Cham women performing a traditional dance in Nha Trang, Vietnam
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|
Total population | |
---|---|
400,000 | |
Regions with significant populations | |
Cambodia | 217,000 |
Vietnam | 162,000 |
Malaysia | 10,000 |
China | 5,000 |
Thailand | 4,000 |
United States | 3,000 |
France | 1,000 |
Laos | 800 |
Languages | |
Cham, Vietnamese, Khmer, Malay | |
Religion | |
Predominantly Sunni Islam (Cambodia, Malaysia), Hinduism (Vietnam), Buddhism (Thailand) and Shia Islam (China) | |
Related ethnic groups | |
Jarai, Rade, Acehnese, Utsul, Ethnic Malays and other Austronesian peoples of Southeast Asia. |
The Chams, or Cham people (Cham: Urang Campa,Vietnamese: người Chăm or người Chàm, Khmer: ជនជាតិចាម), are an ethnic group of Austronesian origin in Southeast Asia. Their contemporary population, a diaspora is concentrated between the Kampong Cham Province in Cambodia and Phan Rang–Tháp Chàm, Phan Thiết, Ho Chi Minh City and An Giang Province in Central Vietnam. An additional 4,000 Chams live in Bangkok, Thailand, who had migrated during Rama I's reign. Recent immigrants are mainly students and workers, who preferably seek work and education in the southern Islamic Pattani, Narathiwat, Yala, and Songkhla provinces. Cham people represent the core of the Muslim communities in both Cambodia and Vietnam.
From the 2nd to the mid-15th century the Chams populated Champa, a contiguous territory of independent principalities in central and southern Vietnam. They spoke the Cham language, a Malayo-Polynesian language of the Austronesian language family. Chams and Malays are the only sizable Austronesian peoples, that had settled in Iron Age Mainland Southeast Asia among the more ancient Austroasiatic inhabitants.