Despite long history of human settlement within the territory of Nepal, research works on settlement history, its development
and salient features are very scanty. Even in the contemporary times ever since the country began to collect, compile and publish
population and other data at various scales, i.e., since 1950s, settlements have been overlooked as unit of data compilation and
publication. The lowest unit of data reporting in the census publications is the Village Development Committee (VDC). At the most,
the total figures of population and households are available at ward level i.e., subdivisions of the VDC but not beyond. In this context
this document discusses the human settlement situation in Nepal. For lack of settlement level information, the analysis has been
largely limited to spatial analysis of population at various levels of scale. These various levels of scale are assumed to represent one
or other levels of settlement units. Older settlements in Nepal developed along river basins and along the spurs of the hills. Permanent
settlements in the lowlands of Terai are rather recent ones. As the population has grown rapidly in the country so has the expansion
of settlements from highland to the lowlands. Growth is reflected in the size of population, its growth and density and in these entire
components regional dimension is evident with lowlands and Terai demonstrating more prominence. At present about 62 percent
population live in rural settlements and a little over 38 percent in urban settlements of various categories. Demographically, urban
settlements demonstrate high growth rates, density and level of increase (change). Urban settlements are relatively better with
respect to literacy, human development, and basic facilities such as electricity, drinking water, sanitation and road lengths.