Nepalis

Nepalis
नेपाली नागरिक
Total population
c. 30 million[1]
Regions with significant populations
   Nepal 26,494,504[2] (2011 Census)
 India 2,926,168[3]
 Myanmar 300,000[4]
 Bhutan 265,000[5]
 United States 59,490[6]
 Canada 17,140[7]
(Includes those of mixed ancestry)
 Hong Kong, China 15,950[8]
 China (Mainland) 3,500[9]
 Netherlands 2,199[10]
Languages
Nepali  • Maithili  • Bhojpuri  • Awadhi  • Tharu  • Tamang  • Newari  • Bajjika  • Magar  • Dotyali  • Urdu and 113 others[11]
Religion
Hinduism 81.3%
Buddhism 9.0%
Islam 4.4%
Kirat 3.0%
Christianity 1.4%
and others 0.9%.[12]
a Total population of Nepal, b Nepali-speaking population, c Nepali diaspora

The Nepalis (Nepali: नेपाली) are citizens of the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal under the provisions of Nepali nationality law.[13][14] The country is home to people of many different national and ethnic origins. As a result, people of Nepal do not equate their nationality with ethnicity, but with citizenship and allegiance. Although citizens make up the majority of Nepali, non-citizen residents, dual citizen, and expatriates may also claim a Nepali identity. Nepalese are descendants of migrants from parts of India, Tibet, Pakistan, Afghanistan and parts of Burma and Yunnan, and much further traces origin to Central Asia, along with indigenous peoples.

Nepal is a multicultural and multiethnic country. Nepali are multilinguistic group that speak 123 languages as recorded in 2011 Nepal census.[11] 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.[2][15]

Etymology

People having citizenship and allegiance of Nepal are Nepali

Local legends say that a Hindu sage named "Ne" established himself in the valley of Kathmandu in prehistoric times and that the word "Nepal" came into existence as the place was protected ("pala" in Pali) by the sage "Ne". It is mentioned in Vedic texts that this region was called Nepal centuries ago. According to the Skanda Purana, a rishi called "Ne" or "Nemuni" used to live in the Himalayas.[16] In the Pashupati Purana, he is mentioned as a saint and a protector.[17] He is said to have practised meditation at the Bagmati and Kesavati rivers[18] and to have taught there.[19]

The name of the country is also identical in origin to the name of the Newar people. The terms "Nepāl", "Newār", "Newāl" and "Nepār" are phonetically different forms of the same word, and instances of the various forms appear in texts in different times in history. Nepal is the learned Sanskrit form and Newar is the colloquial Prakrit form.[20] A Sanskrit inscription dated 512 CE found in Tistung, a valley to the west of Kathmandu, contains the phrase "greetings to the Nepals" indicating that the term "Nepal" was used to refer to both the country and the people.[21][22]

Nepali nationality

The founder of modern Nepal, Badamaharajadhiraja (meaning: Great of the great sovereign kings) Prithvi Narayan Shah[23] is considered a unifying figure and symbol of Nepali National Unity.[24] He is considered a visionary leader and his birthday is celebrated as National Unity Day after years of Maoist hegemony and demolition of monarchial history called as Krambhanga (Paradigm Shift).[25][23]

Nepali caste/ethnic groups

The population ranking of 125 Nepali castes/ethnic groups as per the 2011 Nepal census.[26][note 1]

Rank Caste/ethnic groups Population Percentage composition
1 Chhetri 4,398,053 16.60%
2 Hill Brahman/Bahun 3,226,903 12.18%
3 Magar 1,887,733 7.12%
4 Tharu 1,737,470 6.56%
5 Tamang 1,539,830 5.81%
6 Newar 1,321,933 4.99%
7 Kami 1,258,554 4.75%
8 Musalman (taken as a single ethnic group) 1,164,255 4.39%
9 Yadav 1,054,458 3.98%
10 Rai 620,004 2.34%
11 Gurung 522,641 1.97%
12 Damai/Dholi 472,862 1.78%
13 Thakuri 425,623 1.61%
14 Limbu 387,300 1.46%
15 Sarki 374,816 1.41%
16 Teli 369,688 1.40%
17 Chamar/Harijan/Ram 335,893 1.27%
18 Koiri/Kushwaha 306,393 1.16%
19 Musahar 234,490 0.89%
20 Kurmi 231,129 0.87%
21 Sanyasi/Dasnami 227,822 0.86%
22 Dhanuk 219,808 0.83%
23 Dusadh/Pasawan/Pasi 208,910 0.79%
123 Raute 618 0.00%
124 Nurang 278 0.00%
125 Kusunda 273 0.00%
- Others undefined and foreigners 282,321 1.07%
- Total 26,494,504 100.00%

