Population:
26,469,569 (July 2003 est.)
Age structure:
0-14 years: 39.7% (male 5,424,396; female 5,080,171)
15-64 years: 56.7% (male 7,692,134; female 7,320,059)
65 years and over: 3.6% (male 468,697; female 484,112) (2003 est.)
Median age:
total: 19.7 years
male: 19.6 years
female: 19.9 years (2002)
Population growth rate:
2.26% (2003 est.)
Birth rate:
32.46 births/1,000 population (2003 est.)
Death rate:
9.84 deaths/1,000 population (2003 est.)
Net migration rate:
0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2003 est.)
Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.07 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.05 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.97 male(s)/female
total population: 1.05 male(s)/female (2003 est.)
Infant mortality rate:
total: 70.57 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 72.27 deaths/1,000 live births (2003 est.)
male: 68.95 deaths/1,000 live births
Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 59 years
male: 59.36 years
female: 58.63 years (2003 est.)
Total fertility rate:
4.39 children born/woman (2003 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:
0.5% (2001 est.)
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:
58,000 (2001 est.)
HIV/AIDS - deaths:
2,400 (2001 est.)
Nationality:
noun: Nepalese (singular and plural)
adjective: Nepalese
Ethnic groups:
Brahman, Chetri, Newar, Gurung, Magar, Tamang, Rai, Limbu, Sherpa,
Tharu, and others (1995)
Religions:
Hinduism 86.2%, Buddhism 7.8%, Islam 3.8%, other 2.2%
note: only official Hindu state in the world (1995)
Languages:
Nepali (official; spoken by 90% of the population), about a dozen
other languages and about 30 major dialects; note - many in
government and business also speak English (1995)
Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 45.2%
male: 62.7%
female: 27.6% (2003 est.)