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Karki

Appendix

A1: Background information about Nepal.
Nepal has a diverse geography and a landmass of 147,181 km . The country is situated between two huge nations. All
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along the Himalayan northern border there is the Tibetan region of China, while the remaining three sides of the country
are surrounded by India. Nepal is characterized by three distinct ecological regions running east to west, referred to as
the Mountains, the Hills, and the Tarai. The Mountain area in the North ranges in altitude from 16,000 ft (4,880 m) to
29,028 ft (8,848 m) above sea level and the area accounts for about 35% of the total land of the country. The Hill area
in the middle runs from east to west, ranging in altitude from above 1000 ft (305 m) to about 16,000 ft and accounts for
42% of the total land of the country. The Tarai area along the South ranges from about 200 ft (60 m) to 1000 ft above sea
level, including some of the most fertile land in the country and accounting for 23% of the total land area. The Tarai area
is a subtropical region adjoining India. According to the 2021 preliminary population census results, about 53.7% of the
total population of 29.2 million resided in the Tarai, while, in the hills and the high mountain regions, the corresponding
figures are 40.2% and 6.1%, respectively (CBS, 2022).
In September 2015, Nepal promulgated a new Constitution, adopted a three-tier federal state (local, provincial, and
center) and became a federal democratic republic. The country is now divided into seven provinces (Province No.1,
Madhesh Province, Bagmati Province, Gandaki Province, Lumbini Province, Karnali Province, and Sudurpashchim
Province), 77 districts (see Map), and 753 palika or local politico-administrative units and each palika is divided into
wards of varying numbers which are the lowest level politico-administrative units (Ministry of Law, Justice and Federal
Affairs, 2015).

Figure A1. Each province is composed of a number of districts; there are 14 districts in Province 1, eight districts in Madhesh Province,
13 districts in Bagmati Province, 11 districts in Gandaki Province, 12 districts in Lumbini Province, ten districts in Karnali Province,
and nine districts in Sudurpaschim Province. There are, in all, 6,743 wards in the country. Before 2015, the number of districts was
75. A palika is classified as a rural or an urban municipality. The urban municipalities are further classified as Metropolitan cities,
Sub-metropolitan cities, and urban municipalities. In all, there are six metropolitan cities, 11 sub-metropolitan cities, and 276 Urban
Municipalities in the country. Of the total population, 66% lives in 293 urban municipalities (CBS, 2022). Except for metropolitan and
sub-metropolitan cities, the populations of 276 urban municipalities exhibit rural characteristics. The 2011 census reported 125 caste/
ethnic groups with about 123 different languages spoken in Nepal (Dahal, 2014). Caste/ethnic groups can be broadly divided into four
hierarchical categories such as “high” castes (Chhetri/Bahun), indigenous (Janajati) group, the Tarai castes, and the Dalit castes

International Journal of Population Studies | 2021, Volume 7, Issue 1 97