KATHMANDU, JANUARY 2
The Nepal Statistics Office (NSO) released a study report on the classification of rural and urban areas in Nepal on Tuesday. In this study, the NSO analyzed statistics related to settlement trends in urban, urban-oriented, and rural areas.
According to the methodology used, wards were categorized as rural or urban based on four criteria: population, population density, settlement areas, and the continuation of characteristics defining urban areas.
The results of the classification indicate that the urban population increased from 22.31 percent to 27.07 percent between the National Census in 2068 BS and 2078 BS. The urban-oriented population also grew from 39.19 percent to 39.75 percent. Conversely, the study revealed a decline in the rural population from 38.5 percent to 33.19 percent over the past decade.
The report noted, "Rural population is still one third in size. While observing the trend of migration flow from rural to urban-oriented and urban areas, it has been difficult to manage population in urban areas and reduce migration in rural areas."
Geographically, the study found that the rural population covers 66 percent in hilly areas and 16 percent in mountainous areas, while the urban-oriented population is dominant in the Terai region with 85 percent.
Regarding local-level categorization, approximately 58 percent of the rural population resides in 2,412 wards, 36.1 percent in 664 urban-oriented wards, and five percent in 139 urban wards.
According to the National Census-2078, Nepal's population in urban areas is 66.17 percent, while rural areas account for 33.83 percent.
