From the data collected by DELPHI at LEP in autumn 1995, the multiplic
ity of charged particles at a hadronic energy of 130 GeV has been meas
ured to be [n(ch)] = 23.84 +/- 0.51(stat) +/- 0.52(syst), When compare
d to lower energy data, the value measured is consistent with the evol
ution predicted by QCD with corrections at next-to-leading order, for
a value alpha(s) (130 GeV) = 0.105 +/- 0.003(stat) +/- 0.008(syst).