Ramechhap District


Ramechhap District, a part of Bagmati Pradesh, is one of the seventy-seven districts of Nepal, a landlocked country of South Asia. The district, known as Kirat Ramechhap, with Manthali as its district headquarters, covers an area of and has a population of 202,646 and a density of 137.4 per km2.
According to LLRCNepal there are now eight local administrations in the district: Manthali Municipality, Ramechhap Municipality, Umakunda Rural Municipality, Khandadevi Rural Municipality, Gokulganga Rural Municipality, Doramba Rural Municipality, Likhu Rural Municipality and Sunapati Rural Municipality.
The district has the highest population of the endangered native group the Kusunda and has the lowest population growth rate in Nepal.

Etymology

The district was named after Ramechhap village. The word Ramechhap comes from two Nepali words, Ram and Chhap. According to folklore, the village of Ramechhap was once occupied by Tamang people. A Tamang of the village, Ram by name received mukhtiyari of the village by royal decree. So, the land ownership and other legal activities were performed in the village by the stamp of Ram.
Similarly, according to another folklore, the grassland of Ramechhap village was occupied by Tamang people. Those people daily used to rear their domesticated animals such as Buffalo, Goat and others in the open meadow. In Tamang language, "Ra" means Goat, "Mey" means ox, and "Chhawa" means their small offspring. By the time and mouth to mouth pronunciation the meadow has become "Ramechhap" and later the place has been named Ramechhap. Hence, the district is called Ramechhap.

Geography and climate

Climate ZoneElevation Range% of Area
Upper Tropical300 to 1,000 meters
1,000 to 3,300 ft.		18.0%
Subtropical1,000 to 2,000 meters
3,300 to 6,600 ft.		42.1%
Temperate2,000 to 3,000 meters
6,400 to 9,800 ft.		21.0%
Subalpine3,000 to 4,000 meters
9,800 to 13,100 ft.		 6.7%
Alpine4,000 to 5,000 meters
13,100 to 16,400 ft.		 3.6%
Nivalabove 5,000 meters 7.3%

Demographics

At the time of the 2011 Nepal census, Ramechhap District had a population of 202,646. Of these, 59.5% spoke Nepali, 18.2% Tamang, 6.9% Newari, 5.1% Sherpa, 3.7% Sunuwar, 2.1% Majhi, 2.0% Magar, 1.0% Thami and 0.5% Hyolmo/Yolmo as their first language.
35.5% of the population in the district spoke Nepali and 0.5% Bahing as their second language.

Old Village Development Committees (VDCs)