Okinawan people
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| 1.9 million+ | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
 Okinawa Prefecture - 1.3 million Kagoshima Prefecture (Amami) |
|
| Significant Ryukyuan diaspora in: | |
 Japan
|
300,000 |
 United States
|
- |
 Brazil
|
- |
 Peru
|
- |
 Bolivia
|
- |
 Taiwan
|
- |
 China
|
- |
 Philippines
|
- |
 Canada
|
- |
 Mexico
|
- |
 Argentina
|
- |
 Ecuador
|
- |
 Paraguay
|
- |
 Cuba
|
- |
 Micronesia
|
- |
 New Caledonia
|
- |
 Palau
|
- |
| Languages | |
| Ryukyuan languages, Japanese, English, Spanish, Chinese, and others | |
| Religion | |
| Ryukyuan religion, Buddhism, Shinto, Christianity | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Yamato, Ainu, Jōmon | |
|
^ 1. Ryukyuans living in Japan outside of the Ryukyu Islands are considered part of an internal diaspora. ^ 2. The exact number of Ryukyuans living in other countries is unknown. They are usually counted as Japanese or Asian in censuses. |
|
The Ryukyuan or Lewchewanpeople (琉球民族? Ryūkyū minzoku, Okinawan: Ruuchuu minzuku), or Uchinaanchu (Okinawan: ウチナーンチュ) are the indigenous peoples of the Ryukyu Islands between the islands of Kyushu and Taiwan. Politically, they live in either Okinawa Prefecture or Kagoshima Prefecture. Their languages make up the Ryukyuan language family, considered to be one of the two branches of the Japonic language family, the other one being Japanese and its dialects.
Ryukyuans are not a recognized minority group in Japan, as Japanese authorities consider them just a subgroup of the Japanese people, akin to the Yamato people and Ainu. Although unrecognized, Ryukyuans constitute the largest ethnolinguistic minority group in Japan, with 1.3 million living in Okinawa Prefecture alone. There is also a considerable Ryukyuan diaspora. As many as 600,000 more ethnic Ryukyuans and their descendants are dispersed elsewhere in Japan and worldwide; mostly in Hawaii and, to a lesser extent, in other territories where there is also a sizable Japanese diaspora. In some countries, the Ryukyuan and Japanese diaspora are not differentiated so there are no reliable statistics for the former.
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Wikipedia