Lhotshampa

Lhotshampa, or lhotsampa, means southerners in Dzongkha, the national language of Bhutan, and refers to the Nepali-speaking Hindus who reside primarily in the south of the country. In the late 1980s over 100,000 lhotshampa were forced out of Bhutan and now reside in refugee camps in Nepal. According to US State Department estimates, 28% of the population of Bhutan is lhotshampa if the displaced refugees are counted as citizens.