People & Society

Of Vietnam’s 85 million inhabitants, nearly 90% are Kinh Viet, and the remainder is made up of 53 ethnic minorities. Most of the Viet originated from the Mongoloid race in Northeast Asia. Many of the minorities only have a few thousand members, but maintain their distinct identities and languages.

Vietnam’s 54 ethnicities can be grouped into eight linguistic categories. The Viet consist of four sub-cultures, the Tay have eight for less than 4% of the population, and the Mon-Khmer have 21 for less than 2%. The five remaining categories fall under the Pa Then: Mong (3), Kadai (4), Nam Dao (5), Han (3) and Tang (6).

The Viet mostly live in the coastal plains and delta areas. The Tay inhabit the northern mountains, while the Khmer reside around the Mekong Delta near Cambodia. The Han Hoa are also lowlanders.

Language

Today’s distinct Vietnamese language reflects its mixed racial and cultural history, and is mostly a fusion of Mon Khmer (monotonic), Tai (tonality and grammar) and Chinese (literary and technical vocabulary).  The “Chunbom” writing system using modified Chinese characters was developed for writing Vietnamese in the 8th century.

Around 1650, a French missionary devised the “Quoc-ngu” system using the Roman alphabet with additional signs and accent marks to indicate tones. The French made this the official written language in 1910.

Ethnic minorities retain their native languages, and many foreign languages are spoken, with Chinese, Russian, French and English among the most popular.

Speaking Vietnamese

Hello                             Xin chào
How are you?               Có khoe không?
I am fine, thank you.    Khoe cám un.
Goodbye.                      Tam biêt.
Please help!                  Cúu tôi vói!
Thank you                     Cám un.
Excuse me                     Xin lôi.
Toilet                             nhà vê sinh.
Yes                                Vâng
No                                 không

Religion

Buddhism is the largest established religion in Vietnam, with about 10 million followers. Confucianism and Taoism were widespread during earlier Chinese domination, but Catholicism, introduced by European missionaries, is now the second most popular religion with some 6 million believers.

Tho Mau originated in the north and was integrated into indigenous beliefs such as the Thien Yana in Hue and Linh Son in Tay Ninh. Cao Dai was introduced in 1926 with its central church in Tay Ninh and it has an estimated 2 million followers. The Hoa Hoa sect was introduced in 1939 in southern and western Vietnam, and today has some 1 million followers.