The Kham language is a complex of unwritten Tibeto-Burmese dialects spoken in the remoter highlands of Rapti Zone, western Nepal.

These highlands are centered in a 4,000 meter knot of ridges forming a triple divide between the Gandaki, Karnali-Bheri and Rapti river systems. From there Kham speaking areas extend north into Rukum district toward Dhaulagiri Himal and south into Salyan, Rolpa and Pyuthan districts along ridges down to about 2,000 meters, but lower valleys are populated by Hindus who speak Nepali plus scattered enclaves of bilingual Nepali/Newari speakers.

Since upper tributaries of the Karnali-Bheri and the Gandaki river systems rise in the trans-Himalayan regions north of the Himalayan "abode of snow", these rivers have always been conduits for trade and travel between Tibet and India. These relatively easy routes have always funneled traders and travelers around the Kham-speaking highlands. Kham can be conceptualized as a vestigal language remaining in an exceptionally isolated area. Limited contact with Hinduizers from the south and with Tibetanizers from the north has helped Kham to persist.

Migrations from Kham hinterlands east into the uplands of the Gandaki basin gave rise to more Hinduized people called Magars, who speak a variety of "Magar" dialects and are politically more closely allied with the Shah dynasty that still rules Nepal. Kham may ultimately be more of a political or geographic category than purely linguistic.