Ramechhap District

Ramechhap District, a part of Province No. 3, is one of the seventy-five districts of Nepal, a landlocked country of South Asia. The district, known as Kirat Ramechhap, with Manthali as its district headquarter, covers an area of 1,546 km² and has a population (2011) of 202,646 and a density of 137.4 per km2. According to LLRCNepal there are now 8 new local administration namely; 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.EtymologyThe district was named after Ramechhap village. The word Ramechhap comes from two Nepali words, Ram (person's name) and Chhap (mark). 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 (chhap) 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 Buffalo, "Mey" means Goat, 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.