Although Laos is small, there are as many as50 Ethnic Groups (Part 1)

Laos, located in the northern part of the Indochina Peninsula, is the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia, with more mountains and less flat land, and a land area of over230000 square kilometers, equivalent to Guangxi in China. As of January 2023, the total population of Laos is 7.58 million. Most ethnic groups in Laos have migrated from outside, with the majority migrating from China in the north and many from Vietnam and Cambodia in the east. Currently, they are divided into 50 ethnic groups, belonging to four major language families: the Lao Thai language family, the Mon Khmer language family, the Miao Yao language family, and the Han Tibetan language family.

In 1968, the Lao Patriotic Front divided the people in Laos into three major ethnic groups: the "Lao Long" people living in the plains and valleys, the "Lao Ting" people living halfway up the mountain, and the "Lao Song" people living deep in the mountains.

Today, we will start with several representative ethnic groups and take you to understand the ethnic culture of Laos——

Old Dragon Clan

The Laolong ethnic group accounts for approximately71% is the ethnic group with the largest population in Laos. Mainly composed of the Thai ethnic group, including 17 branches including the Lao, Putai, and Lu ethnic groups. The internal cultural differences are relatively small, mainly using a dialect from Thai and generally believing in Buddhism. In a broad sense, it belongs to the Dai Thai ethnic group to some extent, along with the Thai ethnic group in Thailand, the Thai ethnic group in Vietnam, the Thai ethnic group in Cambodia, the Shan ethnic group in Myanmar, the Dai ethnic group in China, and the Assam ethnic group in India.

The Laolong people believe in Southern Theravada Buddhism, and there must be temples in the areas where they live. Before the sound education system in Laos, some teenagers were taught to read in temples. Although most of them believe in Buddhism, they also believe in gods.

Because the Old Dragon people are perceived by the public as very gentle and pay attention to etiquette. They are also known as a nation as gentle as water.

Lao Ting ethnic group

The Lao Ting ethnic group accounts for approximately20%, mainly composed of the Mon Khmer ethnic group and some Di Qiang ethnic groups, with significant cultural differences among different tribes. They mainly reside in remote provinces such as Azupo and Shalawan.

The Laoting people mainly rely on farming as their main source of livelihood, with low productivity and a traditional tradition of worshiping their ancestors. It is recorded that this tribe worships their ancestors for protection before planting or building houses.

Laosong tribe

The Laosong ethnic group accounts for approximately9%, mainly composed of mountainous ethnic groups such as Miao and Yao. Among the 17 ethnic groups, the Miao ethnic group has the most people, accounting for about two-thirds of the population of the Laosong ethnic group. They can be divided into white seedlings, black seedlings, red seedlings, flower seedlings, and striped seedlings.

The Miao people in Laos are known asThe Miao people are a cross-border ethnic group that originated in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River in China. The Miao ethnic group has less contact with other ethnic groups in Laos, and in terms of dietary habits, they do not eat glutinous rice and rely on white rice and corn as their main food.

Image source: Internet