Main ethnicities in Laos

Introduction

There are three main ethnicities in Laos in descending order.

Lao

The Lao people and closely related Phutai people comprises 56.6% of the population. They are part of Tai-Kadai people.

They live mostly in the valley along the eastern part of Mekong River. Thus, they are called Lao Thai or Lao Loum which means Lao of the lowland.

They are closely related to the Isaan speaking people along the western part of Mekong River in Thailand.

Khmu

Khmu forms 11% of the population. They are the natives of Laos and part of Austroasiatic people. The ethnic Muong people in central Laos and Vietnam are genetically close to them.

They live mostly in hilly slopes of Northern Laos and are called Lao Theung which means Lao of the midland.

Hmong

Hmong people comprises 9.2% of the population and are part of Hmong-Mien people from China.

They live mostly in the mountain summit of Northern Laos and are part of the tribes called Lao Soung which means Lao of the highland.

Ethnic map of Laos

Largest three
  • Lao-Phutai - Green
  • Khmu - Blue (North)
  • Hmong - Orange 
Lesser minorities
  • Muong - Yellow
  • Katuic tribes - Purple (South)
  • Lolo-Burmese tribes - Red (North)

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