Editing Demographics of Nepal (section)

== Languages ==
{{Main|Languages of Nepal}}
{{Pie chart
|label1 = [[Nepali language|Nepali]] |color1 = red |value1 = 44.64
|label2 = [[Maithili language|Maithili]] |color2 = gold |value2 = 11.67
|label3 = [[Bhojpuri language|Bhojpuri]] |color3 = yellow|value3 = 5.98
|label4 = [[Tharu languages|Tharu]] |color4 = yellowgreen |value4 = 5.77
|label5 = [[Tamang language|Tamang]] |color5 = deepskyblue |value5 = 5.11
|label6 = [[Newar language|Newar]] |color6 = darkblue |value6 = 3.20
|label7 = [[Bajjika dialect|Bajjika]] |color7 = pink |value7 = 2.99
|label8 = [[Magar language|Magar]] |color8 = teal |value8 = 2.98
|label9 = [[Doteli]] |color9 = brown |value9 = 2.97
|label10 = [[Urdu]] |color10 = orange |value10 = 2.61
|label11 = [[Awadhi language|Awadhi]] |color11 = khaki |value11 = 1.89
|label12 = [[Limbu language|Limbu]] |color12 = darkgreen |value12 = 1.30
|label13 = [[Gurung language|Gurung]] |color13 = skyblue |value13 = 1.23
|label14 = Baitadeli |color14 = maroon |value14 = 1.03
|label15 = Others |color15 = Grey |value15 = 6.63
}}

Nepal's diverse linguistic heritage evolved from three major language groups: [[Indo-Aryan languages|Indo-Aryan]], [[Tibeto-Burman languages]], and various [[indigenous language]] isolates. According to the 2001 national census, 92 different living languages are spoken in Nepal (a 93rd category was "unspecified"). Based upon the 2011 census, the major languages spoken in Nepal<ref>{{cite web|url=http://cbs.gov.np/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/Summary-Nepali.pdf |title=Official Summary of Census |year=2011 |work=Central Bureau of Statistics, Nepal |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121202145804/http://cbs.gov.np/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/Summary-Nepali.pdf |archive-date=2 December 2012 }}</ref> (percentage spoken out of the mother tongue language) includes

[[Nepali language|Nepali]] (derived from [[Khas]] bhasa) is an Indo-Aryan language and is written in [[Devanagari]] script. [[Nepali language|Nepali]] was the language of the house of Gorkhas in the late 18th century and became the official, national language that serves as the ''lingua franca'' among Nepali of different ethnolinguistic groups. [[Maithili language|Maithili]], [[Bhojpuri language|Bhojpuri]], [[Bajjika]] and [[Awadhi language|Awadhi]] languages are spoken in the southern [[Terai]]. There has been a surge in the number and percentage of people who understand English. Majority of the urban and a significant number of the rural schools are English-medium schools. Higher education in technical, medical, scientific and engineering fields are entirely in English. [[Newar language|Nepal Bhasa]], the mother-tongue of the Newars, is widely used and spoken in and around [[Kathmandu Valley]] and in major Newar trade towns across Nepal.

Other languages, particularly in the Inner Terai hill and mountain regions, are remnants of the country's pre-unification history of dozens of political entities isolated by mountains and gorges. These languages typically are limited to an area spanning about one day's walk. Beyond that distance, dialects and languages lose mutual intelligibility. However, there are some major languages spoken by indigenous peoples in the region: Magar and Gurung in the west-central hills, Tamang in the east-centre and Limbu in the east. In the high Himalayas are spoken various Tibetan languages, including Bhotia.
[[File:MOST SPOKEN LANGUAGE IN NEPAL.png|thumb|MOST SPOKEN LANGUAGE IN NEPAL (2021)]]
Since Nepal's unification, various indigenous languages have come under threat of extinction as the government of Nepal has marginalized their use through strict policies{{citation needed|date=December 2020}}<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Toba |first=Sueyosh |date=First Quarter 2005 |title=Diversity and Endangerment of Languages in Nepal |url=https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000139952.locale=en |journal=UNESCO Kathmandu Series of Monographs and Working Papers |volume=1 |issue=1 |pages=23–24 |via=UNESCO |access-date=6 September 2023 |archive-date=6 September 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230906074741/https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000139952.locale=en |url-status=live }}</ref> designed to promote Nepali as the official language. Indigenous languages which have gone extinct or are critically threatened include [[Byangsi language|Byangsi]], Chonkha, and Longaba. Since democracy was restored in 1990, however, the government has worked to improve the marginalization of these languages. Tribhuvan University began surveying and recording threatened languages in 2010 and the government intends to use this information to include more languages on the next Nepali census.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Tumbahang|first=Govinda Bahadur|year=2010|title=Marginalization of indigenous languages of Nepal|journal=Contributions to Nepalese Studies|volume=37|pages=69|via=Expanded Academic}}</ref>