Demographic features of the population of Cambodia include population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population.
Evidence of modern human presence in the northern and central highlands of Indochina, which constitute the territories of the modern Laotian nation-state, dates back to the Lower Paleolithic. These earliest human migrants are Australo-Melanesians—associated with the Hoabinhian culture—and have populated the highlands and the interior, less accessible regions of Laos and all of Southeast Asia to this day. The subsequent Austroasiatic and Austronesian marine migration waves affected landlocked Laos only marginally, and direct Chinese and Indian cultural contact had a greater impact on the country.
Laos is a country in and the only landlocked nation in mainland Southeast Asia, northeast of Thailand and west of Vietnam. It covers approximately 236,800 square kilometers in the center of the Southeast Asian peninsula and it is surrounded by Myanmar (Burma), Cambodia, the People's Republic of China, Thailand, and Vietnam.
Lao, sometimes referred to as Laotian, is the official language of Laos and a significant language in the Isan region of northeastern Thailand, where it is usually referred to as the Isan language. Spoken by over 3 million people in Laos and 3.7 million in all countries, it serves as a vital link in the cultural and social fabric of these areas. It is written in the Lao script, an abugida that evolved from ancient Tai scripts.
The Chams, or Champa people, are an Austronesian ethnic group in Southeast Asia and are the original inhabitants of central Vietnam and coastal Cambodia before the arrival of the Cambodians and Vietnamese, during the expansion of the Khmer Empire (802–1431) and the Vietnamese conquest of Champa.
Pakse is the capital and most populous city of the southern Laotian province of Champasak. Located at the confluence of the Xe Don and Mekong Rivers, the district had a population of approximately 77,900 at the 2015 Laotian census. Pakse was the capital of the Kingdom of Champasak until it was unified with the rest of Laos in 1946.
Laos developed its culture and customs as the inland crossroads of trade and migration in Southeast Asia over millennia. As of 2012 Laos has a population of roughly 6.4 million spread over 236,800 km2, yielding one of the lowest population densities in Asia. Yet the country of Laos has an official count of over forty-seven ethnicities divided into 149 sub-groups and 80 different languages. The Lao Loum have throughout the country's history comprised the ethnic and linguistic majority. In Southeast Asia, traditional Lao culture is considered one of the Indic cultures.
Cham is a Malayo-Polynesian language of the Austronesian family, spoken by the Chams of Southeast Asia. It is spoken primarily in the territory of the former Kingdom of Champa, which spanned modern Southern Vietnam, as well as in Cambodia by a significant population which descends from refugees that fled during the decline and fall of Champa. The Western variety is spoken by 220,000 people in Cambodia and 25,000 people in Vietnam. As for the Eastern variety, there are about 73,000 speakers in Vietnam, for a total of approximately 490,000 speakers.
While the practice of Islam in Vietnam is primarily associated with the Cham people, an Austronesian minority ethnic group, roughly one-third of Muslims in Vietnam are of other ethnic groups. There is also a community which describes itself as of mixed ethnic origins, that practices Islam and also describes themselves as the Cham, or Cham Muslims, in southern Vietnam, mostly around the region of Châu Đốc or Ho Chi Minh City.
The largest of the ethnic groups in Cambodia are the Khmer, who comprise 95.8% of the total population and primarily inhabit the lowland Mekong subregion and the central plains. The Khmer historically have lived near the lower Mekong River in a contiguous arc that runs from the southern Khorat Plateau where modern-day Thailand, Laos and Cambodia meet in the northeast, stretching southwest through the lands surrounding Tonle Sap lake to the Cardamom Mountains, then continues back southeast to the mouth of the Mekong River in southeastern Vietnam.
The Kingdom of Champasak or Bassac, (1713–1904) was a Lao kingdom under Nokasad, a grandson of King Sourigna Vongsa, the last king of Lan Xang and son-in-law of the Cambodian King Chey Chettha IV. Bassac and the neighboring principalities of Attapeu and Stung Treng emerged as power centers under what was later to be described as the Mandala Southeast Asian political model.
Laos is a Buddhist-majority nation with the officially recognised Muslim population approximately constituting 0.01% of the total population as of 2008 census. The majority of Laotian Muslims are Sunni. Laotian Muslims can be found in the capital, Vientiane, which has two mosques, as well as other urban areas such as Savannakhet and Oudomxay; the latter of which had a mosque constructed there in June 2016. Laotian Muslims are an ethnically diverse group, mainly consisting of ethnic Lao, Chin Haw, Chams, Tamils, and Pashtuns, with interracial marriages being increasingly popular. They are generally engaged in trade, agriculture, cosmetics, clothing and business though some have attained official roles with the government.
Salavan is a province of Laos, located in the south of the country. Its earlier name was Saravan which was changed by the Thais to Salavan in 1828. It was part of the Champasak Kingdom in an area known as Muang Mang inhabited by minorities of Mon-Khmer groups.
Champasak is a province in southwestern Laos, near the borders with Thailand and Cambodia. It is one of the three principalities that succeeded the Lao kingdom of Lan Xang. As of the 2015 census, it had a population of 694,023. The capital is Pakse, but the province takes its name from Champasak, the former capital of the Kingdom of Champasak.
Vietnamese irredentism, also known as Ideology of Greater Vietnam, sometimes may be referred to as Baiyue Nationalism is an irredentist and nationalist claim concerning redemption of former territories of Vietnam and territories outside Vietnam that the Vietnamese have inhabited for centuries. Notable claims are usually made concerning territories of Laos, Cambodia, and Liangguang of China.
The Azahar Mosque, also called the Cambodia Mosque, Masjid Cambodia, or the Cham Mosque, is a Sunni Islamic mosque that worships in the Shafi'i school tradition, located in an obscure part of the Chanthabuly district of Vientiane, Laos.
Lao–Siamese War or the Siamese Invasion of Laos (1778–1779) is the military conflict between Thonburi Kingdom of Siam and the Lao kingdoms of Vientiane and Champasak. The war resulted in all three Lao kingdoms of Luang Phrabang, Vientiane and Champasak becoming Siamese tributary vassal kingdoms under Siamese suzerainty and domination in Thonburi and the subsequent Rattanakosin Period.
Khmer Lao people or Lao Daeum are ethnic Lao living in northeastern Cambodia and western Cambodia. They are estimated to be 23,400 Khmer Lao native to the northeastern provinces of Cambodia.
Mekong Delta Malay is a variation of the Malay language that developed in modern Cambodia and Southern Vietnam, especially along in Mekong River. Used as a lingua franca for the local Muslim community there. Brought by Malay traders during the reign of the Khmer Empire even since the 14th century, these Malays eventually developed independently and assimilated with the local Cham and Khmer to become the Chvea Muslims community.
Tboung Khmum Kingdom was a former political entity of the Kuy people that existed around the 14th to 16th centuries in the central Mekong Valley, covering some parts of present-day northeast Cambodia, southern Laos, and northeastern Thailand. Its capital was annexed by Cambodia in the 16th century, while the remaining communities in the north evolved into the multi-ethnolinguistic polities that later became part of Laos and Thailand.
