Khmer people
ជនជាតិខ្មែរ | |
|---|---|
Khmer people in traditional Khmer attire during the new year | |
| Total population | |
| c. 18–19 million | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Cambodia | 15,969,386 |
| Vietnam | 1,320,000 |
| Thailand | 1,146,685 |
| United States | 376,096 |
| France | 80,000 |
| South Korea | 65,002 |
| Australia | 57,096 (2021) |
| Malaysia | 30,113 |
| Canada | 38,490 |
| Japan | 26,827 (2024) |
| New Zealand | 8,601 |
| United Arab Emirates | 7,600 |
| Laos | 7,141 |
| Singapore | 3,224 |
| Switzerland | 3,000 |
| Belgium | 2,172 |
| Austria | 2,133 |
| Netherlands | 2,000 |
| Germany | 1,035 |
| United Kingdom | >1,560 (2021) |
| Italy | 1,000 |
| New Caledonia | 1,000 |
| Sweden | 772 |
| Taiwan | 543–5,219 |
| Denmark | 200 |
| Kuwait | 47 |
| Philippines | 33 |
| Russia | 2–110 |
| Languages | |
| Khmer | |
| Religion | |
| Predominantly Theravada Buddhism; Hinduism and animism (historically); Christianity and Islam (minority) | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Mon, Wa, other Austroasiatic peoples | |
The Khmer people (Khmer: ជនជាតិខ្មែរ, UNGEGN: Chônchéatĕ Khmêr, ALA-LC: Janajāti Khmaer [cɔn.ciət kʰmae]) are an ethnic group native to Cambodia. They comprise over 95% of Cambodia's population of 17 million. They speak the Khmer language, which is part of the larger Austroasiatic language family alongside Mon and Vietnamese.
The majority of Khmer people follow Theravada Buddhism. Significant populations of Khmers reside in neighboring regions, including Northern Khmer communities in adjacent areas of Thailand and Khmer Krom communities in the Mekong Delta region of Vietnam. There are nearly one million Khmers in other diaspora communities, living mainly in the United States, France, and Australia.
Ethnic Khmers sometimes use a tripartite division to differentiate Khmers native to Thailand, Cambodia or Vietnam. Those native to Thailand are sometimes referred to as "Khmer Loeu" due to their location on the southern Khorat plateau relative to those native to Cambodia, "Khmer Kandal" or "Khmer Knong" ("central Khmer"), while Khmer native to the lower Mekong Delta region of Vietnam are called "Khmer Krom" ("lower Khmer" or "southern Khmer"). In the Khmer language, a use of the term "Khmer Loeu" is in reference to the Northern Khmer people, not to be confused with the non-ethnic Khmer people which share the same term.