| Total population | |
|---|---|
| 390 (2010)[1] | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
 Malaysia (Perak) | |
| Languages | |
| Lanoh (Semnam,Sabüm),Malay | |
| Religion | |
| Traditional religion | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Semang (Batek people,Jahai people),Negritos (Maniq people,Philippine Negritos,Andamanese) |
TheLanoh are a group classified as "Orang Asli" ("original people") of theSemang branch by the government ofMalaysia. They live in theMalay Peninsula and number around 390.[1] They are also known asSabub'n orLano. However, the Lanoh community inGerik andLenggong,Perak would identify to themselves asMenik Semnam (meaning "Semnam people" or "Orang Semnam" inMalay language), a name that refers to the Lanoh people that lived at the Semnam River. Whereas the Malay community in UpperPerak would refer the Lanoh people asSakai Jeram.[2]
as of 2010, there 390 Lanoh people living in Malaysia.[1]The majority of Lanoh live in the jungle as hunter-gatherer, but other Lanoh reside in urban areas where they are engaged in employment, largely on tapping rubber[3] and oil palm estates.[4] During theBritish Malaya, the Lanoh people were also regularly employed by British administrative officers as jungle rangers and porters, which suits to the lifestyle of the Lanoh people living in the jungle.[3] Traditionally, the Lanoh people boilketum roots and drink it to treat diabetes, and boilingAtaulfo (mango) roots to reduce high-blood pressure.[5]
The population dynamics of the Lanoh people are as the following:-
| Year | 1960[6] | 1965[6] | 1969[6] | 1974[6] | 1980[6] | 1993[7] | 1996[6] | 2000[8] | 2003[8] | 2004[9] | 2010[1] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Population | 142 | 142 | 264 | 302 | 224 | 359 | 359 | 173 | 350 | 350 | 390 |
The Lanoh were once nomadic; a lifestyle that carried intoopen marriage practices where one man would marry a woman and have children, and then move on to another place and marry another woman and have children and continues to do so as they move from place to place.[10] Lanoh women are also known to practicepolyandry, a practice that is not much known to otherSemang groups.[11] But many of them now live in permanent villages in theHulu Perak district ofPerak State, near theKelantan borders.[12]
Following European contact, the Lanoh werehunter-gatherers using caves, many within the state ofPerak, as shelters during hunting trips. Approximately 100 years ago, they made charcoal drawings[13] on the walls of caves.[14]
The Lanoh believe that all living things, both plants and animals have their own spirit to a point where certain of these animals are considered poisonous and inedible, fearing of its negative effect.[15] They believe people should be linked symbiotically with the other animals and plants. The belief in the spirits of living beings to make them afraid of the spirits of dead people (especially their ancestors) and of the spirits of the game animals.[16]
In fact, there is a custom that is an unwritten law in the village that all animals that are caught in the jungle should not suffer any pain.[16] The Lanoh andTemiar people utilize animals for dietary, medicine and for folktales.[15]