The
Ngalop ( ; "earliest risen people" or "first converted people" according to
folk etymology) are people of
Tibetan origin who migrated to
Bhutan as early as the ninth century. Orientalists adopted the term "Bhote" or
Bhotiya, meaning "people of Bod (
Tibet)", a term also applied to the
Tibetan people, leading to confusion, and now is rarely used in reference to the Ngalop.