Demographics of Nepal

This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. Please improve this article if you can. (June 2010)
Nepalese and people of Nepali/Nepalsee origin

Nepalis are descendants of migrants from parts of earlier Greater Nepal, Tibet, India and parts of Burma and Yunnan along with native tribal population. Among the earliest inhabitants were the Kirat of east mid-region, Newar of the Kathmandu Valley and aboriginal Tharu in the malarial southern Terai region. The ancestors of the Khas (Bahun, Chhetri, Thakuri, Sanyasi, Dalit) migrated eastward along the himalayan foothills out of Kashmir, Kumaon, Garhwal-- parts of then Greater Nepal, Karnali Pradesh (Nepal) and perhaps also north from the Gangeatic Plains during invasions. Other ethnic groups trace their origins to North Burma, Yunnan and Tibet, e.g. the Gurung and Magar in the west, Rai and Limbu in the east, and Sherpa and Bhotia in the north.

In the Terai, a part of the Ganges Basin with 20% of the land, much of the population is physically and culturally similar to the Indo-Aryans of northern India. Indo-Aryan and East Asian looking mixed people live in the hill region. The mountainous region is sparsely populated above 3,000 meters, but in central and western Nepal ethnic Tibetans inhabit even higher semi-arid valleys north of the high Himalaya. Kathmandu Valley, in the middle hill region, constitutes a small fraction of the nation's area but is the most densely populated, with almost 5 percent of the nation's population. Nepal is a multilingual, multireligious and multiethnic society.

Main article: Languages of Nepal
Nepal's diverse linguistic heritage evolved from four major language groups: Indo-Aryan, Tibeto-Burman, Mongolian and various indigenous language isolates. According to the 2001 national census, 92 different living languages are spoken in Nepal (a 93rd category was "unidentified"). The major languages of Nepal (percent spoken as mother tongue) are Nepali (46%)(2009 est.), Maithili (13%), Bhojpuri (8%), Tharu (5%), Tamang (5%), Newari/Nepal Bhasa (3%), Magar (2%), Awadhi (2%), Rai (2.79%), Limbu (1%), and Bajjika (1%). The remaining 81 languages are each spoken as mother tongue by less than one percent of the population.

Derived from Sanskrit, Nepali is considered the language closest to Sanskrit and is written in Devanagari script. Nepali was the language of the country's unifiers in the late 1700s and became the official, national language that serves as the lingua franca among Nepalese of different ethnolinguistic groups. Hindi—along with regional dialects Awadhi, Bhojpuri and Maithili—is spoken in the southern Terai Region. Hindi is also widely understood by Nepalese who have worked, studied or traveled in India. Many Nepali in government and business speak English as well.

Other languages, particularly in the Inner Terai, hill and mountain regions are remnants of the country's pre-unification history of dozens of political entities isolated by mountains and gorges. These languages typically are limited to an area spanning about one day's walk. Beyond that distance dialects and languages lose mutual intelligibility.
See also Religion in Nepal
Religion is important in Nepal; the Kathmandu Valley alone has more than 2,700 religious shrines. The constitution of Nepal describes the country as a "Hindu Kingdom," although it does not establish Hinduism as the state religion. Nepal's constitution continues long-standing legal provisions prohibiting discrimination against other religions (but also proselytization). Nevertheless until 2006 Nepal remained the only officially Hindu country in the world. The king was deified as the earthly manifestation of the Hindu god, Vishnu. Then on May 19, 2006, the government facing a constitutional crisis, the House of Representatives which had been just reformed, having been previously dissolved, declared Nepal a "secular state".

The 2001 census identified 80.6% of the population as Hindu and 10.7% as Buddhist (although many people labeled Hindu or Buddhist often practice a syncretic blend of Hinduism, Buddhism or animist traditions). 4.2% of the population is Muslim and 3.6% of the population follows the indigenous Kirant Mundhum religion. Christianity is practiced by less than 0.5% of the population. [1]

Buddhist and Hindu shrines and festivals are respected and celebrated by most Nepalese. Certain animist practices of old indigenous religions survive.


