Bru-Van Kieu

Bru-Vân Kiều

Painting of Bru people in traditional attire, Khe Sanh museum
Total population
129,559 (1999 estimate)
Regions with significant populations
Vietnam	74,506 (2009)
Laos	69,000
Thailand	25,000
Languages
Eastern Bru, Western Bru, Vietnamese, Lao, Thai, Khmer
Religion
Traditional religion (ancestor worship), Buddhism, Theravada Buddhism, Animism, Christianity
Related ethnic groups
Khmer people

The Bru (also Brao, Bruu, Brou, or Bru-Vân Kiều; Vietnamese: Người Bru - Vân Kiều; Thai: ) (which literally means "people living in the woods") are an ethnic group living in Thailand, Laos, and Vietnam. They are closely linked linguistically and culturally to the Mountain Khmer but are heavily influenced by Laos.

The Bru are also close ethnically to Pnongam peoples of Southern Vietnam/Eastern Cambodia. Despite kinship with this group, the Bru are different politically and historically from this other ethnic group. The Bru are also often associated with the Lung, Kravet and Kreung peoples because these four people groups speak similar languages and have similarly developed cultures.

The Bru speak Bru, a Mon–Khmer language, which has several dialects. Their total population is estimated at 129,559 by Ethnologue.

The Bru settled mostly along waterways. Traditionally they live in small houses that are built on stilts. The houses are arranged around a central meeting building around a circle.

In Thailand, most Bru live in Sakon Nakhon Province, and Mukdahan Province in the Isan region of Northeast Thailand.

In Laos, most Bru live in eastern Savannakhet Province, in the Sepone District,

In Vietnam, most Bru live in the Quảng Bình, Quảng Trị, Đắk Lắk, and Thừa Thiên–Huế provinces.

The early history of Bru remains somewhat obscure. Researchers believe that the ancestors of the Bru were members of the kingdom of the Khmers of Angkor which dominated large parts of Cambodia, Laos and Thailand, circa the 9th century and 13th century. This is also based upon the relationship between the Mon-Khmer languages and of the Bru of the Bolaven Plateau in Champasak Province in southeastern Laos, which was once the center of the Khmer civilization of Angkor.