List of ethnic groups in Laos

The following is a list of ethnic groups within Laos.

Classification

Specialists are largely in agreement as to the ethnolinguistic classification of the ethnic groups of Laos.[1] For the purposes of the 1995 census, the government of Laos recognized 149 ethnic groups within 47 main ethnicities.[1] whereas the Lao Front for National Construction (LFNC) recently revised the list to include 49 ethnicities consisting of over 160 ethnic groups.[1]

The term ethnic minorities is used by some to classify the non-Lao ethnic groups, while the term indigenous peoples is not used by the Lao PDR.[1] These 160 ethnic groups speak a total of 82 distinct living languages.[2]

Mon-Khmer

Palaungic

Khmuic

  • Khmu (population of 389,694 in Laos)[2]
  • Khuen (population of approximately 8,000 in Laos)[2]
  • Mal (population of 23,200 in Laos)[2]
  • Mlabri (population of 24 in Laos,[2] also known as the Yumbri)
  • O'du[2]
  • Phai (population of 15,000 in Laos)[2]
  • Xinh Mul (population of 3,164 in Laos, including Phong-Kniang and Puoc, also known as the Sing Mun)[5]

Tibeto-Burman

Hmong-Mien

Tai and Rau

Chinese

Unclassified

Below are some ethnic groups of Laos who speak unclassified languages, listed roughly from north to south.[9] District codes are also given (see districts of Laos).

Unclassified languages of Laos
Ethnolinguistic group Population Possible linguistic affiliation Locations
Poumong 1,000 Tibeto-Burman (Phunyot)[10] Ban Phoumon. Boun-Tai (2-07) and Khoa (2-03) districts, southern Phongsali Province
Pouhoy 200 (1995; 35 families)[6] Oy, Katuic? Kang Village, Namo District (4-03), northern Oudomxai Province
Taket < 1,000[6] Austro-Asiatic?[6] Nambak District (6-05), Luang Prabang Province
Tamoy 500 (< 15 villages) Palaungic, Khmuic? Viangphoukha District (3-04), Luang Namtha Province
Nguan 30,000 Lametic, Palaungic? Nale (3-05), Viangphoukha (3-04), and Luang Namtha (3-01) districts of Luang Namtha Province, near the Khuen, Lamet, and Khmu Rok peoples; also in Houayxay District (5-01), Bokeo Province
Salao 800 Ethnic Lao[6] Pakxong District (16-04), Champasak Province

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Indigenous Peoples Development Planning Document
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 Ethnologue report for Laos
  3. ↑ Ta Ong Trail Archived 2007-11-18 at the Wayback Machine.
  4. 1 2 3 Laos Cultural Profile (Ministry of Information and Culture/Visiting Arts)
  5. ↑ Ta La, Laos
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 Schliesinger, Jachim. 2003. Ethnic Groups of Laos. vol. 2. Profile of Austro-Asiatic Speaking Peoples. White Lotus. Bangkok.
  7. ↑ Doré, Amphay. 2016. The Kassak — an ethnological and historical enigma. In Tai Culture Journal, Volume 24. Interdisciplinary Tai Studies Series. ISSN 1431-1240
  8. 1 2 Biodatabase
  9. ↑ http://asiaharvest.org/people-group-profiles/laos/
  10. ↑ Schliesinger, Jachim. 2003. Ethnic Groups of Laos. vol. 4. Profile of Sino-Tibetan Speaking Peoples. Bangkok: White Lotus.
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