A small (slightly larger than Arkansas), landlocked nation between India and Tibet, Nepal has long been a conservative monarchy. But in early 1996, a Maoist faction of the local communist party began an armed rebellion to overthrow the parliamentary monarchy and establish a "People's Republic". With about 5-7,000 fighters (not all armed) and 20,000 active sympathizers, out of a population of 22 million, the Maoists a growing threat to the government.