Lhotshampa people
ल्होत्साम्पा ལྷོ་མཚམས་པ་ | |
|---|---|
| Total population | |
| 242,000 | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Languages | |
| Religion | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Indo-Aryans: Bahun, Chhetri, Khas people, Newar people Tibeto-Burman: Newar people, Kirati people |
The Lhotshampa or Lhotsampa (Nepali: ल्होत्साम्पा; Dzongkha: ལྷོ་མཚམས་པ་) people are a heterogeneous Bhutanese people of Nepali descent. The Lhotshampa were estimated by the U.S. Department of State to comprise around 35% of Bhutan's population as of 2008. The Lhotshampa are predominantly Hindu and Buddhist, who speak the Nepali language.
People of Nepali origin started to settle in uninhabited areas of southern Bhutan in the 19th century. The term "Lhotshampa", which means "southern borderlanders" in Dzongkha, began to be used by the Bhutanese state in the second half of the twentieth century to refer to the population of people of Nepali origin in the south of the country. By the 1990s, over 100,000 Lhotshampa had been forcibly displaced and removed from Bhutan.
After being displaced as a result of state violence and ethnic cleansing, and then living in refugee camps in eastern parts of Nepal, starting in 2007 most of the Bhutanese refugees were resettled under international refugee conventions to a number of countries outside the region, such as the United States, Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom, and other European countries. As of 2021, the number of Lhotshampa who remain in Nepal is significantly lower than that in the United States and other countries where they have resettled.