Source: www.hindustantimes.com/nonfram/210502/detFOR07.asp
KATHMANDU, NEPAL, June 11, 2002: A six-percent drop in Nepal’s Hindu population in the last decade has evoked a mixed reaction in the sole Hindu kingdom. The recently published census report for 2001 shows Hindus make up 80.6 per cent of the population as against 86.5 per cent in 1991. Compared to this, the number of Buddhists rose to 10.9 per cent from 7.8 per cent while that of Muslims went up to 4.2 per cent from 3.5 per cent over the same period. During enumeration, Buddhist and kirat (tribal) organizations had called upon their people not to classify themselves as Hindus, as in the past, despite the fact that differences between them and Hindus are indistinguishable as both have common temples and festivals. The population of Christians, who numbered about 100 five decades ago, is slightly over one 100,000 today, even though conversion is illegal.