Lepcha

expand_more Description

The Lepcha inhabit the southern and eastern slopes of Mount Kanchenjunga in the Himalayas, primarily located in the states of Sikkim and West Bengal (Darjeeling District), India. Some Lepcha also live in Nepal and Bhutan. It is believed the Lepcha originally came from either Mongolia or Tibet. The Lepcha practice Tibetan Buddhism. Over the last three centuries the Lepcha have been invaded by the Nepalis, Tibetans, and Bhutanese, gradually leading to a loss of their distinctive ethnic identity. The Lepcha have a mixed agricultural/herding subsistence economy with cardamon grown for cash.

Identifier

Region

• Asia

Subregion

• Central Asia

Subsistence Type

• intensive agriculturalists

Samples

• EA
• SCCS

Countries

• Bhutan
• India
• Nepal

External Links

• Lepcha (Ethnographic Atlas) D-PLACE
• Lepcha (Standard Cross-Cultural Sample) D-PLACE