Sikkimese people

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Old Sikkimese woman
Old Sikkimese woman

Sikkimese people inhabit the Indian province of Sikkim. The native Sikkimese consist of the Lepcha, migrating from Tibet, Bhutias, descendants of Buddhists who arrived from Nepal in 15th century, who migrated from the Kham district of Tibet in the 14th century, and Nepali, descendants of Hindus who arrived from Nepal in the 19th century. The current population is approximately 13% Lepcha, 16% Bhutias about 16% and 67% Nepali. [1]

The dominant language is Nepali, but other languages include Bhutia, Dzongkha, Groma, Gurung, Lepcha, Limbu, Magar, Majhi, Majhwar, Nepal Bhasa, Rai, Sherpa, Sunuwar, Tamang, Thulung, Tibetan, and Yakha.[2][3].

Hinduism is the majority religion in Sikkim, with 60.9% of the population adhering to the religion [4]. Buddhism forms a large minority with 28.1% of the population following the religion [4]. Christians form 6.7% of the population [4], consisting mostly of people of Lepcha origin, converted to the faith after British missionaries came in the 19th century. Mosques in downtown Gangtok and Mangan also serve the Muslim population, which numbers at 1.4% of the population [4].

[edit] References

  1. ^ Sikkim People - People of Sikkim, Sikkim People and Lifestyle, Sikkimese People
  2. ^ General Information. Sikkiminfo.net. Retrieved on 2006-10-12.
  3. ^ People of Sikkim. Department of Information and Public Relations, Government of Sikkim (2005-09-29). Retrieved on 2006-10-12.
  4. ^ a b c d http://www.censusindia.net/religiondata/ 2001 Indian Census Data
 This India-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.