Burmans
.jpg) |
|
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| c. 30,000,000 | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Myanmar, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, United States, United Kingdom, Australia | |
 Myanmar
|
28,950,000 |
 Thailand
|
1,000,000 |
 Singapore
|
50,000 |
| Languages | |
| Burmese | |
| Religion | |
| Theravada Buddhism | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Rakhine, Marma, Chakma, Yi, Nakhi, Tibetans, Meitei and other Sino-Tibetan peoples | |
The Bamar (Burmese: ဗမာလူမျိုး; MLCTS: ba. ma lu myui:; IPA: [bəmà lùmjó]) are the dominant ethnic group in Myanmar. Bamar people live primarily in the Irrawaddy River basin and speak the Burmese language, which is the official language of Myanmar. Bamar customs and identity are closely intertwined with the broader Burmese culture. The Bamar people are often imprecisely called "Burmese", though this term in contemporary usage can refer to any citizen of Myanmar, regardless of ethnicity.
Genetic studies show that the Bamar are predominately Southeast Asian genetically with significant East Asian and Indian genetic influences. The Bamar speak a Sino-Tibetan language and over the last millennium, the Bamar culture have largely replaced/absorbed the Austroasiatic-speaking Mon and the other Sino-Tibetan-speaking cultures of the Pyu city-states, cultures that formerly dominated the region.
Burmese, the official language of Myanmar, is spoken by the majority Bamar but is also widely spoken by many of the ethnic minorities. Its core vocabulary consists of Sino-Tibetan words, but many terms associated with Buddhism, arts, sciences, and government have derived from the Indo-European languages of Pali and English. The Rakhine, although culturally distinct from the Bamar, are ethnically related to them and speak a dialect of Burmese that includes retention of the /r/ sound, which has coalesced into the /j/ sound in standard Burmese (although it is still present in orthography). Additional dialects come from coastal areas of Tanintharyi Region (including Myeik (Beik) and Dawei (Tavoyan)) as well as inland and isolated areas, like Yaw. Other dialects are Taungyoe, Danu, and Intha in Shan State. English was introduced in the 1800s when the Bamar first came into contact with the British as a trading nation and continued to flourish under subsequent colonial rule.
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