Khmu people

"Khmu" redirects here. For the language, see Khmu language.
Khmu/ Kơbru
Total population
c. 800,000
Regions with significant populations
Burma, China, United States
 Laos708,412 (2015)[1]
 Vietnam90,612 (2019)[2]
 Thailand10,000
 China7,000
Languages
Khmu
Lao Language (in Laos) • Vietnamese language (in Vietnam)
Religion
Satsana Phi, Theravada Buddhism, Christianity
Elderly Khmu woman from Bokeo Province
Khmu women and their children from Bokeo Province

The Khmu (/kəˈmuː/; Khmu: /kmm̥uʔ/ or /kmmúʔ/; Lao: ກຶມມຸ [kɯ̀m.mūʔ] or Lao: ຂະມຸ [kʰā.mūʔ]; Thai: ขมุ [kʰā.mùʔ]; Northern Thai: ขมุ [kʰā.mǔʔ] ;Vietnamese: Khơ Mú; Chinese: 克木族; Burmese: ခမူ) are an ethnic group of Southeast Asia. The majority (88%) live in northern Laos where they constitute the largest minority ethnic group, comprising eleven percent of the total population.[3] Alternative historical English spellings include Kmhmu, Kemu, and Kơbru, among others.[3]

The Khmu can also be found in southwest China (in Xishuangbanna in Yunnan province), and in recent centuries have migrated to areas of Burma, Thailand and Vietnam (where they are an officially recognized ethnic group). In the People's Republic of China, however, they are not given official recognition as a separate "national" group, but are rather classified as a subgroup of Bulang.

The endonym "Khmu" is suspected to stem from their word kymhmuʔ[4] meaning "people". Khmu also often refer to their ethnicity as pruʔ.[5]

  1. ^ "Results of Population and Housing Census 2015" (PDF). Lao Statistics Bureau. Retrieved 1 May 2020.
  2. ^ "Report on Results of the 2019 Census". General Statistics Office of Vietnam. Retrieved 1 May 2020.
  3. ^ a b Michaud, Jean (2006). Historical Dictionary of The Peoples of the Southeast Asian Massif. Maryland, USA: Scarecrow Press, Inc. (The Rowman and Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc). ISBN 9780810854666. Retrieved 10 June 2014.
  4. ^ Smalley, W.A. (June 1964). "The Khmu". In LeBar, F.M.; Hickey, Gerald C.; Musgrave, John K. (eds.). Ethnic Groups of Mainland Southeast Asia (1st ed.). New Haven, Connecticut, USA: Human Relations Area Files. pp. 112–117. ISBN 0875364012. Retrieved 10 June 2014.
  5. ^ LeBar, Frank M. (1967). "OBSERVATIONS ON THE MOVEMENT OF KHMUʔ INTO NORTH THAILAND" (PDF). Journal of the Siam Society (53): 61–79. Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 10 June 2014.