Population Problem in Nepal

            The total number of people living in a certain place and in a certain time is known as population. Population consists of males and females. Population is always a flux. Everyday some babies are born and some people die. In the context of Nepal, population is increasing, but the rate of population growth does not seem very challenging. The density of population in urban areas is higher than in rural regions.

            Nepal is a developing country. More than 50% of the people are illiterate. They are not fully aware of the adverse effects of population. Illiteracy is one of the major causes of population growth in Nepal. The people who are conservative want to accept as many children as they are naturally born. They think that God gives them their children, and if they try to stop giving birth to their babies. God will be unhappy with them. The second cause of population growth in Nepal is lack of a balanced diet. People along with their children are not completely healthy. Many children die everyday. Parents are not sure that all of the children can be alive. Therefore they want to give birth to many children.

            Most of the people are poor in Nepal. They feel that more hands in a family means more income in future. Specially farmers and labourers want to give birth to many babies. They hope that their children can help them in their field work. Thus the next cause of the rapid population growth is poverty. Because of polygamy system, too, population is increasing. The system of polygyny in our society helps to increase our population. A man gets married to more women, and these women give birth to more babies. The another cause of population growth is immigration to Nepal from our neighbouring countries.

            There are many adverse effects of uncontrolled population growth. It brings many problems such as natural disasters, crimes and poverty. If population increases rapidly, a country cannot use the money for the development. More people means more problems. Growing population clears the jungle for agriculture and settlement. Then pollution gets increased. Theft and robbery can take place in the society. Most of the people have to face with the problem of unemployment.

            We can control over population growth in some ways. Firstly, we have to educate the people because educated people do not want to give birth to many children. The people who are illiterate should be convinced to control their family size. The means of family planning should be provided adequately all over the country. Nowadays, many parents have controlled their family size. It may be true that the upliftment of the nation depends on the controlled and required population growth.