Lepcha - Orientation

The Lepcha inhabit the southern and eastern slopes of Mount Kanchenjunga in the Himalayas, a land located in the districts of Sikkim and Darjeeling, India, lying between 27° and 28° N and 88° and 89° E. Their population in 1987 was estimated at 65,000 by the United Bible Societies, with 23,706 in Sikkim (1982), 1,272 in Nepal (1961), and 24,200 in Bhutan (1987), and others in India. The name "Lepcha" was originally given them by their Nepali neighbors, meaning "nonsense talkers." Although the Lepcha have no tradition of migration it is believed they originally came from either Mongolia or Tibet; their language is classified in the Tibeto-Burman Family.