Population Situation of Nepal | Cause, Consequences and Remedial Measures of High Population Growth | Economics Class 11

Tharu People in Terai

Notes | Economics
HSEB Notes on Population Situation of Nepal
Class : 11

Size of population: 

The size of population of Nepal according to population census 2001 is 2,31,51,423 out of which the no. of male population is 1,15,62,921 and female population is 1,15,87,502. Similarly, according to this census the annual growth rate of population of 2.24%. 

Distribution of population: 

Geographically, Nepal is divided into three ecological regions i.e. Mountain, Hill and Terai. According to population census 2001, the distribution of population by geographical reasons is as follows: 

Mountain 

Population : 7.29 % 

Area : 15 % 

Hill 

Population : 44.28 % 

Area : 68 % 

Terai 

Population : 48.43 % 

Area : 17 % 

Size and growth rate population of Nepal: 

1961 

Population 94,12,986 

Growth Rate : 1.65 

1971 

Population : 1,15,55,983 

Growth Rate : 2.07 

1981 

Population : 1,50,22,839 

Growth Rate : 2.66 

1991 

Population : 1,84,91,097 

Growth Rate : 2.10 

2001 

Population : 2,31,51,423 

Growth Rate : 2.24 

Causes of high population in Nepal: 

There is high population growth in Nepal. At present, Nepal is facing the problem of population explosion. The causes of high population growth in Nepal are as follows: 

High birth rate: 

Due to early marriage and long fertility period of women in Nepal, the population growth rate of Nepal is found to be high. At present, the total fertility rate is 4.1 for women. Thus, high fertility rate is one of the causes of high population growth. 

Falling death rate: 

The death rate is declining in Nepal due to expansion of health care facilities. The crude death rate is 9.3 per thousand population and crude birth rate is 32.5 per thousand population. The average life expectancy has increase to about 60 years. This has caused high population growth in Nepal. 

Religious and social belief: 

The Nepalese people are religious in nature. They believe in God and in their fate as well. The birth of son is considered essential to perform death rituals, to continue the generation and for support in old age. Due to this region population growth rate is high in Nepal. 

Lack of education: 

Majority of people of Nepal are uneducated. Due to illiteracy people are not aware of the evil consequences of high population. 

Early marriage: 

Due to religious and social customs, early marriage is still prevalent in rural areas of Nepal. This practice is also responsible for high population growth in Nepal. 

Growing international Migration: 

The growing internal migration is also another cause of high population growth in Nepal. The size of population of Nepal has been growing due to open international migration particularly from India, Bhutan and Tibet. 

Lack of family planning service: 

There is lack of adequate family planning services in rural and remote areas of Nepal. These services are basically concentrated in urban areas. 

Consequences of high population growth rate: 

The high population growth is a serious obstacle in economic development of a country. It is rightly said that population growth is a development problem of developing countries. The evil consequences of high population growth are as follows: 

1) Slows development: 

The rapid population growth slows the pace of economic development because it reduces investment and creates imbalance between natural resources and population. 

2) Increase in unemployment: 

If economic development cannot be accelerated along with the population growth the unemployment and underemployment increases. The unemployment creates social instability in the country. 

3) Environmental degradation: 

The high population growth creates environmental degradation. At present, Nepal is facing the problem of deforestation due to high population growth. The deforestation causes natural disaster like soil erosion, landslide, flood, drought, etc. 

4) Food shortage: 

The high population growth causes flood shortage. Due to food shortage people suffer form malnutrition. People don’ get enough food to maintain good health. Therefore, large number of villagers have been suffering from food shortage every year due to high population growth in Nepal. 

5) Poverty: 

The poverty of Nepal is not declining due to high population growth. About 30% of the population live below poverty line in Nepal. Majority of poor people live in rural areas. 

6) Low per capita income: 

There is low per capita income in Nepal due to high population growth rate. At present, the per capita income of Nepalese people is only about 450$. 

Remedial Measures of high population growth: 

Rapid population growth is the major problem of economic development of a developing country like Nepal. The population growth in the country is not only a national problem but also a family and individual problem. It has evil consequences such as food scarcity, unemployment, environmental degradation, etc. Therefore, it is necessary to control the growth of population. The following remedial measures can be taken to control the growth of population. 

Spread of education: 

The population growth rate can be checked by the spread of education. The people become aware of the evil effects of large number of children. Similarly, female education helps to reduce fertility rate. 

Increase in health care facilities: 

The increase in health care facilities reduces the infant and maternal mortality rate. This encourages people to have less children. 

Expansion of family planning services: 

The family planning services should be made available in rural areas. The people accepting family planning should be given economic incentives. Different types of family planning devices should be made easily available to all married couples in all parts of the country. 

Publicity: 

The government should educate the people regarding the benefit of small family, increase in age at marriage and birth spacing through publicity. 

Raise the social and economic status of women: 

Efforts should be made to raise the social and economic status of women. Provision should be made for women education and employment outside home. 

Control of International migration: 

The illegal and uncontrolled foreign migration should be checked. The open border with India should be checked. 

Economic development: 

Economic development itself can control the population growth. This is the evidence from the experience of developed countries.

Read this also :

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