Note: This map is based on 1972 Burmese census. Other ethnic groups like Rakhine, Kayah, Pa’O and Shanni might not appear on this map because government merge sub ethnic groups into a large single ethnic group. (i.e. Kayah and Pa’O are Karen sub groups so government merge them into a one single ethnic identity.)
Myanmar (Burma) is an ethnically diverse nation with 135 distinct ethnic groups officially recognised by the Burmese government. These are grouped into eight "major national ethnic races":
The "major national ethnic races" are grouped primarily according to region rather than linguistic or ethnic affiliation, as for example the Shan Major National Ethnic Race includes 33 ethnic groups speaking languages in at least four widely differing language families.[1]
The list has faced criticism for overcounting the number of ethnic groups. Specifically, it represents clans and people withh dialectical differences as distinct ethnic groups, sometimes even repeating the same group under a different name.[2]
According to Gamanii, a researcher who scrutinized the claim, only 59 out of the 135 ethnic groups mentioned can be verified as existing entities.[3]
Many unrecognised ethnic groups exist, the largest being the Burmese Chinese and Panthay (who together form 3% of the population), Burmese Indians (who form 2% of the population), Rohingya, Anglo-Burmese and Gurkha. There are no official statistics regarding the population of the latter two groups, although unofficial estimates place around 52,000 Anglo-Burmese in Burma with around 1.6 million outside the country.
Ethnic composition of Myanmar (2019 GAD township reports)[4][5]
