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Concept
Khmer people
Summary
The Khmer people (ជនជាតិខ្មែរ, Chônchéatĕ Khmêr cɔnciət khmae) are an Austroasiatic ethnic group native to Cambodia. They comprise over 90% of Cambodia's population of 17 million. They speak the Khmer language, which is part of the larger Austroasiatic-language family found in parts of Southeast Asia (including Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, and Malaysia), parts of central, eastern, and northeastern India, parts of Bangladesh in South Asia, in parts of Southern China and numerous islands in the Indian Ocean.
The majority of the Khmers follow Theravada Buddhism, then there is also a minority Khmer Muslim convert from Buddhism found in Kwan village, Kampong Speu. Significant populations of Khmers reside in adjacent areas of Thailand (Northern Khmer) and the Mekong Delta region of neighboring Vietnam (Khmer Krom), while there are over one million Khmers in the Khmer diaspora living mainly in France, the United States, and Australia.
The earliest record of the word Khmer as an ethnonym is found in Ka.64 inscription (678–877) which mentions "kñuṃ kmer ghoda" meaning "Khmer slaves".
The majority of the world's Khmers live in Cambodia, the population of which is over 90% Khmers.
There are also significant Khmer populations native to Thailand and Vietnam. In Thailand, there are over one million Khmers (known as the Khmer Surin), mainly in Surin (Sorin), Buriram (Borei Rom) and Sisaket (Srei Saket) provinces. Estimates for the number of the Khmers in Vietnam (known as the Khmer Krom) vary from the 1.3 million given by government data to 7 million advocated by the Khmers Kampuchea-Krom Federation.
Due to migration as a result of the Cambodian Civil War and Cambodian Genocide, there is a large Khmer diaspora residing in the United States, Canada, Australia and France.
History of Cambodia
According to one Khmer legend attributed by George Coedes to a tenth century inscription, the Khmers arose from the union of the brahmin Kambu Swayambhuva and the apsara ("celestial nymph") Mera.
Official source
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