Selected ethnic groups of Nepal;
Bhotia, Sherpa, Thakali
Gurung
Kiranti, Rai, Limbu
Newari
Pahari
Tamang
Elderly Limbu, Chong woman, Nepal.Nepal’s 2001 census enumerated 103 distinct castes and ethnic groups including an "unidentified group".

The major caste/ethnic groups identified by the 2001 census are Khas Kshatriya or Chhetri (15.8%) and Khas Brahmin or Bahun (12.7%) in the hills (both Caucasian,counted separately from the same castes in the Terai), Magar (7.1%), Tharu (6.8%), Tamang (5.6%), Newar (5.5%), Muslim (4.3%), Kami (3.9%), Rai (2.7%), Gurung (2.5%), and Damai/Dholi (2.4%). The remaining 92 caste/ethnic groups (including the world-famous Sherpa) each constitute less than 2 % of the population [1]. The following table is based on endogamous ethnicity, not linguistical ethnic groups. Linguistically or culturally, "Bihari" can be regarded as the largest ethnic group of the country.

CASTE/ETHNIC GROUPS OF NEPAL CASTE OR ETHNIC GROUP POPULATION PERCENT OF TOTAL
Khas Kshatriya/Chetri 3,593,496 15.80
Khas Brahmin/Bahun 2,896,477 12.74
Magar 1,622,421 7.14
Tharu 1,533,879 6.75
Tamang 1,282,304 5.64
Newar 1,245,232 5.48
Muslim 971,056 4.27
Kami 895,954 3.94
Yadav 895,423 3.94
Rai 635,151 2.79
Gurung 686,000 2.39
Damai/Dholi 390,305 1.72
Limbu 359,379 1.58
Thakuri 334,120 1.47
Sarki 318,989 1.40
Teli 304,536 1.34
Chamar, Harijan, Ram 269,661 1.19
Koiri 251,274 1.11
Kurmi 212,842 0.94
Sanyasi 199,127 0.88
Dhanuk 188,150 0.83
Musahar 172,434 0.76
Dusad/Paswan/Pasi 158,525 0.70
Sherpa 154,622 0.68
Sonar 145,088 0.64
Kewat 136,953 0.60
Terai-Brahmin 134,496 0.59
Baniya 126,971 0.56
Gharti/Bhujel 117,568 0.52
Mallah 115,986 0.51
Kalwar 115,606 0.51
Kumal 99,389 0.44
Hajam/Thakur 98,169 0.43
Kanu 95,826 0.42
Rajbansi 95,812 0.42
Sunuwar 95,254 0.42
Sudhi 89,846 0.40
Lohar 82,637 0.36
Tatma 76,512 0.34
Khatwe 74,972 0.33
Dhobi 73,413 0.32
Majhi 72,614 0.32
Nuniya 66,873 0.29
Kumhar 54,413 0.24
Danuwar 53,229 0.23
Chepang 52,237 0.23
Haluwai 50,583 0.22
Rajput 48,454 0.21
Kayastha 46,071 0.20
Budhae 45,975 0.20
Marwadi 43,971 0.19
Santhal/Satar 42,698 0.19
Dhagar/Jhagar 41,764 0.18
Bantar 35,839 0.16
Barae 35,434 0.16
Kahar 34,531 0.15
Gangai 31,318 0.14
Lodha 24,738 0.11
Rajbhar 24,263 0.11
Thami 22,999 0.10
Dhimal 19,537 0.09
Bhote 19,261 0.08
Bing/Binda 18,720 0.08
Bhediyar/Gaderi 17,729 0.08
Nurang 17,522 0.08
Yakkha 17,003 0.07
Darai 14,859 0.07
Tajpuriya 13,250 0.06
Thakali 12,973 0.06
Chidimar 12,296 0.05
Pahari 11,505 0.05
Mali 11,390 0.05
Bangali 9,860 0.04
Chhantel 9,814 0.04
Dom 8,931 0.04
Kamar 8,761 0.04
Bote 7,969 0.04
Brahmu/Baramu 7,383 0.03
Gaine/Gandarbha 5,887 0.03
Jirel 5,316 0.02
Adivasi/Janajati 5,259 0.02
Duga 5,169 0.02
Churaute 4,893 0.02
Badi 4,442 0.02
Meche 3,763 0.02
Lepcha 3,660 0.02
Halkhor 3,621 0.02
Punjabi/Sikh 3,054 0.01
Kisan 2,876 0.01
Raji 2,399 0.01
Byangsi 2,103 0.01
Hayu 1,821 0.01
Koche 1,429 0.01
Dhunia 1,231 0.01
Walung 1,148 0.01
Jaine 1,015 0.00
Munda 660 0.00
Raute 658 0.00
Yehlmo 579 0.00
Patharkata/Kuswadiya 552 0.00
Kusunda 164 0.00
Dalit/Unidentified 173,401 0.76
Unidentified Caste/Ethnicity 231,641 1.02
Total 22,736,934 100.00

