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Concept
Shan people
Summary
The Shan people (တႆး; táj, ရှမ်းလူမျိုး; ʃán lùmjó), also known as the Tai Long or Tai Yai, are a Tai ethnic group of Southeast Asia. The Shan are the biggest minority of Burma (Myanmar) and primarily live in the Shan State of this country, but also inhabit parts of Mandalay Region, Kachin State, Kayah State, Sagaing Region and Kayin State, and in adjacent regions of China (Dai people), Laos, Assam and Meghalaya (Ahom people), Cambodia (Kula people), Vietnam and Thailand. Though no reliable census has been taken in Burma since 1935, the Shan are estimated to number 4–6 million, with CIA Factbook giving an estimate of five million spread throughout Myanmar which is about 10% of the overall Burmese population.
'Shan' is a generic term for all Tai-speaking peoples within Myanmar (Burma). The capital of Shan State is Taunggyi, the fifth-largest city in Myanmar with about 390,000 people. Other major cities include Thibaw (Hsipaw), Lashio, Kengtung and Tachileik.
The Shan use the endonym Tai (တႆး) in reference to themselves, which is also used in Chinese (). Shan (ရှမ်း) is an exonym from the Burmese language; the term itself was historically spelt သျှမ်း (MLCTS: hsyam:), and is derived from the term Siam, the former name of Thailand. The term has been borrowed into Chinese (). In Thai, the Shan are called Tai Yai (ไทใหญ่, Great Tai) or Ngiao (เงี้ยว) in Tai yuan language. The Shan also have a number of exonyms in other minority languages, including Pa'O: ဖြဝ်ꩻ, Western Pwo Karen: ၥဲၫ့, and Mon သေံဇၞော် (sem).
The major groups of Shan people are:
Tai Yai () or Thai Yai (ไทใหญ่); the 'Shan Proper', by far the largest group, by which all Shan people are known in the Thai language.
Tai Lü or Tai Lue (). Its traditional area is in Xishuangbanna (China) and the eastern states.
Tai Khuen or Tai Khün (), a subgroup of the Tai Yai making up the majority in the Keng Tung area. The former ruling family of Kengtung State belonged to this group.
Tai Nüa or Tai Neua, (). The 'upper' or 'northern Tai'.
Official source
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