Kampuchea Krom
 |
|
| Total population | |
|---|---|
( Vietnam 1,260,640 (2009) Cambodia) |
|
| Regions with significant populations | |
| (Mekong River Delta) | |
| Languages | |
| Khmer, Vietnamese | |
| Religion | |
| Theravada Buddhism, Roman Catholic |
The Khmer Krom (Khmer: ខ្មែរក្រោម, Vietnamese: Khơ Me Crộm) are ethnically Khmer people living in the South-western part of Vietnam, where they are recognized as one of Vietnam's fifty-three ethnic minorities.
In the Khmer language, Krom means "lower" or "below", as it refers to an area of 89,000 km2 (34,363 sq mi) around modern day Saigon and the Mekong Delta, which used to be the south-easternmost territory of the Khmer Empire until its incorporation into Vietnam under the Nguyễn lords in the early 18th century. This marks the final stage of the Vietnamese "March to the South" (nam tiến).
The Vietnamese term is Khơ-me Crộm or Khơ-me dưới, which literally means "Khmers from below".
According to Vietnamese government figures (2009 census), there are 1,260,640 Khmer Krom in Vietnam. Other estimates vary considerably, with up to 7 million reported to Taylor (2014) in his The Khmer lands of Vietnam.
According to the US-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) "the Khmer Krom face serious restrictions of freedom of expression, assembly, association, information, and movement".
The Khmer Krom identify ethnically with the Khmer people who constitute a distinct people at least since the late eighth century and the foundation of the Khmer Empire by Jayavarman II in 802 C.E. They retain deep linguistic, religious, customary and cultural links to Cambodia proper. The Mekong Delta region constituted for more than 800 years an integral part of the empire and the subsequent kingdom. The region's economic center was the city Prey Nokor, now Ho Chi Minh City.
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