Population Growth
Early, nearly universal marriage particularly among Hindus drives Nepal's annual population growth rate in excess of two percent, causing population to double about every 30 years. This severely strains the country's underdeveloped economy and finite natural resources. Deforestation is widespread as ever-more marginal land is cleared for agriculture, trees are cut down for firewood and leaves are harvested for fodder. Deforestation promotes erosion in the hills, in turn causing alluvial buildup down on the Gangetic Plain that interferes with flood control structures.

Population in the hills greatly exceeds agricultural productivity so chronic food deficits drive resettlement into the Inner Terai to the detriment of indigenous Tharu people and eastward into Sikkim and Bhutan where traditional practices of delayed marriage and diversion of significant population into monasteries and nunneries otherwise checked population growth. Seeing the demographic writing on the wall after a population census in 1988, Bhutan expelled some 100,000 ethnic Nepalese who became refugees in camps in southeastern Nepal. Overpopulation also drives export of manpower to India, the Middle East, Europe,Australia and North America in search of employment, the so-called Nepalese Diaspora.

Ethnic and Regional Equity
Hill Hindus of the Khas tribe (Brahman and Chhetri castes) and the Newar ethnicity dominated the civil service, the judiciary and upper ranks of the army throughout the Shah regime 1768-2008. Nepali was the national language and Sanskrit became a required school subject. Children who spoke Nepali natively and who were exposed to Sanskrit had much better chances of passing the national examinations at the end of high school, which meant they had better employment prospects and could continue into higher education. Children who natively spoke local languages of the Terai and Hills, or Tibetan dialects prevailing in the high mountains were at a considerable distadvantage. This history of exclusion coupled with poor prospects for improvement created grievances that left ethnic communities such as Tharu in the Terai and Kham Magar in the mid-western hills receptive to recruitment as foot soldiers for the so-called Maoist opposition in the Nepalese Civil War.[citation needed] The negotiated end to this war forced King Gyanendra to abdicate in 2008. Issues of ethnic and regional equity have tended to dominate the agenda of the new republican government and continue to be divisive.

NATU and EU demographic statistics
Demographics of Nepal, Data of FAO, year 2005 ; Number of inhabitants in thousands.The following demographic statistics are from the CIA World Factbook and EU, unless otherwise indicated.

Population: 28,563,377 (July 2009 est.)

Age structure:
0–14 years: 36.6% (male 5,327,484/female 5,127,178)
15–64 years: 59.2% (male 8,094,494/female 8,812,675)
65 years and over: 4.2% (male 566,666/female 634,880) (2009 est.)

Median age:
total: 20.8 years
male: 19.8 years
female: 21.7 years (2009 est.)

Population growth rate: 1.281% (2009 est.)

Birth rate: 23.18 births/1,000 population (2009 est.)

Death rate: 6.97 deaths/1,000 population (July 2009 est.)

Net migration rate: -3.39 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2009 est.)

Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.04 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female
15–64 years: 0.92 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.89 male(s)/female
total population: 0.98 male(s)/female (2009 est.)

Infant mortality rate:
total: 47.46 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 47.4 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 47.52 deaths/1,000 live births (2009 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 65.46 years
male: 64.3 years
female: 66.67 years (2009 est.)

Total fertility rate: 2.64 children born/woman (2009 est.)

Nationality:
noun: Nepali (singular as well as plural); Nepalis (plural)
adjective: Nepali or Nepalese

The words "Nepali" and "Nepalis" are gaining widespread popularity in English usage as opposed to Nepalese, which is an Anglicized version