Khmer people
The Khmer people (Khmer: 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 alongside Mon and Vietnamese.
ជនជាតិខ្មែរ | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Khmer women wearing traditional dance attires | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total population | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| c. 18–19 million | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Regions with significant populations | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Cambodia | 16,000,000 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Vietnam | 1,320,000 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Thailand | 1,146,685 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| United States | 331,733 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Languages | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Khmer | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Religion | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Predominantly Theravada Buddhism; Hinduism and animism (historically); minorities Christianity | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Related ethnic groups | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Other Austroasiatic peoples | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The majority of the Khmers follow Theravada Buddhism. 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. According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the Khmer language currently has the largest alphabet in the word with 74 letters.