People & Language

The population of Bhutan is little over 0.6 million. The people of Bhutan are called ‘Drukpas’ comprising approximately 50% mongoloid origin while 35% are ethnic Nepalese and 15% are other migrant tribes.

The official language of Bhutan is ‘Dzongkha’. It is widely spoken in the kingdom. Nepali is also a major language widely spoken by the people of southern Bhutan who are of Nepalese origin. Tsangla is another major language spoken by the people from eastern Bhutan. There are also many local dialects used in many regions of Bhutan.

Drukpas are composed of three main ethnic groups, that is: Ngalops, Sharshops and Lhotsampas. Ngalops the first group originally from Tibet who are the followers of Buddhism and settled mostly in the western & central Bhutan. Sharshops, the second group is the earliest residents of the kingdom, who immigrated from northern Burma & northe-east India and settled in eastern Bhutan. Lhotsampas are the third group migrated to Bhutan from Nepal in the early 20th century for agricultural land and work.. They live predominantly in the southern plains.