Ethnicity

As of 2012, Laos has an estimated population of 6.9 million. The Lao government recognizes 47 distinct ethnicities, which are further sub-divided into 149 subgroups. Lao society is traditionally categorized into three broad groups based on ethnicity and location. Approximately 60% of the total population is ethnic Lao (Lao Loum or Lao Tai); 24% are categorized as Lao Theung or “upland Lao” who are predominantly people of Mon or Khmer ancestry; another 10% are Lao Sung or “mountain Lao,” and are also commonly referred to as “hill tribes.” Hill tribe peoples in Laos include the Hmong, Yao (Mien), Akha, and Lahu. Laos is also home to sizeable communities of Vietnamese and Chinese who make up the 6% remaining.
Anthropologists consider the Lao Loum as a subcategory of the wider “Tai” ethnic group who share common genetic, linguistic, and cultural heritage. The Tai family includes the Lao and Thai, as well as smaller groups which have generally been distinguished by their traditional dress and include the Tai Dam (Black Tai), Tai Daeng (Red Tai), and Tai Khao (White Tai). The term “Lao” is commonly used in Laos to define both the ethnicity and nationality. Further complication is added by the geopolitical history betweenLaos and Thailand, there are an estimated 19 million “Lao” speakers living in northeastern Thailand (Thai Isan or Lao Tai) and only 3 million in Laos. As a consequence identity politics has played a major role in the defining the Lao Loum. The Lao government makes no distinction between the bordering groups and views them as sharing a common identity, but the government of Thailand has through a process known as “Thaification” assimilated the Lao living in Isan. The Lao Loum define themselves based on location, agricultural practice, language and religion. The Lao Loum occupy the Mekong River valleys and cultivate wet rice crops, they are predominantly Theravada Buddhist but have strong syncretism with traditional animist beliefs.

Lao Theung are culturally distinct from both the Lao Loum and Lao Sung. The Lao Theung generally include Mon-Khmer peopleswhich are among the indigenous peoples from the Mekong River valleys. The largest single group (11% or 500,000 people) is Khmu(Khmou, Kmhmu, Khammu, Khamu, Kammu). Also included in the Lao Theung population are Katang, Bru, Kui, Laven, Mal, Phai, Katu, Lave, Ngae, Jeh, Khuen, Jeng, Alak, Ir, Kasseng, Khlor, Aheu, Bo, Halang, Doan, Hung, Xinh Mul, Khua, Arem, Bit, Chut, Maleng and Mlabri. The Lao Theung peoples are distinguished by dry rice cultivation, and animist beliefs.

The Lao Sung are commonly known as “hill tribe” peoples, and are generally among the most recent mass populations to migrate into Laos having arrived in the nineteenth century from southern China and Vietnam. The Hmong are the largest group, which are generally subdivided by traditional dress including the White, Red, Black and Striped Hmong. The Yao (Mien and Lu Mien) are another large group of Lao Sung, and distinguish themselves through the incorporation of Taoist deities with their animist beliefs. Other groups of Lao Sung include the Akha, Kaw, Lahu, Kaduo, Lisu, Hani, Phana, Si La, and Kado. The Lao Sung were heavily recruited by the United States and its allies during the wars against the communists in the 1960s. As much as 10% of the Lao population and 50% of the Lao Sung population fled the communist takeover of Laos in 1975, and continued during the following decade. The remaining Lao Sung population has been the target of government suspicion for a low intensity armed conflict since that time. There are sizeable communities of Hmong in the United States and France. The Lao Sung are commonly identified by language, dry rice production, slash-and-burn agriculture, traditional opium production and animist beliefs.