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NepalPOPULATION, NEPAL
Population Structure and Settlement Patterns
At the time of the 1981 census, the total population of
Nepal
was 15,022,839, the average family was made up of 5.8
persons, and
life expectancy at birth was close to fifty years. As of
July 1990,
the population was estimated at 19,145,800 persons. The
annual
population growth rate increased from less than 2 percent
during
the 1950s to more than 2.6 percent in 1990, suggesting
that despite
a trend toward increasing acceptance of family planning,
the
program did not have much influence on reducing the
population
growth rate. The Central Bureau of Statistics forecast
that the
total population would increase to 23.6 million by 2001
(see
table 2, Appendix).
The 1981 census reveals a significant variation in
regional
growth rates. Although the Tarai Region's annual growth
rate of 4.2
percent was much higher than the national average, the
Hill and
Mountain regions, respectively, posted growth rates of 1.7
and 1.4
percent. In terms of regional distribution, 43.6 percent
(6,556,828
persons) of the country's population resided in the Tarai,
whereas
the shares of the Hill and Mountain regions totaled
7,163,115 (47.7
percent) and 1,302,896 (8.7 percent), respectively.
About 70 percent of the total population was of working
age, or
between the ages of fifteen and fifty-nine years. More
than 65
percent of this segment of the population was considered
economically active in 1981
(see Labor
, ch. 3). In terms
of
employment structure, more than 91 percent of the
economically
active population was engaged in agriculture and allied
activities,
and the rest in the secondary (industrial) and tertiary
(service)
sectors, including government employment. In 1981 males
and females
who were widowed or separated constituted only a tiny
fragment of
the population--0.4 percent for each sex.
Data as of September 1991
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