and receiving areas. In particular, strategies encouraging the growth of small or medium-sized urban centers and seeking development of rural areas should be strengthened.

Here, we are concerned with urbanization and development in Nepal. The foregoing general remarks of urbanization may be useful in understanding the present situation as well as future prospect of urbanization and development in Nepal. Nepal is one of the least developed countries, a category in which the average percentage of population living in urban areas was 22 percent in 1994.

However, the figure for Nepal was only 1 3 . I percent in the same year, which was much lower than the average of the least developed countries. It was also the lowest among the South Asian countries with the exception of Bhutan where the percentage was 6 percent.

An outstanding feature of urbanization in Nepal is the fact that it has been marking the highest average annual increase rates of urban population since the 1 970-1975 period. For example, in the 1 990-1995 period, Nepal showed an increase rate of 7.07 percent as opposed to 4.44 percent for Pakistan, 2.87 percent for India, and 2.20 percent for Sri Lanka. Bangladesh showed the second highest percentage afier Nepal of 5 .26 percent.

Secondly, rapid changes in spatial distribution of population in Nepal must be pointed out. Topography of Nepal is characterized by three major regions: the mountain region, the hill region and the Terai (lowlands). The distribution pattern of population has been undergoing rapid changes since 1 971 . The percentage of population living in the moun-tains and the hills exceeded 60 percent in 1 971, but started to decrease sharply since then. It came to 57 percent in 1981, and 54010 in 1991. On the other hand, that of the Terai increased from 3 8 percent in 1 971 at 47 percent in 1 991 .

There are two reasons. The first reason is an increasing trend of urbanization. As stated earlier, the level of urbanization is still low, although it is increasing very rapidly. The number of emerging urban centers and small towns is greatly increasing. The second reason is the eradication of malaria in the Terai (lowlands), which has resulted in a substantial movement of people from the mountains and hills to the lowlands where there are more job opportunities. The Terai region is not only fertile, but is also urbanizing very quickly at the annual rate of more than 8 percent between 1 952 and 1 991 .

In other words, the two "pull factors", of agricultural employment and urban employment opportunities, are emerging in the urban centers of the Terai region. On the other hand, the "push factor" in the mountain regions is the harsh physical condition, coupled with lack of cultivable land and employment opportunities for young people that have resulted from high fertility.

Currently, the Terai accounts for 65 percent of cultivated land, as well as for over 3 5 percent of roads and 63 percent of industry. The urban population ofthe Terai region has increased from 17 percent of the national urban population in 1952 to over 53 percent in 1991.