ADB_book_18 April.qxp - Himalayan Document Centre - icimod

Mountain districts, urban areas are defined assettlements with a population of 10,000 and over. Thetotal number of settlement localities of this size in2001 was 285, which included 277 rural and 8designated urban areas. There were 16 settlementlocalities in the population size class 20,000–49,999 in1991 compared with 55 in 2001, of which the numberof rural localities was 11 and 21, respectively. Thetotal number of rural areas decreased from 4,015 to3,831 between 1991 and 2001, while the number ofdesignated urban areas increased from 33 to 58. In2001, all 544 rural localities in the Mountains werebelow a population size of 19,999 except for twodesignated urban areas. The total number of ruralareas in the Hills was 1,976 as compared with 1,301in the Terai. However, the average population sizeper rural locality is larger in the Terai (7,464) than inthe Hills (4,336). The Mountains have the lowestpopulation size per rural locality. The averagepopulation size of rural locality for the country as awhole is 5,200.Increase in population has a direct bearing onthe use of environmental resources, and increaseddemand for these resources causes their furtherdegradation. The rural population and amount ofagricultural land are both expanding, but the forestarea is diminishing. Diminishing forest area meansdeclining availability of forest products or increasingtravel to collect forest products, which eventuallyaffects the sustainability of agricultural production. Inthe Hills some of the sloping areas have beenencroached for cultivation, resulting in landslides,Table 2.9: Distribution of Settlement Localities and their Population by Region, 1991Population SizeClassMountain Hill Terai TotalNo. ofLocalities Population No. ofNo. ofPopulationLocalitiesLocalities Population No. ofPopulationLocalitiesBelow 500 16 5,680 16 5,680500–999 44 34,028 12 10,290 56 44,3181,000–1,999 123 192,527 222 374,896 20 35,422 365 602,8452,000–2,999 168 420,467 595 1,506,155 201 528,968 964 2,455,5903,000–3,999 115 398,017 561 1,947,370 357 1,248,667 1,033 3,594,0544,000–4,999 53 237,131 244 359,901 137 1,177,904 661 2,943,6915,000–9,999 25 155,280 304 1,901,280 432 3,014,438 761 5,070,99810,000–19,999 28 359,901 137 1,755,500 165 2,115,40120,000–49,999 2 43,691 14 430,899 16 474,59050,000–99,999 3 210,527 5 306,892 8 517,419Over 99,999 2 537,123 1 129,388 3 666,511Country Total 544 1,443,130 2,073 8,419,889 1,431 8,628,078 4,048 18,491,097Source: CBS (2002b)Table 2.10: Distribution of Settlement Localities and their Population by Region, 2001Population SizeClassMountain Hill Terai TotalNo. ofLocalities Population No. ofNo. ofNo. ofPopulationPopulationPopulationLocalitiesLocalitiesLocalitiesBelow 1,000 55 30,102 15 11,672 0 0 70 41,7751,000–4,999 399 928,754 1,477 4,976,439 520 2,173,043 2,396 8,066,6295,000–9,999 73 378,986 433 2,846,041 561 4,133,218 1,067 7,342,73010,000–19,999 27 314,726 53 704,562 205 2,962,979 285 3,975,23720,000–29,999 2 35,290 12 282,037 24 590,434 38 907,76130,000–39,999 0 0 2 65,328 7 254,495 9 319,82340,000–49,999 0 0 4 174,175 4 190,352 8 364,52750,000–99,999 0 0 3 199,707 8 628,775 11 828,482100,000–99,999 0 0 2 319,303 2 279,158 4 621,007Over 299,999 0 0 1 671,846 0 0 1 683,452Country Total 556 1,687,859 2,002 10,251,111 1,331 11,212,453 3,889 23,151,423Source: CBS (2002b)Chapter 2: Rural Environment, Poverty, and Livelihood11