The COMMUNITY of 54 ETHNIC GROUPS in VIETNAM – Section 1

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PHAM DUC THANH, Dr. Assoc. Prof.¹

The S-shaped Southeast Asian Country

    Vietnam is an S-shaped country covering the eastern rim of 331,041 square kilometers of the Indochina Peninsula. It is endowed with different landscapes: forest and mountain, midland, plain, sea, island and a vast continental shelf.

    Vietnam is located in the heart of Southeast Asia, linking the southeastern part of the Euroasia continent.

    Mountains and hills cover three fourths of the country’s territory. In the North, especially the Northwest, are high mountain ranges. The Hoang Lien Son Range², linking the Ma River Range³ and the northern Truong Son Range⁴, is Vietnam‘s most difficult-to-access region due to hundreds of high peaks and mountain ranges separating and obstructing communications between different areas. Passing the southern Truong Son Range², mountains slope gently to the west, forming an immense basalt highland called Tay Nguyen⁵ (Central Highlands), then run down to the eastern part of South Vietnam before joining the vast Mekong Delta⁶.

    Rivers in the Northwest such as Da (Black), Hong (Red), Lo, Ma Rivers, all run in the northwest-southeast direction. The dense river network in the upper section helps to form valleys of all sizes. Alluvial grounds and riverside benches are covered with a thick layer of high-fertility silt suitable for wet-rice cultivation. These are also important residential areas which are good preconditions to create a vivid and spectacular cultural picture.

   In the northern part of Central Vietnam, mountains run to the sea. The short fast-flowing rivers carry little alluvium and cannot form immense deltas. From the souther part southwards, however, beside some rivers running to the east, such rivers like Se Bang Phay⁷, Se Bang Hieng Poko⁸, and Serepok⁹ flow westwards into Laos¹⁰ and Cambodia¹¹ to join the Mekong River¹² before coming back into Vietnam where they form the vast fertile Mekong Delta¹³.

    Vietnam has large territorial waters, a coastal line of over 3,200 km and an immense continetal shelf, containing many valuable resources including an inexhaustible source of marine products.

A Vivid Panorama of Various Ethnic Groups

    Vietnam is a multi-ethnic country. According to the Government’s official announcement, Vietnam has 54 ethnic groups among which the Vietnamese (Kinh) is the majority. Ethnic minorities account for nearly 14% of the total population. At present, these groups constitute a population of 12 million. Relying on linguistic features, ethnic groups in Vietnam are classified into eight linguistic groups:

1. The Viet-Muong (four groups):  Vietnamese (Kinh), Muong, Tho, and Chut.
2. The Tay-Thai (eight groups): Tay, Thai, Nung, Bo Y, Giay, Lao, Lu, and San Chay.
3. The Mon-Khmer (21 groups): Kho Mu, Khang, Mang, Xinh Mun, Bru-Van Kieu, Ta Oi, Co Tu, Ho Re, Gie Trieng, Ba Na, Xe Dang, Brau, Ro Mam, Mnong, Ma, Co Ho, Xtieng Cho Ro. Khmer, and O Du.
4. The H’mong-Dao (three groups): H’mong, Dao, and Pa Then.
5. The Malayo-Polinesian (five groups): Gia Rai, Ede, Chu Ru, Raglai, and Cham.
6. The Han (three groups): Hoa (Han), Ngai, and San Diu.
7. The Tibeto-Burmese (six groups): Ha Nhi, Phu La, La Hu, Cong, Lo Lo, and Sila.
   8.  Others: Co Lao, La Chi, Pu Peo, and La Ha.

… be continued in section 2…

NOTES:
¹ :  PHAM DUC THANH (1944, Hai Phong) – Associate Professor, Ph.D., former Director of the Southeast Asia Research Institute (1994-March 2006); Due to the war situation after the Geneva Agreement 1954, he graduated from the high school in 1963 and enlisted, then discharged in 1968, then passed the entrance exam to Hanoi University of Technology, Course 13, Faculty of History, and graduated from the university at the time of the American Empire‘s most destructive war in the North (late 1972), then returned to work at the Vietnam History Institute. In June 1973, he was a staff member of the Southeast Asia Research Board, responsible for Cambodia‘s research field, and was then appointed as the Department’s Head of Information Resources (in 1978). In 1983, the Southeast Asia Research Institute was established on the foundations of the Southeast Asia Research Board and he was in charge of the Cambodia Research Department Manager and the Science Council secretary of the Institute. In 1986, with a research project on the Modern Cambodian History, he successfully defended his doctoral dissertation and began to assert his name in the scientific world.

    Returning to Czechoslovakia after a long period of post-doctoral training, in 1991, he was promoted to the Deputy Director and then the Director of the Southeast Asia Research Institute (in 1994) and remained in this office until his retirement (March, 2006).

    Several decades of working with the Institute, with the study of countries in the region, especially in the country of Cambodia, Assoc. PHAM DUC THANH has a great fortune of scientific research works: 1) A number of major State-level topics such as: The role of big countries in the Asia-Pacific region; 2) A branch project of a research program on modern capitalism and an independent topic called “ASEAN links in the first decade of the 21st century” which he presided over; 3) Seven ministerial-level projects on issues such as: Vietnam-Laos relations in the historical process, Vietnamese and Lao communities, Asia-Pacific Economic Community (APEC), Development Triangle Vietnam-Laos-Cambodia, …; 4) Coordinate to implement a number of co-operation partners with the international organizations to create a buzz among researchers; 5) About 10 books (written separately and jointly) such as: “History of Cambodia” (1995), “Vietnam-ASEAN relations“,…; 6) About 30 articles published in domestic and foreign professional magazines.

    Although his management work is very busy, Assoc. Prof. Dr. PHAM DUC THANH still spends time to teach lectures to students from the Faculty of History, the Department of Oriental Studies at Hanoi General University (now the University of Social Sciences & Humanities, Vietnam National University, Hanoi), some universities in Ho Chi Minh City… He said: “It is the habit of a pedagogy that has helped a lot in research work on issues related to the study area”.

² :  … updating…

SEE MORE:
◊  54 Ẻthnic Groups Vietnam – Introduction.
◊  The COMMUNITY of 54 ETHNIC GROUPS in Vietnam – Section 2.
◊  The BA NA Community of 54 Ethnic Groups in Vietnam.
◊ Vietnamese version (vi-VersiGoo):  CONG DONG 54 DAN TOC Vietnam – Phan 1.
◊ Vietnamese version (vi-VersiGoo):  CONG DONG 54 DAN TOC Vietnam – Phan 2.
◊  Vietnamese version (vi-VersiGoo):  54 Dan toc Viet Nam.
◊  Vietnamese version (vi-VersiGoo):  Nguoi BA NA trong Cong dong 54 Dan toc anh em Viet Nam.

BAN TU THU
06/2020

NOTE:
◊  Source:  54 Ethnic Groups in Vietnam – VNA Thong Tan Publishing House, Hanoi, 2008.
◊  All citations and italic textes has been set by Ban Tu Thu – thanhdiavietnamhoc.com