Solukhumbu District ( ne, सोलुखुम्बु जिल्ला ,

Sherpa Sherpa may refer to: Ethnography * Sherpa people, an ethnic group in north eastern Nepal * Sherpa language Organizations and companies * Sherpa (association), a French network of jurists dedicated to promoting corporate social responsibility * ...

: , Wylie: shar khum bu dzong) is one of 14 districts of Province No. 1 of eastern

Nepal Nepal (; ne, :ne:नेपाल, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in S ...

. As the name suggests, it consists of the subregions Solu and

Khumbu Khumbu (also known as the Everest Region) is a region of northeastern Nepal on the Nepalese side of Mount Everest. It is part of the Solukhumbu District, which in turn is part of Province No. 1.Bradley, Mayhew; "Trekking in the Nepal Himalaya"; ( ...

. The district, with Salleri as its headquarters, covers an area of and had a population 107,686 in 2001 and 105,886 in 2011.

Mount Everest Mount Everest (; Tibetic languages, Tibetan: ''Chomolungma'' ; ) is List of highest mountains on Earth, Earth's highest mountain above sea level, located in the Mahalangur Himal sub-range of the Himalayas. The China–Nepal border ru ...

is in the northern part of this district, within

Sagarmatha National Park Sagarmāthā National Park is a national park in the Himalayas of eastern Nepal that is dominated by Mount Everest. It encompasses an area of in the Solukhumbu District and ranges in elevation from at the summit of Mount Everest. In the north, ...

History

Historically, Solukhumbu was part of

Kirata Kingdom Kirata Kingdom (Kirat) in Sanskrit literature and Hindu mythology refers to any kingdom of the Kirati people, who were dwellers mostly in the Himalayas (mostly eastern Himalaya). They took part in the Kurukshetra War along with Parvatas (mounta ...

s in early and medieval era. It was a part of Majh Kirat Khambuwan (central province or region of Kirat Kingdoms). Before the

unification of Nepal The Unification of Nepal, also known as Expansion of Gorkha Kingdom, officially began in 1743 AD (1799 BS) after King Prithvi Narayan Shah of Gorkha launched an aggressive annexation campaign seeking to broaden his own kingdom's border. After ...

by king of

Gorkha The Gurkhas or Gorkhas (), with endonym Gorkhali ), are soldiers native to the Indian Subcontinent, chiefly residing within Nepal and some parts of Northeast India. The Gurkha units are composed of Nepalis and Indian Gorkhas and are recruit ...

, what is now Solukhumbu district was part of Chaudandi of Majh Kirat (Khambuwan). In 1773 AD the King of Gorkha attacked and absorbed it into

. The Solukhumbu district was established in 1962 carving out the old East No. 3 district. Before 1962 present Solukhumbu,

Okhaldhunga Okhaldhunga is the headquarters of the Okhaldhunga District in the Sagarmatha Zone of Nepal. At the time of the 1991 Nepal census it had a population of 3761 living in 790 individual households. Background The name Okhaldhunga originates from ...

and some parts of Khotang previously were one district "East No. 3". Solu and Rawa thums (counties) were carved out from East No. 3 to create Solukhumbu District. East No. 3.png, East No. 3, a district of Nepal before 1962. NepalSolukhumbuDistrictmap.png, VDCs of Solukhumbu before 2015.

Geography and climate

Solukhumbu is a Himalayan district of Province No. 1 of Nepal, situated on the north-west corner of the province. It is one of three Himalayan districts of Province No. 1. The total area of the district is . It is situated between Lat. 27°20'39" to 28°6'24" North and Long. 86°0'21" to 87°0'1" East. The highest elevation of the district is (

) and the lowest elevation is (Tuintar) above sea level. The district is surrounded by

Sankhuwasabha Sankhuwasabha District ( ne, सङ्खुवासभा जिल्ला ) is one of 14 districts of Province No. 1 of eastern Nepal. The district's area is 3,480 km2 with a population of 159,203 in 2001 and 158,742 in 2011. ...

in east, Bhojpur in south-east, Khotang and

in south,

Bagmati Province Bagmati Province ( ne, बाग्मती प्रदेश, ''Bagmati Pradesh'') is one of the seven provinces of Nepal established by the constitution of Nepal. The province is Nepal's second-most populous province and fifth largest provinc ...

in west and

Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ) is a region in East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are some other ethnic groups such as Monpa, Taman ...

