List of ethnic groups in Vietnam

Vietnam is a multi-ethnic country. Approximately 88 % of the population are ethnic Vietnamese ( Việt or Kinh ). In addition, 53 ethnic minorities officially recognized. All minorities except the Hoa and Khmer were consolidated under French colonial rule as Montagnards.

The largest minorities are Tai peoples ( Thái, drying, etc.) as well as the Muong, Khmer and Hoa.

Members of the Tai peoples live mainly in the mountains of North Vietnam. They talk to each other more closely related Tai languages. In Vietnam, known as Thái minority should not be confused with the Thai people in Thailand, the two languages ​​belong to different sub-groups. Western linguists divide the Thái Vietnam mostly continued for individual languages ​​. Some of the Tai peoples of Vietnam are closely related, if not identical with some national minorities in China and Laos.

The Muong live in the north of Central Vietnam and are linguistically closely related to the ethnic Vietnamese.

The Khmer living in the Mekong Delta in South Vietnam; they are identical with the majority population of Cambodia. Their social position is affected by the historical conflicts between Vietnam and Cambodia.

The Hoa ( ethnic Chinese ) live mainly in the cities and in the countryside. Most Hoa speak Cantonese, smaller groups speak Hakka, Min Nan, Chaozhou and other dialects. By the census of 1979 they were the largest minority group in Vietnam; at the last census in 1999 they were only the fifth largest minority, there has used a migratory outflow of Hoa abroad since the reunification of Vietnam.

The smallest minorities have only a few hundred members.

List of peoples of Vietnam

( ordered by language groups table)

Tai ( Tai - Kadai )

(Not yet assigned SIL codes for Vietnam according to Ethnologue: hal, hld, hro, kxy, xao, XHV, lgh, neo moo, nuo, sui and tyl. )