Myanmar (Burma) is an ethnically diverse nation with 135 distinctethnic groups officially recognised by theBurmese government, which are grouped into eight "major national ethnic races" — theBamar,Kayin,Rakhine,Shan,Mon,Chin,Kachin, andKarenni. The Bamar (Burman) make up approximately 68% of the population, while the remainder belongs to various major and minor ethnic and linguistic groups.

The "major national ethnic races" are grouped primarily according to geographic region rather than ethnolinguistic affiliation. For example, the Shan national race includes 33 ethnic groups that live inShan State and speak languages in at least four language families.^[1] Myanmar's contemporary politics around ethnicity surround treating ethnicity as a minoritising discourse, pitting a "pan-ethnic" national identity against minority groups. Often ethnicity identities in practice are flexible — sometimes as flexible as simply changing clothes — in part due to a lack of religious or ethnic stratification prior to British colonialism.^[2]

Ethnic identity in modern-day Myanmar has been significantly shaped by British colonial rule, Christian missionaries, anddecolonisation in the post-independence era. To this day, theBurmese language does not have precise terminology that distinguishes the European concepts ofrace and ethnicity; the termlu-myo (လူမျိုး,lit. 'type of person') can reference race, ethnicity, and religion.[3] For instance, manyBamar self-identify as members of the 'Buddhistlu-myo' or the 'Myanmarlu-myo,' which has posed a significant challenge for census-takers.^[4]

Many unrecognised ethnic groups exist in the country, the largest being theBurmese Chinese andPanthay (who together form 3% of the population),Burmese Indians (who form 2% of the population),Rohingya,Anglo-Burmese andGurkha. 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.

In the pre-colonial era, ethnic identity was fluid and dynamic, marked by patron-client relationships, religion, and regional origins, not ethnicity.^[5] Lowland valley populations were mainly Theravada Buddhists who spoke Burmese and practiced settled rice cultivation, while minority groups in the surrounding highlands had distinct cultures based on shifting cultivation and local clan or kinship-based loyalties.^[5] Pre-colonial Burmese kingdoms were defined by cultural exchange and contact, especially between the Buddhist Bamar, Shan, Rakhine and Mon peoples.^[6] Peripheral groups were more likely to adopt the cultural norms and institutions of dominant centers of power, like theKingdom of Ava.^[6]

TheKonbaung dynasty incorporated diverse peoples—such as the Shan, Mon, Arakanese, and Tai—into its Theravada Buddhist cultural system through rituals, religious monuments, and royal merit practices.^[7] Provincial leaders were required to participate in royal ceremonies, spreading court culture across regions.^[7] Intermarriage between the central court and provincial elites also strengthened this cultural integration, making Burmese Theravada orthodoxy a hegemonic force across the empire.^[7]

DuringBritish rule in Burma (1896–1948), colonial authorities developed formal classifications to label groups of people, using language as a key criterion, which led to inconsistencies —for instance, some groups labeled asKachin were not linguistically, ethnically, or racially related to others.^[8]

The British transformed the previously fluid nature of ethnic identity by categorizing people based on language incensus records and linking ethnic groups to specific territories.^[5] They divided the colony into “Ministerial Burma” (directly ruled lowland areas populated mostly by the Bamar,Mon, andRakhine) and “Frontier Areas” (indirectly ruled highlands inhabited by ethnic minorities like theKachin,Shan,Chin, andKaren), which reinforced ethnic divisions and limited political interaction.^[5]

Christian missionaries converted many minority groups—especially the Karen, Kachin, and Chin—creating religious divides with the Buddhist Bamar majority.^[5] These groups also benefited more from colonial recruitment into military and civil service, intensifying Bamar resentment.^[5] Economic and political tensions further escalated due to mass immigration encouraged by the British, particularly of Indians and Chinese.^[5] Colonial historiography helped perpetuate ethnic categories in Burma, which in turn, became the criteria for conceptualizing and organizing precolonial Myanmar’s history.^[6]

