Population 25,873,917 (July 2002 est.)

Age structure
0-14 years: 40% (male 5,346,422; female 5,007,416)
15-64 years: 56.4% (male 7,476,202; female 7,125,471)
65 years and over: 3.6% (male 453,263; female 465,143) (2002 est.)

Population growth rate 2.29% (2002 est.)

Birth rate 32.94 births/1,000 population (2002 est.)

Death rate 10.03 deaths/1,000 population (2002 est.)

Net migration rate 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002 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 (2002 est.)

Infant mortality rate 72.36 deaths/1,000 live births (2002 est.)

Life expectancy at birth
total population: 58.61 years
female: 58.2 years (2002 est.)
male: 59.01 years

Total fertility rate 4.48 children born/woman (2002 est.)

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate 0.29% (1999 est.)

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS 34,000 (1999 est.)

HIV/AIDS - deaths 2,500 (1999 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: 27.5%
male: 40.9%
female: 14% (1995 est.)

NOTE: The information regarding Nepal on this page is re-published from the 2002 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Nepal People 2002 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Nepal People 2002 should be addressed to the CIA.