The inhabitants  here are mostly tribals, nomadic and almost aboriginal. Encounter with the civilized population in the township has changed their lifestyle to some extent by a few of them like Paraja, Kondhas, Gadava still live the primitive life style. They mostly depend on cultivation and forest products. Some speak Oriya in a corrupt form, difficult for the chaste Oriya speaking people to understand. They are an admixture of several words and phrases from aboriginal dialects. Boarder areas have a heavy dose of Chattishgarhi language in the west and  of Kalahandi dialect in the north.

The religion of the district is composite. There are Hindus, Christians and Muslims. The tribals worship the Hindu gods. The Mohammadans, though small in population are believed to be the descendents of soldiers from Golkonda who invaded the Jeypore. Some had settled down, married Paraja women and followed the Muslim festivals. The Christians are direct out-come of the Lutheren Mission Conversion. The American and German missionaries had a field day during the British Raj. They set up schools with boarding houses, dispensaries and built Churches. Protestants Catholic and other denomination of Christian are  prevalent here. The Christian hospital of Nabarangpur town has been an attraction for patients from far-flung areas. It was a treat to see former Doctors of Germany, who once served here,at its Golden Jublee Celebration held recently.

The other tribals living here are namely Bhumias, Dombs. The latter are wide spread through the district and enjoy status next to Kondhas. They are weavers and drummers by profession and enjoy great influence over others. The dombs are engaged in cattle trade. The Mirganis appear to be sub caste of dombs. They differ from the Oriya dombs by not killing cattle for food but theypartake of the beef of the animals that dies naturally. They claim to be superior to Oriya dombs. They earn their livelihood by cultivation and weaving.  In the upper rank of the social scale we come across Sankharies , who deal with lac and who make basket , chains  and dolls out of it. They are good artists, artisans and traders. Malis originally grow and collect flowers for temple worship. They now switched over to cultivation of Sugarcane, tobacco etc. on the banks of Indravati river. Sundhis are famous for distillation and selling of liquor. Tradition holds that they are the descendants of a Brahmin father and royal mother. They are usually rich and wealthy  in status.