Ethnic/caste di versification in Kathmandu metropolitan: Changing social landscape of a capital city

Abstract

Kathmandu metropolitan, the capital city of Nepal is a socio-geographic microcosm of the nation as a whole and
demonstrates caste/ethnic mosaic. Known historically as a Newar settlement, Kathmandu accommodates at least 67
caste/ethnic groups. It has witnessed nearly six-fold increase in population within the last 40 years. Utilizing the
population census 2001, this paper examines the population dynamics from a socio-geographic perspective by
focusing on concentration of caste/ethnic groups, migration in the city and apparent ethnic diversification. The
findings suggest that spatial distribution of caste/ethnic population demonstrates more of diversification than
concentration. The index of ethnic diversification clearly demonstrates a geographic pattern associated with
distance. The level of diversification increases from the city core to the periphery along with increase in distance
from the core. Diversification is closely related to migration both internal and international but primarily internal.
These findings are expected to contribute to the ongoing national debate of formation of federal states reflecting
one or other group’s primacy. This primacy issue is grounded in argument of ethnic concentration while in reality
the social landscape has been much more diversified than many of them have realized.