DASAIN STARTS WITHGHATASTAPHANA

DASHAIN STARTS

Kathmandu, 28 Sept. Dasain stared Wednesday with Ghatastaphana.
Devotees flocked to temples on a clear sunny day in the capital on the first day after two-day continuous rain when the highest rainfall was recorded in September in several year.
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NEPAL;S POPULATION 26.6 MILLION; ANNUAL GROWTH 1.4 PERCENT
Kathmandu, 28 Sept.: The Central Bureau of Statistics today published the preliminary report of National Population and Housing Census 2011, according to which the country’s population as of June 22 stands at 26,620,809, with an annual average growth of 1.4 per cent, Rudra Pangeni writes in The Himalayan Times,

During 2001 census, the population was 23,151,423 and then the growth rate was calculated at 2.25 per cent per year. The details of the census are yet to come, said CBS. It might take another year before a detailed report is available.

Former Vice-chairman of National Planning Commission Pitamber Sharma said the country was in the third stage of demographic transition. “This stage characterises low death rate and low birth rate as a result of which the population growth rate has slowed down,” said Sharma. “Both literates and non-literates have adopted contraceptive measures. And, a huge chunk of population has shifted from agro-based profession to wage-based livelihood where family size is controlled by limited resources for living rather than farming. It means the family size will be smaller and growth rate will further decrease in coming years.”

The absent population is 1,917,903, which is excluded from the total population. The number was 762,181 during 2001.

The census, conducted from June 17-June 27, recorded 12,927,431 (48.56 per cent) males and 13,693,378 (51.44 per cent) females. The sex ratio is 94.14 (males per hundred females) compared to 99.8 of census 2001.

Director General of CBS Uttam Narayan Malla said the population can vary slightly when the final results are out. “The final report during 2001 census had variation of about 100,000.”

Twenty-three districts, including Syangja, Parbat, Gulmi, Arghakhanchi and Khotang that had highest growth rate during previous census, have shown negative growth rate this time. Out-migration and influx of people to the urban areas are the major reasons for negative growth rate.

The population composition by ecological belt shows that Tarai has half of the country’s population with 50.15 per cent of people living in that region, with an increase of 1.8 per cent compared to last census. The population in the hill and mountain regions has slightly decreased though, with the hill region constituting 43.1 per cent and mountain 6.75 per cent. Similarly, national average household size has decreased from 5.44 to 4.70. The household size is recorded to be highest in Rautahat (6.33) and lowest (3.71) in Kathmandu.

Population density of the country is 181 per square km compared to 157 in 2001, with highest (4,408) in Kathmandu and lowest (three) in Manang.

Kathmandu has recorded 60.93 per cent population growth rate in the last decade whereas the national population growth rate has been 14.99.
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