These colonial developments promulgated the creation of pan-ethnic identities among minority groups like the Karen, Chin, and Kachin, while politically sidelining the Bamar majority, fueling future ethnic armed resistance and communal violence.^[5] For instance,Tai peoples in the country, who now identify as part of the Shan ethnic group, became a distinct ethno-cultural community only during British colonial rule with the creation of the “Shan States” in 1886.^[6]

During World War II, the Bamar nationalists aligned with Japan to expel British colonial rulers, while many minority groups supported the British.^[5] In 1947, independence leaderAung San secured minority support with promises of autonomy in the1947 Panglong Agreement, but his assassination later that year destabilised the burgeoning movement.^[5]

After independence, postcolonial Burmese governments adopted rigid colonial ethnic classifications, officially recognizing 135 “national races” calledtaing-yin-tha (တိုင်းရင်းသား).^[5] These identities have become the basis for citizenship and access to rights. The1982 citizenship law reserved full citizenship for those classified astaing-yin-tha, effectively excluding groups like the Rohingya.^[5]

These imposed identities often grouped diverse subgroups together and became institutionalised over time, with post-independence governments continuing to use them to determine access to territory, political power, and economic opportunities—leading to ongoing grievances and struggles among excluded groups.^[5] These ethnic classifications have been criticised as arbitrary and exclusionary.^[5] While some blame ethnic diversity for ongoing military rule and conflict, the country's political institutions and elite actions have politicised ethnic identities and deepened divisions and conflict.^[5]

Ideological disputes and unmet promises to ethnic minorities led to ongoing civil wars between the central government andethnic armed organisations.^[5] During the1962 Burmese coup d'état, General Ne Win seized power to halt perceived threats of secession and further minority concessions.^[5] Consequently, Myanmar has faced continuous armed struggles between the Bamar-majority central government and minority ethnic groups demanding greater autonomy.^[5] Harsh military rule and brutal campaigns against ethnic insurgencies have hundreds of thousands and pushing many into refugee camps, particularly in Thailand.^[5]

The 1948 Constitution of Burma grantedstatehood toKachin,Karenni (now Kayah),Shan andKaren States (now Kayin). The 1974 Constitution granted statehood toChin State by upgrading its former status as the Special Division of the Chins, toMon State by carving up the upper half ofTenasserim Division, and toArakan State by upgrading its former status as Arakan Division. In 2010, in accordance with the 2008 Constitution, several ethnic groups were grantedself-administered zones:

• Danu Self-Administered Zone: consisting ofYwangan andPindaya townships inShan State
• Kokang Self-Administered Zone: consisting ofKonkyan andLaukkai townships in Shan State
• Naga Self-Administered Zone: consisting ofLeshi,Lahe, andNamyun townships inSagaing Region
• Pa Laung Self-Administered Zone: consisting ofNamhsan andManton townships in Shan State
• Pa-O Self-Administered Zone: consisting ofHopong,Hsihseng, andPinlaung townships in Shan State
• Wa Self-Administered Division: consisting ofHopang,Mongmao,Panwai,Nahpan,Metman, andPangsang (Pankham) townships in Shan State

After the 2014Census in Myanmar, the Burmese government indefinitely withheld release of detailed ethnicity data, citing concerns around social unrest and political sensitivity surrounding the issue of ethnicity in Myanmar.^[9] In February 2018,Thein Swe, the minister of labor, immigration, and population did not provide a timeline, and stated that more discussions with ethnic leaders, historians, anthropologists, and cultural experts were necessary to finalise the terminology and classifications of ethnic groups.^[10] As of March 2018, the census data remains unreleased.^[9][11]

In 2022, researchers analysed theGeneral Administration Department's nationwide township reports compiled between October 2018 and September 2019 to tabulate the ethnic makeup of the country.^[12][13]

The GAD used only 22 ethnic groups in its reports, reflecting the lack of standardisation within the Burmese government to classify ethnic groups, and disaggregation of several "national races."^[13] The GAD's list includes entries not found in the country's 135 officially recognised ethnic groups, includingMong Wong, Lishaw, and Ying.^[13]

