Panthar was a part of Old Dhankuta District during Rana era and until 1962. Dhankuta district had two subdivisions Chhathum and Tehrathum. Panchthar was a thum (county) under the Terhathum subvision. It became a separate district in 1962 when the old 32 traditional districts divided into 75 district.
At the 2021 Nepal census, Panchthar District had 42,495 households and a population of 172,400. 8.11% of the population was under 5 years of age. Panchthar had a literacy rate of 82.48% and a sex ratio of 1012 females per 1,000 males. 12,336 (7.16%) lived in urban areas.[4]
Ethnicity/caste: Janjatis make up the majority in the district at 73%. Limbu people make up over 43% of the population. Rai peoples such as the Bantawa, Chamling and Sunuwar are 15% of the population. Chhetri are 9%, Bahun 8% and Khas Dalit groups are 6% of the population.[5]
As their first language, 42.27% of the population spoke Limbu, 29.28% Nepali, 6.96% Bantawa, 6.82% Tamang, 3.41% Magar Dhut, 2.86% Rai, 1.87% Chamling, 1.16% Gurung and 1.00% Sunuwar as their first language.[7] In 2011, 33.9% of the population spoke Nepali as their first language.[8]
Municipality and Rural Municipalities of Panchthar
