Population:
28,563,377 (July 2009 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 36.6% (male 5,327,484/female 5,127,178)
15-64 years: 59.2% (male 8,094,494/female 8,812,675)
65 years and over: 4.2% (male 566,666/female 634,880) (2009 est.)

Median age:
total: 20.8 years
male: 19.8 years
female: 21.7 years (2009 est.)

Population growth rate:
1.281% (2009 est.)

Birth rate:
23.18 births/1,000 population (2009 est.)

Death rate:
6.97 deaths/1,000 population (July 2009 est.)

Net migration rate:
-3.39 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2009 est.)

Urbanization:
urban population: 17% of total population (2008)
rate of urbanization: 4.9% annual rate of change (2005-10 est.)

Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.04 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.92 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.89 male(s)/female
total population: 0.96 male(s)/female (2009 est.)

Infant mortality rate:
total: 47.46 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 47.4 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 47.52 deaths/1,000 live births (2009 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 65.46 years
male: 64.3 years
female: 66.67 years (2009 est.)

Total fertility rate:
2.64 children born/woman (2009 est.)

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:
0.5% (2007 est.)

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:
70,000 (2007 est.)

HIV/AIDS - deaths:
5,000 (2007 est.)

Major infectious diseases:
degree of risk: high
food or waterborne diseases: bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever
vectorborne disease: Japanese encephalitis, malaria, and dengue fever (2009)

Nationality:
noun: Nepalese (singular and plural)
adjective: Nepalese

Ethnic groups:
Chhettri 15.5%, Brahman-Hill 12.5%, Magar 7%, Tharu 6.6%, Tamang 5.5%, Newar 5.4%, Muslim 4.2%, Kami 3.9%, Yadav 3.9%, other 32.7%, unspecified 2.8% (2001 census)

Religions:
Hindu 80.6%, Buddhist 10.7%, Muslim 4.2%, Kirant 3.6%, other 0.9% (2001 census)
note: only official Hindu state in the world

Languages:
Nepali 47.8%, Maithali 12.1%, Bhojpuri 7.4%, Tharu (Dagaura/Rana) 5.8%, Tamang 5.1%, Newar 3.6%, Magar 3.3%, Awadhi 2.4%, other 10%, unspecified 2.5% (2001 census)
note: many in government and business also speak English (2001 est.)

Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 48.6%
male: 62.7%
female: 34.9% (2001 census)

School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education):
total: 9 years
male: 10 years
female: 8 years (2003)

Education expenditures:
3.4% of GDP (2003)