Languages of Nepal
Nepal is a small country between China and India. It has an area of 147,516 square kilometers and a population of about 29 million people (2021). Even though it is small, Nepal has many different ethnic groups and many languages.
According to the National Census 2021, people in Nepal speak 124 different languages as their mother tongue. These languages are spoken by 142 ethnic groups. Only 44.86% of people speak Nepali as their first language. That means more than half of the people speak other languages as their first language.
Nepal is called the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, and it is divided into seven provinces. It is a multiethnic, multilingual, and multicultural country.
There are 7,164 living languages in the world. In Nepal, 124 of those languages are spoken. Out of all these, Nepali is used the most and is called the lingua franca, which means a common language used by different groups to talk to each other.
Most Spoken Languages in Nepal (2021):
1. Nepali – 44.86%
2. Maithili – 11.05%
3. Bhojpuri – 6.24%
4. Tharu – 5.88%
5. Tamang – 4.88%
6. Bajjika – 3.89%
7. Avadhi – 2.96%
8. Newari (Nepalbhasha) – 2.96%
9. Magar Dhut – 2.78%
10. Doteli – 1.7%
Other languages with over 1% speakers:
- Urdu
- Yakthung/Limbu
- Gurung
The other 111 languages are spoken by fewer people.
Nepali is the official language and is used to communicate with people from different ethnic groups.