Ethnic groups

Ethnic and linguistic data

Viêtnam is a multi-ethnic and multi-religious country with 54 ethnic minorties officially recognized by the Vietnamese government. The languages of all the ethnic groups in Vietnam belong to one of these five language families: the Austro-Asiatic, Sino-Tibetan, Thai-Kadai, Hmong-Mien and Austronesian.
The laragest group is the Viêt called Kinh (86% of  the population). Among these ethnic minorities, four have more than a million members (Tày, Thaï, Muong et Khmer), thirteen have between 100 000 and 900 000 members and thirty six have less then 100 000 members. Some of them only have about a hundred representatives. Every group has its own traditions and customs. Often they still wear traditional costume.
Many ethnic minorities live in the mountains in the north (30 à 40 % of the population) and in the Centre, but also in the South and the Mékong delta where you find the Khmers, Cham and Hoa (Chinese).
For more information about ethnic minorities, click ici.