Asia
What language should you translate localize in Nepal?
What we know from our community
Culture of any society is its identity. It helps in the identification of a community, society or a whole nation. Nepali culture is a unique culture, which reflects Nepalese people’s overall way of life. The amalgam of diverse cultures of different ethnic groups, castes and creeds make a rich Nepali culture. Diversity is its specialty.
Language plays a vital role in the projection and transmission of culture. It is the medium through which we establish a narrative about anything else. According to the 2021 Nepal census, there are altogether 123 languages spoken in Nepal. Among 123 languages, Nepali language is the national and official language of Nepal. It’s a medium of communication for the people in general. It is used widely in government offices, educational system, and in the day to day life of Nepalese people as well. This has played an important role in bridging the gap and establishing the cordial relationship between the people of Nepal. It has also become a medium to establish linkage between the Nepalese people in diaspora. The language is also taken as a representative of many other languages spoken in Nepal since it is the common language for all the Nepalese people. It has also helped in the preservation and promotion of Nepali culture.
Thus, Nepali language has become an integral part of Nepali culture.
Nepali
कुनै पनि समाजको संस्कृति त्यसको पहिचान हो। यसले समुदाय, समाज वा समग्र राष्ट्रको पहिचान गर्नमा मद्दत पुर्याउछ। नेपाली संस्कृति एक मौलिक संस्कृति हो, जसले नेपालीहरूको समग्र जीवनशैलीलाई झल्काउँछ। विभिन्न जातीय समुह, जातजाति र सम्प्रदायहरूका विविध संस्कृतिहरूको संयोजनले समृद्ध नेपाली संस्कृति बन्दछ। विविधता नै यसको विशेषता हो।
भाषाले संस्कृतिको चित्रण तथा प्रसारणमा महत्वपूर्ण भूमिका खेल्दछ। यो कुनै कुराको बारेमा भाष्य निर्माण गर्ने माध्यम हो। नेपालको जनगणना २०२१ अनुसार, नेपालमा जम्मा १२३ वटा भाषा बोलिन्छन्। १२३ भाषाहरू मध्ये, नेपाली भाषा नेपालको राष्ट्रिय तथा सरकारी कामकाजको भाषा हो। यो आम जनताहरूको लागि सञ्चारको माध्यम हो। यो सरकारी कार्यालयहरू, शैक्षिक प्रणाली र नेपाली जनताको दैनिक जीवनमा पनि व्यापक रूपमा प्रयोग गरिन्छ। यसले नेपाली जनताबीच रहेको खाडल मेटाउन र सौहार्दपूर्ण सम्बन्ध स्थापना गर्न महत्वपूर्ण भूमिका खेलेको छ। यो डायस्पोरामा रहेका नेपालीहरूबीच सम्बन्ध स्थापित गर्ने माध्यम पनि बनेको छ। यो भाषा सबै नेपालीहरूको साझा भाषा भएको हुनाले यसलाई नेपालमा बोलिने अन्य धेरै भाषाहरूको प्रतिनिधिको रूपमा पनि लिइन्छ। यसले नेपाली संस्कृतिको संरक्षण तथा प्रवर्धनमा समेत सहयोग पुर्याएको छ।
यसरी नेपाली भाषा नेपाली संस्कृतिको अभिन्न अङ्ग बन्न पुगेको छ।
Ken Subedi, Nepali Translation Expert
Introduction
Language
Official language
Nepali
T-index
0.032%
T-Index ranks countries according to their potential for online sales.
Other languages
English (About 40% of the population of Armenia have basic knowledge of English), Russian (0.8% of Armenians speak Russian as the first language but 52.7% speak it as a second language.
English
Low proficiency (EF) – of 112 countries in the world- 9/24 position in Asia.
Conventions
Numbering system
Arabic numbering system, point as decimal separator and space or comma as separator of thousands.
Date format: yyyy-mm-dd / dd-mm-yyyy
Time: 24h time system
Country code: 00 977
Demography
Capital: Kathmandu
Currency: Nepalese rupee
Population: 29,674,920 million
Population density: 104/km2
Economy
GDP: 36.29 billion USD (2021)
GDP per capita: 1,222.9 USD (2021)
Exports: $874 million (2020)
Statistics
Internet users: 38.4% penetration, 11.51 million
Unemployment rate: 1.25% (2019)
Urbanisation: 53.06% (2020)
Literacy: 67.9% (2018)
Language data sources: Worldatlas/Britannica//EF/Wikipedia; Demography data sources: IMF/Worldometers; Conventions data source: Wikipedia; Economy data sources: WTO/OEC/CIA/Esomar/Datareportal; Statistics data sources: Datareportal/WorldBank/UN/UNESCO/CEIC/IMF/Culturalatlas/Commisceoglobal
Facts and data
Economy
Imports
$8.2 billion (2020). Refined Petroleum ($818M), Semi-Finished Iron ($388M), Broadcasting Equipment ($339M), Rice ($331M), and Petroleum Gas ($236M), importing mostly from India ($5.85B), China ($1.17B), United Arab Emirates ($194M), Hong Kong ($130M), and Singapore ($115M).
Financial inclusion factors (over 15 years of age)
• 45% have an account with a financial institution
• 0.7% have a credit card
• 2.2% make online purchases
Ease of doing business
Very Easy to conduct business (74.5 out of 100) 9th out of 24 European and Central Asian countries, 47th worldwide out of 190 countries (2022, World Bank)
Exports
$874 million (2020). Soybean Oil ($198M), Knotted Carpets ($55.2M), Non-Retail Synthetic Staple Fibers Yarn ($53.5M), Nutmeg, mace and cardamons ($48.4M), and Palm Oil ($44.9M), exporting mostly to India ($611M), United States ($90M), Germany ($26M), United Kingdom ($17.1M), and China ($15.3M).