The Burmese government recognises 8 "national races" that are made up of 135 ethnic groups. The list has faced criticism for overcounting the number of ethnic groups and classifying groups that speak unrelated languages under the same "national race." Specifically, it represents clans and people with dialectical differences as distinct ethnic groups, sometimes even repeating the same group under a different name.^[14] According to Gamanii, a researcher who scrutinised the claim, only 59 out of the 135 recognised ethnic groups can be verified as existing entities.^[15]

The following language families are associated the ethnic groups:

•    Sino-Tibetan
  •    Lolo–Burmese
  •    Nungish
  •    Sal
  •    Karenic
  •    Kuki-Chin
  •    Sinitic
•    Austroasiatic
  •    Monic
  •    Palaungic
•    Indo-European
  •    Indo-Aryan
•    Kra–Dai
  •    Southwestern Tai
•    Hmong–Mien
  •    Mienic
  •    Hmongic
•    Austronesian
  •    Malayo-Polynesian

Note: The list is very controversial. Many of the names and spelling variants are known only from this list.^[15][16]

According to the Burmese government, the Kachin comprises 12 different sub-groups:

According to the Burmese government, the Kayah comprise nine sub-groups:^{[note 1][18]}

According to the Burmese government, the Kayin comprise 11 sub-groups:

According to the Burmese government, the Chin comprise 53 sub-groups. This list was possibly originally a list of colonial tax rate districts. The groupings have long been contested by ethnic Chin leaders, and some subgroups like the Zomi refute their categorization as Chins.^[19] Ahead of the2014 Myanmar census, the Chin National Action Committee on Census produced a list of mistakes and incoherencies with the government's list:^[20]

• Overarching category ambiguity: "Chin" is treated as just another coded category, rather than a distinct ethnolinguistic umbrella.
• Misclassification under "Chin": Some ethnic groups (e.g. Naga, Thanghkul, Meithei) do not self-identify as Chin.
• Non-ethnonyms listed: Some names (e.g. Saline, Mi-er) are not actual ethnonyms.
• Inconsistent spelling: Many group names are spelled inconsistently across languages (e.g. Khami/Khumi, Tiddim/Tedim).
• Merged identities: Some single names represent multiple distinct groups (e.g. Dai (Yinthu) representing both Dai/Daai and Daa Yinthu).
• Redundant listings: Some groups appear multiple times under different spellings (e.g. Lushai and Lushei for Lashai).
• Missing groups: Several well-defined groups are entirely omitted from the list (e.g. Ng’gha, Hlawn Ceu, Sometu, Larktu, Laisaw, Laitu, Mayin, Lungpaw, Minkya, Bawm).

The presence of 53 Chin sub-groups prompted confusion among census participants.^[19] Chin civil society groups called for a future revision to the number of Chin subgroups.^[19] In 2019, the national government confirmed it had no plans to correct the nomenclature.^[20]

According to the Burmese government, the Bamar comprise nine sub-groups, several of which speak variants of Burmese. In 2016, theThein Sein government officially recognised the Chinese-speakingMong Wong in northern Shan State as the Mong Wong Bamar.^[21]

According to the Burmese government, the Rakhine comprise seven sub-groups. The groupings have been criciticised for including culturally different groups like theMro andThet under the Rakhine umbrella.^[22]

According to the Burmese government, the Shan comprise 33 sub-groups. The groupings have been criciticised for including culturally different groups like theKokang,Palaung, andPa-O under the Shan umbrella.^[22] The list also includes redundant groups that go by different names, such as the Tai Leng, who are also called Shan Galay or Red Shan.^[22]

The government of Myanmar does not officially recognise several ethnic groups:

• Myanmar portal

• List of ethnic groups in Myanmar – Myanmar Ministry of Hotels and Tourism
• Ethnologue page for Burma languages
• Minorities in Burma andBurma: Time for Change by Minority Rights Group International

• U Min Naing (2000).National Ethnic Groups of Myanmar. Translated by Hpone Thant. Yangon: Thein Myint Win Press.

• National Races of Myanmar. Myanmar: Ministry of Culture. 1960.

• Ethnic groups in Myanmar
• Lists of ethnic groups

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