Tai peoplesTai peoples are the populations who speak (or formerly spoke) the Tai languages. There are a total of about 93 million people of Tai ancestry worldwide, with the largest ethnic groups being Dai, Thais, Isan, Tai Yai (Shan), Lao, Tai Ahom, and Northern Thai peoples. The Tai are scattered through much of South China and Mainland Southeast Asia, with some (e.g. Tai Ahom, Tai Khamti, Tai Phake, Tai Aiton) inhabiting parts of Northeast India. Tai peoples are both culturally and genetically very similar and therefore primarily identified through their language.
KunmingKunming (kUn'mIN; ), also known as Yunnan-Fu, is the capital and largest city of Yunnan province, China. It is the political, economic, communications and cultural centre of the province as well as the seat of the provincial government. The headquarters of many of Yunnan's biggest corporations are based in the city. The city was of great significance during World War II as a Chinese military center, American air base, and transport terminus for the Burma Road.
Khmu peopleThe Khmu (kəˈmuː; Khmu: /kmm̥uʔ/ or /kmmúʔ/; ກຶມມຸ kɯ̀m.mūʔ or ຂະມຸ khā.mūʔ; ขมุ khā.mùʔ; Khơ Mú; ; ခမူ) are an ethnic group of Southeast Asia. The majority (88%) live in northern Laos where they constitute the largest minority ethnic group, comprising eleven percent of the total population. Alternative historical English spellings include Kmhmu, Kemu, and Khammu, among others. The Khmu can also be found in southwest China (in Xishuangbanna in Yunnan province), and in recent centuries have migrated to areas of Burma, Thailand and Vietnam (where they are an officially recognized ethnic group).
Dai peopleThe Dai people (Burmese: ရှမ်းလူမျိုး; ᨴᩱ/ᨴᩱ᩠ᨿ; ໄຕ; ไท; တႆး, [tai˥˩]; ᥖᥭᥰ, [tai˥]; ) are several Tai-speaking ethnic groups living in the Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture and the Dehong Dai and Jingpo Autonomous Prefecture of China's Yunnan Province. The Dai people form one of the 56 ethnic groups officially recognized by the People's Republic of China. By extension, the term can apply to groups in Laos, Vietnam, Thailand and Myanmar when Dai is used to mean specifically Tai Yai, Lue, Chinese Shan, Tai Dam, Tai Khao or even Tai in general.
Zhuang peopleThe Zhuang ('dʒwæŋ,_'dʒwɒŋ; ; Bouxcuengh poːu˦˨ ɕeŋ˧; Sawndip: 佈獞) are a Tai-speaking ethnic group who mostly live in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in Southern China. Some also live in the Yunnan, Guangdong, Guizhou, and Hunan provinces. They form one of the 56 ethnic groups officially recognized by the People's Republic of China. With the Bouyei, Nùng, Tày, and other Northern Tai speakers, they are sometimes known as the Rau or Rao people. Their population, estimated at 18 million people, makes them the largest minority in China.
Asian elephantThe Asian elephant (Elephas maximus), also known as the Asiatic elephant, is the only living species of the genus Elephas and is distributed throughout the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia, from India in the west, Nepal in the north, Sumatra in the south, and to Borneo in the east. Three subspecies are recognised—E. m. maximus from Sri Lanka, E. m. indicus from mainland Asia and E. m. sumatranus from the island of Sumatra.
Lao peopleThe Lao people are a Tai ethnic group native to Southeast Asia, who speak the Lao language of the Kra–Dai languages. They are the majority ethnic group of Laos, making up 53.2% of the total population. The majority of Lao people adhere to Theravada Buddhism. They are closely related to other Tai people, especially (or synonymous) with the Isan people, who are also speakers of Lao language, native to neighboring Thailand. In Western historiography, terms Lao people and Laotian have had a loose meaning.
MueangMueang (เมือง mɯ̄ang, mɯaŋ˧ ), Muang (ເມືອງ mɯ́ang, mɯaŋ˦; Tai Nuea: ᥛᥫᥒᥰ muang), Mong ( mə́ŋ, məŋ˦), Meng () or Mường (Vietnamese) were pre-modern semi-independent city-states or principalities in mainland Southeast Asia, adjacent regions of Northeast India and Southern China, including what is now Thailand, Laos, Burma, Cambodia, parts of northern Vietnam, southern Yunnan, western Guangxi and Assam. Mueang was originally a term in the Tai languages for a town having a defensive wall and a ruler with at least the Thai noble rank of khun (ขุน), together with its dependent villages.
Thai peopleThai people (ชาวไทย; endonym), Central Thai people (คนภาคกลาง; exonym and also domestically), Southern Thai people (คนใต้; exonym and also domestically), Dambro (ตามโพร), Siamese (ชาวสยาม; historical exonym and sometimes domestically), Tai Noi people (ไทน้อย; historical endonym and sometimes domestically), Thai Siam (ไทยสยาม), are a Southeast Asian ethnic group native to Thailand. In a narrower sense, the Thais are also a Tai ethnic group dominant in Central and Southern Thailand (Siam proper).
Religion in ChinaThe People's Republic of China is officially an atheist state, but the government formally recognizes five religions: Buddhism, Taoism, Christianity (Catholicism and Protestantism are recognized separately), and Islam. In the early 21st century, there has been increasing official recognition of Confucianism and Chinese folk religion as part of China's cultural heritage. Chinese civilization has historically long been a cradle and host to a variety of the most enduring religio-philosophical traditions of the world.