Economic freedom
‘Mostly not free’ (49.7 out of 100) 31th out of 39 countries in the Asian-Pacific region, 148th worldwide out of 186 countries (2022, Heritage Foundation and Wall Street Journal)
Global Innovation Index
Ranked 10th out of 19 South East Asian, East Asian,
and Oceanian countries, 111th out of 132 worldwide.
The Global Innovation Index captures the innovation
ecosystem performance of 132 economies and tracks the most recent global innovation trends.
Economy data sources: WTO/OEC/CIA/Esomar/Datareportal
Service Imports (2018)
Source: OEC
Service Exports (2018)
Source: OEC
Most complex products by PCI
Product Complexity Index measures the knowledge intensity of a product by considering the knowledge intensity of its exporters
Source: OEC
Most specialised products by RCA Index
Specialisation is measured using Revealed Comparative Advantage, an index that takes the ratio between Nepal observed and expected exports in each product
Source: OEC
Export Opportunities by Relatedness
Relatedness measures the distance between a country's current exports and each product, the barchart show only products that Armenia is not specialized in
Source: OEC
T-index
Reach most of the online purchasing power
T-Index ranks countries according to their potential for online sales. It estimates the market share of each country in relation to global e-commerce.
Try it nowMedia
Media language
Nepali, English
Information channels
Private broadcasting has flourished. The government operates radio and TV services and publishes a Nepali-language daily and an English-language paper. Radio is a key news source and there are few barriers to setting up an outlet, says US-based NGO Freedom House.
There are around 250 community stations. Covering demonstrations can be dangerous for Nepalese journalists, says Reporters Without Borders (RSF) in its 2016 World Press Freedom Index.
There is a small film industry, nicknamed “Kollywood”. Indian films are stapled fare in cinemas. BBC World Service broadcasts on 103 FM in Kathmandu.
There were around 5 million internet users by 2016 (Internetlivestats.com). Facebook is a popular platform and the use of Twitter is on the rise. Prominent bloggers write about political issues. RSF says a 2016 directive allows the authorities to block online content deemed to be immoral or misleading.
Press
The Kathmandu Post – private, English-language daily
The Rising Nepal – semi-official English-language daily
Gorkhapatra – semi-official daily, Nepal’s oldest newspaper
Kantipur – daily, one of the first private newspapers
Annapurna Post – daily
The Himalayan Times – English-language
The Nepali Times – English-language weekly
Republica – private, English-language daily
Television
Nepal Television Corporation (NTV) – state-run, operates NTV and NTV Metro channels
Kantipur TV – private
Image Channel TV – private
Avenues TV – private
Radio
Radio Nepal – state-run, operates national and regional services
Hits FM – commercial, music-based
HBC 94 FM – operated by Himalayan Broadcasting Company
Radio Sagarmatha – FM, public, community station
Kantipur FM – commercial
Image FM – commercial
News Agencies
National News Agency (RSS) – state-run
Media data source: BBC
Internet Data
Internet users
38.4% penetration, 11.51 million
Share of web traffic by device
76.14% mobile phones, 22.71% computers (laptops and desktops), 1.15% tablet devices
Median speed of mobile Internet connection
18.42 Mbps
Median speed of fixed Internet connection
28.32 Mbps
Mobile connection as a percentage of total population 135.5%
Percentage of mobile connections that are broadband (3G-5G) 62.6%
Most popular web search engines
Google (97.32%), Bing (2.18%), Yahoo (0.35%), DuckDuckgo (0.08%), Petal Search (0.03%), Ecosia (0.02%)
Most used social media
Facebook (95.82%), Twitter (2.75%), YouTube (0.76%), Linkedin (0.27%), Instagram (0.23%), Pinterest (0.1%).
Internet data sources: Datareportal/Statcounter
Social statistics
Life expectancy
71 yrs (2020)
Average age of the population
24.6 yrs (2020)
Healthcare expenditure
4.45% of GDP (2020)
Religion
Although more than 80% of Nepalese are Hindus, people of different religions live harmoniously with each other. Religion is not a source of tension, as in neighboring countries like India or Pakistan.
Ethnicity and Class
Ethnicity is one of the main topics of conversation in the current political climate. Upper caste people known as ‘Bahuns’ hold most of the higher positions in the government, yet other marginalized ethnic groups are demanding an equal share in decision-making processes.
Gender
Nepalese society is deeply rooted in tradition. However, gender relations are changing rapidly among younger generations. Traditionally, men are breadwinners and married women are homemakers. In Kathmandu (the capital), women are increasingly seen as breadwinners as well. In rural settings, women typically take care of household duties such as cooking, washing, and childcare.
In the workplace, few women are in management-level positions. Men occupy most of the top positions, especially in the private and government sectors. Management structures at non-governmental organizations may be different, having more men and women working in similar positions.
Social statistics sources: WorldBank/UN/UNESCO/CEIC/IMF
The Data Factbook is a work in progress project. Our community is helping us to fill it up always with new and updated data. Your contribution is precious. If you want to help us, please write your advices at imminent@translated.com
Languages research
Languages spoken in Nepal
Legend
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Sharpa
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Tamang
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Magar
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Gurung
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Newar
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Bantawa
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Limbu
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Rajbansi
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Maithili
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Bajjka
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Bhojpuri
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Awadhi
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Tharu
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Nepali
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Uninhabits
The geographical distribution of languages that you will find in the maps published in this section is a work in progress. Our community is helping us to fill it up with always new and updated data. Your contribution is precious. If you want to help us, please write to imminent.factbook@translated.com
Photo credit: Raimond Klavins, Unsplash