Moving Out or Moving In?

Demographic, Ethnic, and Linguistic Impacts of Population Churn in Highland Nepal

Abstract

What happens to remote, rural communities when scores of younger people leave? The authors address this question through a comparative approach to contiguous highland societies in Nepal using the lens of population churn, a demographic concept that considers how out-migration and replacement migration affect population compositions. For each of the six geographical areas under consideration, data from Nepal’s 2021 National Census are used to explore population churn and the resulting composition of native versus in-migrant populations. The demographic data demonstrate that, whereas all six areas are losing residents to out-migration, some but not all are being back-filled by migrants from neighboring regions who fill economic voids left by out-migrants. The analysis then shifts to consider how current population dynamics are changing the social, linguistic, and ethnic fabric of each area, pointing to differential impacts among communities that are often assumed to be similar due to cultural, religious, and linguistic congruity. The conclusion identifies the advancement of road networks as a key variable influencing disparate levels of migration and associated demographic, ethnic, and linguistic changes.