Languages · Profile
राउटे
Raute (Khamchi)
The language of the Raute, Nepal's last nomadic community, who move through the forests of the west and have long resisted settlement.
A few hundred
mother tongue speakers in Nepal (2021 census)
Tibeto-Burman
language family
No traditional script
script
In Nepal
Where it is spoken
Endangered, spoken by Nepal's last nomadic people
The forests of Karnali and Sudurpashchim Provinces, including Dailekh, Surkhet and Jajarkot.
KarnaliSudurpashchim
Beyond Nepal
Who else speaks it
- Outside Nepal: Not spoken anywhere else
The Dehat
Our work in Raute
Respectful, community-led documentation of oral tradition and vocabulary.
Speak Raute, or know someone who does? We want to hear your stories.
ContributeSources: National Population and Housing Census 2021, Nepal (mother tongue); Census of India 2011. Figures for small and endangered languages are estimates.