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Indians in Nepal
India has the largest diaspora in the world & as per the Ministry of External Affairs, there are 3.2 Crores or 32 million Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) and Persons of Indian Origin (PIOs) residing outside India.
As per the Ministry of External Affairs report, there are 600,000 (6 Lakhs) Indians (NRIs) residing in Nepal.
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Source: MEA report about overseas Indian population.
Around 6,00,000 Indians are living/ domiciled in Nepal. These include businessmen and traders who have been living in Nepal for a long time, professionals (doctors, engineers, IT personnel), and labourers (including seasonal/migratory in the construction sector).
The Marwadi people are the majority of the top businesses of Nepal. There are also a few Punjabis and Bengalis in major cities of Nepal. Plenty of Muslims has also immigrated from India to Nepal. In 2001, it was estimated that around 4 million Indians had migrated to Nepal over the previous 35 to 40 years
Regions with significant populations
- Terai region
- Kathmandu
- Biratnagar
- Birganj
- Jhapa
- Mahakali
- Butwal
- Chitwan
Nepali population in India
As close neighbors, India and Nepal share unique ties of friendship and cooperation characterized by an open border and deep-rooted people-to-people contacts of kinship and culture. There has been a long tradition of free movement of people across the border. Nepal shares a border of over 1850 km with five Indian states – Sikkim, West Bengal, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, and Uttarakhand.
The India-Nepal Treaty of Peace and Friendship of 1950 forms the bedrock of the special relations that exist between India and Nepal. Nepalese citizens avail facilities and opportunities on par with Indian citizens in accordance with the provisions of the Treaty. Nearly 8 million or 80 lakh Nepalese citizens live and work in India.
As per the 2011 Census, a total of 2,926,168 people in India spoke Nepali as their mother tongue. The largest populations can be found in West Bengal – 1,155,375, Assam – 596,210, Sikkim – 382,200, Uttarakhand – 106,399, Arunachal Pradesh – 95,317, Himachal Pradesh – 89,508, Maharashtra – 75,683, Manipur – 63,756, Meghalaya – 54,716, Nagaland – 43,481, and Mizoram – 8,994. Apart from this, there are additional speakers of languages such as Limbu (40,835), Rai (15,644), Sherpa (16,012), and Tamang (20,154). So the combined strength of Nepali and the other four Gorkha languages comes to 3,018,813.
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Religion of Indian population in Nepal
Indians in Nepan are represented mainly by Hindus, Sikhs, Jains & Muslims, and Christians. The majority Population is Hindus and others are in smaller numbers.