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LhotshampaLhotshampa, or Lhotsampa, means southerners in Dzongkha, the national language of Bhutan, and refers to the Nepali settlers who reside primarily in the southwest of the country. The Lhotshampa, who mainly came from Nepal, are generally classified as Hindus. However, sources that stated this is actually wrong; many other Nepali-speaking groups that include the Tamang and the Gurung are largely Buddhist; the Kiranti groups that include the Rai and Limbu are largely Animist (Mundum). These groups (Pointing to those in Nepal) live mainly in the Eastern side of the country. Whether they are Hindu or Lamaist Buddhist, most of them abstain from beef, notably those belonging to the Upper Castes; who are vegetarians. Their main festivals include Tihar a festival superficially similar to the Indian Diwali. In the late 1980s, over 100,000 Lhotshampa were forced out of Bhutan. Because of this, many of them have either returned to Nepal or have lived in the refugee camps of India According to US State Department estimates, about 28% of the population of Bhutan is Lhotshampa if the displaced refugees are counted as citizens.
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