Muong people
The
Mường is the third largest of Vietnam's 53 minority groups, with an estimated population of 1.2 millon. The Muong People inhabit the mountainous region of northern
Vietnam, concentrated in Hoa Binh Province and the mountainous districts of Thanh Hoa Province. They are most closely related to the
ethnic Kinh. While the Muong are believed to be related to the Vietnamese (Viet), some ethnologists theorize the Muong remained in the mountains and developed independently while the Viets moved to the low country and became influenced by Chinese culture resulting from the 111BC invasion by Chinese Han Emperor
Wu Ti. The Muong and the Thai have had a mutual influence on each other's culture. So, today the Muong are ethnically close to the Vietnamese, but culturally and socially similar to the Thai.
The Mường speak the
Muong language, a close relative of
Vietnamese.
*
List of ethnic groups in Vietnam* http://www.infomekong.com/muong_secondary.htm
* http://hedo-vietnam.tripod.com/ethnic_groups/muong.htm
* http://www.proel.org/mundo/viet.htm (In Spanish)
