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Concept
Sunuwar people
Summary
The Sunuwar or Koinch are a Tibeto-Burman ethnic group. (Nepali:सुनुवार जाति|Sunuwār Jāti) a Kirati tribe native to Nepal, parts of India (West Bengal and Sikkim) and southern Bhutan. They speak the Sunuwar language. According to the 2001 census of Nepal, 17% of the tribe follow the Kirant religion and adopt the Mundhum (Kiranti) culture.
The Kõinch's (Sunuwar) number 55,752. The term ‘Kõinchs’ is also the name of the mother tongue. Other terms like Mukhiya or Mukhia are exonyms of the tribe. Sunuwar have their distinct language, religion, culture and social customs.
They inhabit the eastern hills of Nepal and Himalayan. They are concentrated along the Molung Khola, Likhu Khola and Khimti Khola (‘Khola’ Indo-Aryan Nepali etymon ‘rivulet’) regions. By administrative division, they dwell in Okhaldhunga, Ramechhap and Dolakha districts of Nepal, politically known as Wallo kirat (‘Near/Hither’), Kirant (in the past and also in use among the Kirantis at present) after the fall of the Kirant dynasty (ruling for about 1903 years and 8 months) at the ancient Nepal valley. Wallo Kirant in the past was their Kipat or communal land.
The Central Bureau of Statistics of Nepal classifies the Sunuwar as a subgroup within the broader social group of Mountain/Hill Janajati. At the time of the Nepal census of 2011, 55,712 people (0.2% of the population of Nepal) were Sunuwar. The frequency of Sunuwar by province was as follows:
Bagmati Province (0.5%)
Koshi Province (0.5%)
Madhesh Province (0.1%)
Gandaki Province (0.0%)
Lumbini Province (0.0%)
Sudurpashchim Province (0.0%)
Karnali Province (0.0%)
The frequency of Sunuwar was higher than national average (0.2%) in the following districts:
Ramechhap (4.2%)
Okhaldhunga (3.0%)
Sindhuli (2.7%)
Ilam (1.3%)
Taplejung (1.1%)
Dolakha (1.0%)
Panchthar (1.0%)
Udayapur (0.9%)
Jhapa (0.3%)
Khotang (0.3%)
Lalitpur (0.3%)
Solukhumbu (0.3%)
Most Sunuwar practice agriculture (approximately 55%). They do so throughout the eastern hills of present-day Nepal.
Official source
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