See also

References

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Pages 191/192 of the total pdf or pages 156/157 in the scanned material shows Nepali castes/ethnic groups

Notes

  1. ↑ Total population: 30 million. Population of Nepal: 26,494,504 (2011), number of Nepali speakers in India: 2,871,749 (2011), number of Nepali speakers in Bhutan: 265,000.
  2. 1 2 "Decadal Growth :www.cbs.gov.np" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-07-31.
  3. ↑ "Scheduled Languages in descending order of speaker's strength - 2011" (PDF). Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India.
  4. ↑ The Irrawaddy - LAWI WENG. "The Forgotten Gurkhas of Burma". The Irrawaddy. Retrieved 20 May 2014.
  5. ↑ http://archive.ethnologue.com/16/show_language.asp?code=nep
  6. ↑ "ASIAN ALONE OR IN COMBINATION WITH ONE OR MORE OTHER RACES, AND WITH ONE OR MORE ASIAN CATEGORIES FOR SELECTED GROUPS". United States Census Bureau. United States Department of Commerce. 2010. Retrieved 13 September 2016.
  7. ↑ Statistics Canada. "Census Profile, 2016 Census". Retrieved 25 March 2018.
  8. ↑ "Thematic Report: Ethnic Minorities" (PDF). Publications and Products of the 2006 Population By-census. Census and Statistics Department, Hong Kong (xvi). 2007-12-28. Retrieved 2008-01-23.
  9. ↑ "Start Kathmandu-Guangzhou flight: NRNs". The Himalayan Times. Archived from the original on 12 January 2006. Retrieved 13 September 2016.
  10. ↑ "CBS StatLine - Bevolking; generatie, geslacht, leeftijd en herkomstgroepering, 1 januari". Statline.cbs.nl. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
  11. 1 2 Official Summary of Census (2011), Central Bureau of Statistics, Nepal Archived 2012-12-02 at the Wayback Machine.
  12. ↑ Statistical Yearbook of Nepal - 2013. Kathmandu: Central Bureau of Statistics. 2013. p. 23. Retrieved 13 December 2015.
  13. ↑ http://www.lawcommission.gov.np/en/documents/2015/08/nepal-citizenship-rules-2063-2006.pdf Nepal Citizenship Act 2006
  14. ↑ http://www.legalnepal.com/Nepal_citizenship_act.pdf Nepal Citizenship Act 2006(in Nepali)
  15. ↑ "Nepali peoples and nationality law". The World Factbook. CIA.
  16. ↑ Dangol, Amrit (6 May 2007). "Alone in Kathmandu". Alone in Kathmandu. Retrieved 29 July 2009.
  17. ↑ Prasad, P. 4 The life and times of Maharaja Juddha Shumsher Jung Bahadur Rana of Nepal
  18. ↑ Khatri, P. 16 The Postage Stamps of Nepal
  19. ↑ W.B., P. 34 Land of the Gurkhas
  20. ↑ Malla, Kamal P. "Nepala: Archaeology of the Word" (PDF). Archived from the original on 22 March 2012. Retrieved 5 May 2011. Page 7.
  21. ↑ Malla, Kamal P. "Nepala: Archaeology of the Word" (PDF). Archived from the original on 22 March 2012. Retrieved 5 May 2011. Page 1.
  22. ↑ Majupuria, Trilok Chandra; Majupuria, Indra (1979). Glimpses of Nepal. Maha Devi. p. 8. Retrieved 2 December 2013.
  23. 1 2 Rai, Om Astha. "Back To Unity". The Nepali Times. Retrieved 12 January 2018.
  24. ↑ Simkhada, Dhruba. "Nepal founder's legacy". The Nepali Times. Retrieved 12 January 2018.
  25. ↑ Kharel, Shekhar. "Prithvi Narayan Shah reborn". The Nepali Times. Retrieved 12 January 2018.
  26. ↑ "Nepal Census 2011" (PDF).
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