2021 Nepal Census
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General information
Country	Nepal
Authority	Central Bureau of Statistics
Website	censusnepal.cbs.gov.np (English)
Results
Total population	29,936,576 [1] (10.18%[1])
Most populous province	Madhesh Province (6,126,288)[1]
Least populous province	Karnali Province (1,694,889)[1]

The 2021 Nepal Census was the twelfth nationwide census of Nepal conducted by the Central Bureau of Statistics.^[2][3] The census was originally scheduled from 8 June to 22 June 2021, but was postponed to November 2021^[4] due to surge in COVID-19 cases.^[5][6]

Background

In Nepal, the work of conducting a census started in 1911 A.D. (1968 B.S.) and has been carried out approximately every 10/10 years. The main objective of the first and second census was to prepare a list of property owners, tenants, and buildings. Until the census conducted in 1998 B.S., it was limited to the form of a short census questionnaire. However, the censuses conducted since 2009/11 B.S. (1952/54 A.D.) have been recognized as modern (scientific) censuses, including the collection of demographic characteristics. After the establishment of the Central Bureau of Statistics in 2015 A.D., all censuses have been conducted by this bureau. In this sequence, the national census of 2078 B.S. is the first census conducted under Nepal's federal system according to the provisions of the Constitution of Nepal issued in 2072 B.S.

Planning

The National Census of 2078 was conducted in two phases, with the first phase being carried out by supervisors who went to every home and family and prepared a household registration form, detailing information about the house and household, the number of members in the family, the family's agriculture-related details, whether the family had received government funding for building a residential house, the number of individuals who had bank or financial institution accounts, and details about technical and vocational education or training received by members of the family, as well as information about credit facilities obtained from cooperative or financial institutions.

In the second phase, enumerators went to every family and collected information about demographic, educational, residential, economic, disability, reproductive health, and other details using a main questionnaire. During the second phase, detailed monitoring of the collection of site-specific data was carried out by the supervisor, and each ward office collected ward-level community questionnaire-based information on the basis of sources, resources, capacity, precedent, and disaster risk.

Questionnaire

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Census_2021_Questionnaire_Community.pdf

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Census_2021_Questionnaire_Main.pdf

Results

Total population: 29,192,480^[7]

Population of Province 1

Population of Madhesh Province

Population of Bagmati Province

Population of Gandaki Province

Population of Lumbini Province

Population of Karnali Province

Population of Sudurpaschim Province

Controversies

The enumerators of the census have been alleged to use pencil while filling out the forms, instead of ink pen.^[8]

The Kayat community of Baglung declared boycotting from the census.^[9] The Nepal Federation of Indigenous Nationalities issued a statement alleging the census enumerators not asking the questions on language and religion.^[10] The federation has alleged enumerators of filling the form without asking these questions.^[11] The enumerators have also been alleged for noting second language as "Nepali", without asking the person.^[8] An enumerator was captured by the locals in Lamjung alleging that they noted their religion as Hindu, despite informing them that they are Buddhists.^[12]

The Wambule community expressed its concern over census enumeration form having their language mentioned as "Yambule".^[13] Rai organizations also drew attention of the authorities citing that there is a Rai ethnicity, but no Rai language and that Rai people speak 26 languages which census enumeration form has incorrectly listed.^[14]

People of Nisikhola Rural Municipality demanded to re-take the census after enumerators noted information in their notebooks instead of the official enumeration form.^[15] The deputy house speaker of Bagmati Province Assembly alleged census enumerators not even asking basic questions. She also alleged that census enumerators enlisted her second language as 'Nepali', when told them to write down 'Gurung'. She also demanded that the census should be conducted by local government.^[16]

It has also been reported that census enumerators were chased away in Saptari, Siraha and Dhanusha of Province No. 2.^[17] Many people from the Dalit community reported of having to lie about their caste due to the fear of eviction by the landlords.^[18]

The final census report of Nepal Census did not included data of Kuti, Gunji and Nabi villages of the Kalapani area,^[19] which was included in the preliminary census report released in January 2022.^[20]