Page 22 - 9 teachers social book 9 @ 2077 ctp_Neat

Regional Identity

Physically, Nepal is divided into three regions, the Himalayan region, the Hilly region
and the Terai region. People living in these three regions have common "We Feelings".
They have very proud feeling of being Nepali and belong to Nepal.

Lingual Identity
There are 123 different languages spoken in the country as per the census
BS 2068. So, we can say there is lingual diversity in Nepal. There are four major
categories of language groups. They are Bharepoli, Bhotburmeli, Aagneya and
Dravid. The Nepali language is originated from Bharopeli group. Nepali language
is used as the official language as well as Lingua Franca. The word Lingua Franca
is the common language used by the people of diverse background as the medium of
communication. Many other languages and dialects are used as mother tongue by the
people of respective races.
Except Nepali, the other languages like Maithili, Bhojpuri, Awadhi, Tharu, Hindi,
Urdu, Rajbanshi, etc. come under Bharopeli group. Danuwar language widely used in
the Terai. Sherpa and Tamang languages come under Bhotburmeli group and Satar
and Santhali languages come under Aagneya group.

The constitution of Nepal 2072 guaranteed Nepali and all other existing mother tongue
as National language (Part 1, Article 6). Some of the languages are well developed and
rich but some need protection and preservation as they are on the verge of extinction.
The following table shows the status of the languages spoken in Nepal.

Sl.No. Language Population Percentage

1. Nepali 1,18,26,953 44.6
2 Maithili 30,92,530 11.7

3. Bhojpuri 15,84,958 6
4. Tharu 15,29,875 5.8

5. Tamang 13,53,311 5.1
6. Newar 8,46,557 3.2

7. Bajjika 7,93,416 3
8. Magar 7,88,530 3

9. Doteli 7,87,827 3
10. Urdu 6,91,546 2.6

Source: National Census BS 2068 (2011AD)

Dynamic Social Studies - Book IX 22