Nepal People The 2001 Census

The latest data made available on the view of Nepalese population from 1952 until the present shows that the lowlands have surpassed the hillsand mountains as far as the population growth rate of Nepal is concerned.

The trend of population growth in the country in the last half century is towards the lowland from the hills and mountains.There is inverse relationship between elevation zone and population growth rate. This means higher the elevation, lower the growth rate.

The mountain region has a growth rate of 1.52 percent whereas the rate is at 1.52 percent in the hills. Similarly, it is placed at 2.55 percent for the inner Terai and 2.70 percent for the Terai. In 1952/54 Census, 64.5 percent of Nepal's total population was confined to the highlands, and the Terai had 29.1 percent while the inner Terai had 2 percent population. The 2001 Census has shown that the Terai has 53.9 percent ofthe total population. The population, during the nearly five-decade period, nearly trebled (2.8 times). The average population growth rate of Nepal, according to 2001 Census, is 2.27 percent . 23 districts have higher population growth than the average and 52 districts have low growth rate. Four districts - Khotang, Bhojpur, Mustang and Syangja - have low growth ratio in population. Population growth is often associated with development and urbanization. Despite backwardness of Manang, it has the highest population growth rate of 5.71percent.

The data collected for the Census 2001 showed that over 20 percent of the existing population have migrated toother parts of the country for one reason or another in the last ten years. The main cause of migration is Maoist insurgency. Jajarkot is known to be the hotbed of rebels.

Nepal's population is 23.2 million with final census figures expected in another five months. Women outnumber men by 40,000 with the male population estimated at 11.58 million the country's latest census reveals.

Officials from the Central Bureau of Statistics say that the country's population has grown by nearly five million in the last ten years.

It is now more than 23 million. The census results show that more than 85% of the population lives in ruralareas. The population of the capital, Kathmandu, has grown phenomenally. Kathmandu's population is 1.09 million-up from 675,341 a decade ago while Manang has the lowest population in the kingdom with only 9,494 people. Kailali has the highest population growth rate of 3.93 percent. 48.5 percent of the population live in the terai, 44.20 in the mid hills and 7.37 in the himalayan region. The size of the household fell to 5.38 from 5.56. Altogether 85.8 percent of the population live in villages while 14.2 percent are urbans. In 80 villages, affected by the ongoing Maoist insurgency, the figures not be collected.

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