Lepchas

The original inhabitants of the area, the Lepchas, represented in literature as peace-loving and shy, are spread over the whole country. They are of Mongolian origin and presumably immigrated to Sikkim from Assam and Burma via southern Tibet. With the arrival of the Tibetan conquerors they gradually gave up their old animistic religion in favour of Buddhism; some converted to Christianity. Today most of them are farmers and herdsmen with small breeds of livestock and live in the north and west of Sikkim and in the areas around Darjeeling and Kalimpong...

Bhotias

Bhotia is the Nepalese word for people from Bhot (Tibet). Bhotia is used as a common expression for the ethnic groups who immigrated from Tibet over the main ridge of the mountains to the south and settled there but are not Tibetans. Well known are the Sherpa and the Dolpopa living in Nepal. The Sikkimese too belong to the ethnic group of the Bhotia...

Nepalese

The Limbus also belong to the Nepalese people. Besides the Lepchas and the Bhotias they are considered to be the third old-established ethnic group in Sikkim. The Limbus have their own dialect that goes back to the same roots as the Kiranti language. Their religion is a mixture of Buddhism and Shivaism. The rest of the Nepalese, with the exception of the Sherpas, Tamangs and Gurungs, are Hindu. Today they are the major population group...

Indians

Only a few Indians from the lowlands live in the area. They are traders, such as the Marwari (originally from Rajasthan) or workers, for example on road construction. Some are employed by the administration.

Tibetans

Tibetans who have settled since the Dalai Lama took shelter in India, exist relatively independently. The Tibetan Refugée Self Help Centre in Darjeeling is an example of such an autonomous community...