Jarai people
| Regions with significant populations | |
|---|---|
 Vietnam 411,275 (2009) Cambodia United States
|
|
| Languages | |
| Jarai;Vietnamese as a second language | |
| Religion | |
| Traditional religion, Christianity, Buddhism,Islam | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Cham, E De, Malay, Filipino |
The Jarai (also Người Gia Rai, Gia Rai, or Gia-rai) is an ethnic group based primarily in Vietnam's Central Highlands. The Jarai language is a member of the Malayo-Polynesian branch of the Austronesian language family. The Jarai language is related to the Cham language of central Vietnam and the Malayo-Polynesian languages of Indonesia, Malaysia, Madagascar, Philippines and other Pacific Islands (Hawaii, New Zealand, Easter Island, Samoa, Guam, Fiji, etc.). The speakers of Jarai number approximately 332,557. They are the largest of the upland ethnic groups of the Central Highlands known as Degar or Montagnards.
The Jarai live primarily in the Gia Lai and Kon Tum Provinces, with some others in Đắk Lắk Province and a few thousand in Ratanakiri Province, Cambodia. Following the Vietnam War, many Jarai (as well as members of other Montagnard groups) who had been allied with the United States were resettled with their families in the United States, particularly in the state of North Carolina.
Traditionally, the Jarai live in small villages numbering 50-500 in population. The villages are laid out in a square, with single occupancy dwellings or communal longhouses arranged around a village center. Often the village center boasts a communal house, well, volleyball net or rice mill. Houses have traditionally been constructed entirely from bamboo, though in more recent times wooden houses with steel roofs have gained popularity, due to their durability. The Jarai have a matrilineal culture; that is, the lineage is traced through the mother rather than the father.
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