(China) in north. The extremely diverse geography of Solukhumbu district can be categorized in three levels:

Khumbu Himal (Highland mountains)

Mahalangur and other Himalayan mountain ranges are located in this section. This section is located on the northern border with

(8,848m),

Lhotse Lhotse ( ne, ल्होत्से ; , ''lho tse'', ) is the fourth highest mountain in the world at , after Mount Everest, K2, and Kangchenjunga. The main summit is on the border between Tibet Autonomous Region of China and the Khumbu ...

(8,516m),

Makalu Makalu ( ne, मकालु हिमाल, Makālu himāl; zh, t=馬卡魯峰, p=Mǎkǎlǔ fēng) is the fifth highest mountain in the world at . It is located in the Mahalangur Himalayas southeast of Mount Everest, in Nepal. One of th ...

(8,485m), Cho Oyu (8,201m),

Gyachung Kang Gyachung Kang ( ne, ग्याचुङ्काङ, ''Gyāchung Kāng''; ) is a mountain in the Mahalangur Himal section of the Himalayas, and is the highest peak between Cho Oyu (8,201 m) and Mount Everest (8,848 m). It lies on the border bet ...

(7,952m) etc. are some of the world's highest mountains in this range.

Khumbu region (Highland valley)

Khumbu valley is the highland region which is famous worldwide for trekking and hiking. Kulung and

are the main inhabitants in this region.

Khumbu Pasanglhamu Khumbu Pasanglhamu ( ne, खुम्बु पासाङल्हामु गाउँपालिका) is a rural municipality (Gaunpalika) out of 7 rural municipalities located at Solukhumbu district of Province No. 1 of Nepal. Khumjung ...

is the administrative division in this region. It includes the town of

Namche Bazaar Namche Bazaar (also Namche Bazar, Nemche Bazaar or Namche Baza; ne, नाम्चे बजार) is a town (formally Namche Village Development Committee) in Khumbu Pasanglhamu Rural Municipality in Solukhumbu District of Province No. 1 o ...

as well as the villages of

Thame Thame is a market town and civil parish in Oxfordshire, about east of the city of Oxford and southwest of Aylesbury. It derives its name from the River Thame which flows along the north side of the town and forms part of the county border wi ...

, Khumjung,

Pangboche Pangboche or Panboche is a village in Khumjung VDC of Solukhumbu District in Province No. 1 of Nepal at an altitude of . It is located high in the Himalaya in the Imja Khole valley, about 3 kilometres northeast of Tengboche and is a base camp fo ...

Pheriche Pheriche ( ne, फेरिचे) is a village in the Khumbu region of eastern Nepal. Situated at an altitude of about ,

and Kunde. The famous

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone ( hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer whi ...

Tengboche Tengboche (or Thyangboche) is a village in Khumbu Pasanglhamu rural municipality in the Khumbu subregion of Province No. 1 in Nepal, located at . In the village is an important Buddhist monastery, Tengboche Monastery, which is the largest gompa ...

is also located in the Khumbu.Bonington, Chris; Everest, The Hard Way; (1977); pp 72-75; Arrow Books editions; .

Solu region (Mid-hills)

Lower Solukhumbu (lower parts of Solukhumbu District) is part of the Mid-hills region. It is less famous for trekking, however new trails such as the Mundhum trail are being developed. Rais are the main inhabitants in this region.

Administrative divisions

Solukhumbu is divided into 8 local level units, 1 unit is urban and 7 are rural. They are further divided into wards. Solukhumbu is single-seat constituency for

parliamentary constituency An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger state (a country, administrative region, or other poli ...

and double seat for provincial constituency. Solukhumbu

district coordination committee District administration makes up the third level of government division in Nepal. The provision for a District Assembly, which acts as the legislature at the district-level, is mentioned in Part 17 of the Constitution of Nepal. The 77 districts of ...

coordinates between local and provincial governments. Solukhumbu district administration office co-operates with Solukhumbu DCC to maintain peace, order and security in the district. The officer of District Administration office called CDO. Divisions of Solukhumbu

Former divisions (1990–2016)

Formerly, Solukhumbu district was divided into many Village development committees. In 2014

Dudhkunda Solududhkunda ( ne, सोलुदुधकुण्ड नगरपालिका) (earlier:Dudhkunda) is the only municipality of Solukhumbu District. Located in Province No. 1 of Nepal. The town of Salleri, which is located within the munici ...

municipality was established merging some Village development committees. In 2016 all other Village development committee nullified and introduced

rural municipality A rural municipality is a classification of municipality, a type of local government, found in several countries. These include: * Rural municipalities in Canada, a type of municipal status in the Canadian provinces of Manitoba, Saskatchewan, ...

thus all former Village development committees grouped into 7 units and announced 7 rural municipality. NepalSolukhumbuDistrictmap

There were 35 Village Development Committees in Solukhumbu District:

Demographics

Total population of Solukhumbu district according to the ( 2011 Nepal census) is 105,886 individuals living in 23,758 households, in which 54686 (51.7%) are female. 19.6% of the population was

Rai RAI – Radiotelevisione italiana (; commercially styled as Rai since 2000; known until 1954 as Radio Audizioni Italiane) is the national public broadcasting company of Italy, owned by the Ministry of Economy and Finance. RAI operates many ter ...

