People & Society

Cambodia’s population is about 90% ethnic Khmer, who dominate the central areas and the banks of the Mekong River, with four main minorities: Chinese, Cham, the Mon-Khmer linguistic family and Vietnamese. The Chinese constitute the largest minority, which consists of five linguistic groups, each gravitating to specific, yet diverse occupations, including shop owners, money lenders, vegetable farmers, chemists and cobblers.

The Vietnamese filtered into Cambodia from the southeast. They have very little in common with the Khmer majority and tend to associate with the Chinese community. As they live in the delta and near the country’s waterways, their major occupation is fishing.

The Islamic Cham were chased from Vietnam when the Champa Kingdom was overtaken centuries ago. Orthodox Cham mainly live in Phnom Penh, while the traditional group is dispersed throughout the country’s midsection and north, and includes the Jarai in Ratanakiri and a few Rhade mixed with the Phonong in Mondulkiri. They engage in fishing, vegetable farming and metalworking. As Muslims, Cham often butcher cattle for their Buddhist neighbours.

The Mon-Khmer family includes Brao, Khmer, Khe, Kravet, Kreung, Kraol, Lun, Mel, Phnong, Poar, Raong, Saoch, Stieng, Suoy, Kuy, Tampuon and Thmaun ethnic groups. The mostly live in small, northeast highland villages in Kratie, Ratanakiri, Stung Treng, Preah Vihear and Kampong Thom provinces, and are generally subsistence farmers surviving on upland rice, hunting, fishing and some vegetable farming. They often live in longhouses or small, single-family dwellings on stilts.

The territories of some groups go beyond the Cambodian border. The Jarai in Ratanakiri and the Phonong in Mondulkiri and in Kratie may be found in the provinces of Pleiku and Dalat in Viet Nam. The Kuy in Preah Vihear and in Kampong Thom are also in Thailand and Laos, and the Brao and Kravet in Ratanakiri are related to those in southern Laos.