million. The municipal area is 50.67 square kilometres (19.56 sq m.) and has a population density of 3000 per km² and 17000 per km square in city. Kathmandu is the gateway of tourism in Nepal. It is also the hub of the country's economy. It has the most advanced infrastructure compare to urban area of Nepal and its economy is mostly focused on tourism which accounted for 3.8% of Nepal's GDP in 1995–96. Tourism in Kathmandu declined thereafter during a period of political crises, but since then has improved. In 2013, Kathmandu is ranked third among the top 10 travel (rising) destinations in the world by Trip Advisor, and ranked first in Asia.
