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[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 Lao authorities. [1]
The Lao people are a Tai ethnic group native to Southeast Asia, primarily inhabiting Laos and northeastern Thailand.They speak the Lao language, part of the Kra–Dai language family, and are the dominant ethnic group in Laos.
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. [11] These 160 ethnic groups speak a total of 82 distinct living languages. [12] Lao 53.2%, Khmu 11%, Hmong 9.2%, and other (over 100 minor ethnic groups) 26.6% (2015 census). [13]
Lao social structures are comparatively simpler than in neighboring Cambodia or Thailand, which is a logical outgrowth considering the ethnic diversity of Laos. Lao Theung and Lao Sung groups were outside the traditional class structures, but together made up a large portion of the population.
The Khmu were the indigenous inhabitants of northern Laos. It is generally believed the Khmu once inhabited a much larger area. After the influx of Thai/Lao peoples into the lowlands of Southeast Asia, the Khmu were forced to higher ground (), above the rice-growing lowland Lao and below the Hmong/Mien groups that inhabit the highest regions, where they practiced swidden agriculture. [5]
Pages in category "Ethnic groups in Laos" ... Hmong customs and culture; List of ethnic groups in Laos; A. Akha people; Alak people; Arem people; B. Bit people; Bo ...
The word Laos was coined by the French, who united the three Lao kingdoms in French Indochina in 1893. The name of the country is spelled the same as the plural of the most common ethnic group, the Lao people. [21]
In the early 1960s, partially as a result of the North Vietnamese invasion of Laos, the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Special Activities Division began to recruit, train and lead the indigenous Hmong people in Laos to fight against North Vietnamese Army divisions that were invading Laos during the Vietnam War.