Province
Karnali Province
कर्णाली प्रदेश
One of Nepal’s seven provinces, made up of 10 districts.NP06
Population
1,688,412
20211,782,127 projected for 2023
Households
366,255
20214.61 people each
Area
30,663 km²
55 per km²
Literacy
76.1%
20216th of 7
Population & Demographics
Population, 2021 census
1,688,412
National Statistics Office
864,651 women, 823,761 men — 51.2% female. 5.8% of Nepal.
A 2023 projection puts it at 1,782,127 — modelled, not counted.
Age and sex structure
Five-year bands, 2023 projection — a different reference period from the count beside it.
View all 17 age bands
| Age | Female | Male | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 80+ | 3,961 | 3,834 | 7,795 |
| 75-79 | 7,127 | 6,562 | 13,689 |
| 70-74 | 13,441 | 12,193 | 25,634 |
| 65-69 | 17,642 | 16,813 | 34,455 |
| 60-64 | 25,592 | 22,824 | 48,416 |
| 55-59 | 31,159 | 26,802 | 57,961 |
| 50-54 | 37,146 | 31,396 | 68,542 |
| 45-49 | 45,103 | 38,979 | 84,082 |
| 40-44 | 50,145 | 37,023 | 87,168 |
| 35-39 | 56,820 | 47,602 | 104,422 |
| 30-34 | 70,092 | 67,695 | 137,787 |
| 25-29 | 82,195 | 87,218 | 169,413 |
| 20-24 | 95,028 | 93,738 | 188,766 |
| 15-19 | 98,293 | 96,244 | 194,537 |
| 10-14 | 99,592 | 102,259 | 201,851 |
| 5-9 | 87,578 | 89,400 | 176,978 |
| 0-4 | 88,652 | 91,979 | 180,631 |
Education
Literacy rate, 2021 census
76.1%
Population aged 5 and over
0.2 pp below the national figure · 6th of 7.
83.3% of men, 69.4% of women — a 13.9-point gap.
76.1%
Karnali
76.2%
Nepal
Karnali 76.1%, Nepal 76.2%.
Literacy rate, 2021 census. Karnali marked in black.
Population aged 5 and over, by literacy status
The census partition behind the rate.
- Can read and write76.1%
- Cannot read or write23.2%
- Can read only0.6%
- Not stated0.1%
1,519,611 people aged 5 and over. Counts are in the table.
View all 4 categories
| Literacy status | All | Female | Male |
|---|---|---|---|
| Can read and write | 1,156,194 | 544,125 | 612,069 |
| Cannot read or write | 352,697 | 233,810 | 118,887 |
| Can read only | 8,980 | 5,582 | 3,398 |
| Not stated | 1,740 | 891 | 849 |
Districts by population
10 districts. By population, 2021 census.
Population
Households
Literacy rate
61.6%–85.0%
One order throughout, set by population, so a mark out of step ranks differently on that measure. Counts are bars from zero; rates are dots on a trimmed axis, because a rate is not additive and its spread matters more than its distance from nothing. 2 more in the table below.
View all 10 districts
| Place | Type | Population | Households | Literacy |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Surkhet | district | 415,126 | 97,893 | 82.7% |
| Dailekh | district | 252,313 | 54,610 | 75.5% |
| Salyan | district | 238,515 | 54,701 | 77.3% |
| Jajarkot | district | 189,360 | 37,466 | 75.5% |
| Rukum West | district | 166,740 | 37,303 | 75.7% |
| Kalikot | district | 145,292 | 26,779 | 72.7% |
| Jumla | district | 118,349 | 24,438 | 70.2% |
| Mugu | district | 64,549 | 12,439 | 68.1% |
| Humla | district | 55,394 | 11,228 | 63.8% |
| Dolpa | district | 42,774 | 9,398 | 67.0% |
Sources and coverage
- Nepal — Subnational Population StatisticsUnited Nations Population Fundcc-by-igo-3.0
- Nepal — National Population and Housing Census 2021National Statistics Officenso-official-statistics
Measures such as gdp per capita, life expectancy at birth, and under-5 mortality rate are published for Nepal as a whole and are not broken down to this level by their source, so they have no section here. All indicators and their coverage →