, 16.7%

, 15.1%

Chhetri Chhetri (Kshetri, Kshettri, Kshetry or Chhettri), ( ne, क्षेत्री ; IAST: ''Kṣetrī'') historically called Kshettriya or Kshetriya or Khas are Nepali speakers of Khas community, some of whom trace their origin to migration from ...

, 9.9%

Tamang The Tamang (; Devanagari: तामाङ; ''tāmāṅ'') are an Tibeto-Burmese ethnic group of Nepal. In Nepal Tamang/Moormi people constitute 5.6% of the Nepalese population at over 1.3 million in 2001, increasing to 1,539,830 as of the 2011 ...

, 8.9% Kulung, 5.6%

Kami are the deities, divinities, spirits, phenomena or "holy powers", that are venerated in the Shinto religion. They can be elements of the landscape, forces of nature, or beings and the qualities that these beings express; they can also be the sp ...

, 4.9% Magar, 4.6%

Bahun Bahun ( ne, बाहुन) or Khas Brahmin ( ne, खस ब्राह्मण) is a caste ( ''Varna'') among Khas people of Nepal. Their origins are from the Indo-Aryan Khasa tribe of Nepal and South Asia. According to the 2011 Nepa ...

, 3.5% Nachhiring, 2.4% Newar, 1.9%

Bhujel Bhujel or Gharti is a caste group in Nepal. The inhabitants living near the Bhuji Khola river called Bhujel. Bhujel are divided into four subcaste – Bhujyal, Gharti, Nisel and Khawas. Most of the Bhujel of Nepal speaks Nepali language but some ...

, 1.5%

Damai Damai ( ne, दमाइँ) is an occupational caste found among Khas people. They comprise 45 subgroups. Their surnames take after the subgroup they belong to. People belonging to this caste are traditionally tailors and musicians. They are ade ...

and 1% Thulung.

Languages

According to the ( 2011 Nepal census), 37% of the population in the district spoke Nepali, 17% Sherpa, 9% Tamang, 9% Kulung, 9% Thulung, 9% Kaling, and 19% spoke other languages as their first language.

Notable people

Tenzing Norgay Tenzing Norgay (; ''tendzin norgyé''; perhaps 29 May 1914 – 9 May 1986), born Namgyal Wangdi, and also referred to as Sherpa Tenzing, was a Nepali-Indian Sherpa mountaineer. He was one of the first two people known to reach the su ...

- First ascent of Mount Everest *

Pasang Lhamu Sherpa Pasang Lhamu Sherpa (Sherpa: , ne, पासाङ ल्हामु शेर्पा; 10 December 1961 – 22 April 1993) was the first Nepalese woman to climb the summit of Mount Everest. She was born in a mountaineering family a ...

- First Nepalese female ascent *

Babu Chiri Sherpa Babu Chiri Sherpa (June 22, 1965 – April 29, 2001) was a Sherpa mountaineer from Nepal. He reached the summit of Mount Everest ten times. He held two world records on Everest. He spent 21 hours on the summit of Everest without auxiliary oxyge ...

- 10 times ascent Mount Everest * Ang Dorje Sherpa - 19 times ascent Mount Everest *

Apa Sherpa Apa (born Lhakpa Tenzing Sherpa; 20 January 1960), nicknamed "Super Sherpa", is a Nepalese Sherpa mountaineer who, until 2017, jointly with Phurba Tashi held the record for reaching the summit of Mount Everest more times than any other person. As ...

- 21 times ascent Mount Everest *

Nawang Sherpa Nawang Sherpa became the first person to climb Mount Everest with a prosthetic leg by reaching the summit on May 16, 2004 (see Mount Everest Timeline and Trivia). He is also the first amputee to reach the summit of Mount Everest on his first attempt ...

- First person to climb Mount Everest with a prosthetic leg

References

{{Coord, 27, 30, N, 86, 35, E, type:adm2nd_region:NP_source:enwiki, display=title Districts of Nepal established in 1962 Districts of Province No. 1 Tibetan Buddhist places