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The People


The Peoples of Bhutan are known to its inhabitants in three compositions.Buddist, Hindusm and Christien and three

South Origine

main ethnic groups - the Ngalong in the west, the Sharchhop in the east, and the Nepalese origin in the south-comprise 85 per cent of the total population. The Sharchhop and the people of central Bhutan have their origins to the east of the Bhutan. They were conquered by the Ngalong, who came from Tibet, early on in Bhutan's history. All now show a fair measure of cultural unity as Drukpas (The Buddhist peoples who inhabit its highland areas are known collectively as Drukpas). They share the same religious faith and speak closely related languages, although the Ngalong tend to dominate the religion politically even though Nepalese people are more than 50 percent of the total population in the country. In addition, their language, Dzongkha is declared as the national language. Before the dictatorship of present king, there were three official languages, Dzongkha, Nepali and English. After 1989, they declined the Nepali language as official language.Some 19 languages are spoken throughout Bhutan.

The Nepali-speaking people of the south were settled in Bhutan from the late 1800's onward. Most of them practice Hinduism, although some are Buddhist and Christian. They originally spoke a variety of languages, but the Nepali language has displaced them.The Peoples of Bhutan Lacking census data, the Bhutanese government could for many years only estimate the size and ethnic composition of the population of Bhutan. In 1979, it gave a figure of 1.2 million. In 1988, the published figure was 1.375 million. However, in 1991, following a more detailed survey, the figure was drastically reduced to 600,000. It is probable that none of the main ethnic groups is in a majority. Estimates for the Ngalong vary from 15 per cent, for the Sharchhop 30 to 32 per cent, and for the Nepalis 50 to 52 per cent. All figures should be treated with caution.

Bhutan's culture has evolved over the centuries and developed its own distinct characteristics. Nonetheless, it came originally from Tibet,

The Peoples of Bhutan

and until the early 1900s, Bhutan looked toward Tibet as a commercial partner. The majority of the Bhutan's trade was carried out over the Himalayan passes to the north. The south of Bhutan, bordering the plains of India, remained an undeveloped region behind the ruler's backs. In the early 1800s, after arrival of Nepalese people, the south Bhutan became gold. They cleaned up the very dangerous big forest and developed well. Finally, the south Bhutan that used to be a big fear of disease to Drukpa once upon a time, before arrival of Nepalese speaking people, became a big money earner place because of development afforded by Nepalese people. The British began to make their presence felt and Bhutan had to begin setting up completely new, foreign links. Inside Bhutan, there was a struggle between those who wished to maintain the traditional connections with Tibet and those who felt that Bhutan's fortunes depended on links with the British at that time.