Editing Demographics of Nepal (section)

== Population growth ==
{{Historical populations
|type =
|percentages=
|footnote = Source:
|0   | 1000000
|1000| 1500000
|1500| 2000000
|1600| 2500000
|1700| 3000000
|1800| 4000000
|1911| 5638749
|1920| 5573788
|1930| 5532574
|1941| 6283649
|1954| 8256625
|1961| 9412996
|1971| 11555983
|1981| 15022839
|1991| 18491097
|2001| 23151423
|2011| 26494504
|2021| 29164578
}}
The population of Nepal has been steadily rising in recent decades. In the June 2001 census, there was a population of about 23 million in Nepal.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=http://www.prb.org/Publications/Articles/2002/PopulationGrowthContinuestoHinderNepalsEconomicProgress.aspx|title=Population Growth Continues to Hinder Nepal's Economic Progress|website=www.prb.org|access-date=2017-03-28|archive-date=3 March 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180303160013/http://www.prb.org/Publications/Articles/2002/PopulationGrowthContinuestoHinderNepalsEconomicProgress.aspx|url-status=dead}}</ref> The population increased by 5 million from the preceding 1991 census; the growth rate is 2.3%.<ref name=":0" /> The current population is roughly 30 million which contributes to an increase of about 3 million people every 5 years.

Sixty caste and linguistic subgroups have formed throughout time with the waves of [[Migration in Nepal|migration]] from Tibet and India.<ref name=":02">{{Cite journal|last1=Massey|first1=Douglas S.|last2=Axinn|first2=William G.|date=August 2010|title=Environmental change and out-migration: evidence from Nepal|journal=Population and Environment|volume=32|issue=2–3|pages=109–136|doi=10.1007/s11111-010-0119-8|pmid=21350676|pmc=3042700|bibcode=2010PopEn..32..109M }}</ref> There was a moderate amount of immigration early in Nepal's history, then the population essentially remained the same without any significant fluctuations for over one hundred years.<ref name=":02" /> Natural disasters and the following government resettlement programs in the 1950s led to a spike in internal migration from the hills to the Terai region.<ref name=":02" /> In the 1980s the Western Chitwan Valley became a major transportation hub for all of Nepal. Along with this major change came a dramatic increase in government services, business expansion, and growing employment, especially in the agricultural industry. The valley's population grew rapidly through both in-migration and natural increase.<ref name=":02" />