Bhutan People Culture

Bhutan people culture

There are three main ethnic, religious, and linguistic groups and a dozen smaller groups in Bhutan. Bhutan is a nation of immigrants and a multi-religious, multi-cultural, and multi-linguistic society.

Ngalungs/Ngalongs or Ngalops
The Ngalungs, or Ngalops (often called Drukpas), an ethnic group, live in the northwestern region. They speak the Dzonkha language and wear robe-like dresses. Their ancestors migrated from Tibet. They are called Drukpas, as they follow the Drukpa Kargyupa school of Tibetan Buddhism. The king and royal family belong to this group.

Sharchops
The second ethnic group is called Sharchops, who inhabit the eastern and central regions and practice the Nyingmapa sect of Mahayana Buddhism and belong to the Tibeto-Burman ancestry. They speak Sharchopkha, Tsangla, Kurteop, Kheng, and Brokpa dialects. Their ancestry can be traced to the tribes of northern Burma and northeast India.

Lhotshampas of Nepali Origin
The third ethnic group is called Lhotshampas (meaning Southern Bhutanese) of Nepali origin. They live in six southern foothill districts, speak the Nepali language, practice mostly Hinduism, and migrated from Nepal, Darjeeling, and Sikkim in India.

All three ethnic groups migrated to Bhutan at different points of time in history. Other smaller ethnic groups have their own distinct characteristics in terms of language, culture, religious practices, etc. They are Tibetans, Doyas, Khengs, Adivashis, Brokpas, Monpa, Gongduk Lhop/Doya, Kurteops. In terms of religion and faith, Bhutanese people practise Hinduism, Christianity, Drukpa Kargyupa and Nyingmapa sects of Buddhism, and Animism.

Each ethnic group of Bhutan has lived clustered together in separate regions. For example, the Nepali-speaking Lhotshampas lived in the southern foothills, the Sharchops lived in the eastern region, and the Ngalungs or Ngalops lived in the northwestern regions.

Bhutan’s population in 2000 was 677,934, according to the Yearbook released by the Central Statistical Organization of the Royal Government of Bhutan in march 2002. There are approximately 125,000 Bhutanese refugees living in Nepal and India.

In the eighties, the population figure was put at 1,165,800 and even increased to 1.4 to 1.8 million. The reason and the need for this inflated figure could not be ascertained.