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=== Ethnic groups === {{Further|Ethnic groups in Thailand}} [[File:Thailand (272021437).jpg|thumb|Hill tribes girls in the Northeast of Thailand]] As of 2010, Thai people make up the majority of Thailand's population (95.9%). The remaining 4.1% of the population are Burmese (2.0%), others (1.3%), and unspecified (0.9%).<ref name="CIA" /> According to genetic research, the present-day Thai people were divided into three groups: the northern group (Khon Mueang) are closely related to the [[Tai people|Tai]] ethnic groups in [[southern China]], the northeastern group ([[Isan people]]) are mixed Tai and several [[Austroasiatic]]-speaking ethnic groups, while the central and southern groups (formerly called Siamese) strongly share genetic profiles with the [[Mon people]].<ref name=genetic/><ref name=genetic2>{{cite journal|url=https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/063172v1.full|title=Complete mitochondrial genomes of Thai and Lao populations indicate an ancient origin of Austroasiatic groups and demic diffusion in the spread of Tai-Kadai languages|doi=10.1007/s00439-016-1742-y|journal=Human Genetics|author1=Wibhu Kutanan |author2=Jatupol Kampuansai |author3=Metawee Srikummool |author4=Daoroong Kangwanpong |author5=Silvia Ghirotto |author6=Andrea Brunelli |author7=Mark Stoneking|year=2016|volume=136 |issue=1 |pages=85–98 |pmid=27837350 |pmc=5214972 |archivedate=18 January 2024|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20240118183802/https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/063172v1.full|hdl=11858/00-001M-0000-002C-0639-D|hdl-access=free}}</ref><ref name=genetic3>{{cite journal|url=https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/162610v1.full|title=New insights from Thailand into the maternal genetic history of Mainland Southeast Asia|doi=10.1038/s41431-018-0113-7|year=2017|accessdate=19 January 2024|author1=Wibhu Kutanan |author2=Jatupol Kampuansai |author3=Andrea Brunelli |author4=Silvia Ghirotto |author5=Pittayawat Pittayaporn |author6=Sukhum Ruangchai |author7=Roland Schröder |author8=Enrico Macholdt |author9=Metawee Srikummool |author10=Daoroong Kangwanpong |author11=Alexander Hübner |author12=Leonardo Arias Alvis |author13=Mark Stoneking|journal=European Journal of Human Genetics|volume=26 |issue=6 |pages=898–911 |pmid=29483671 |pmc=5974021 |archivedate=18 January 2024|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20240118231746/https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/162610v1.full|hdl=21.11116/0000-0001-7EEF-6|hdl-access=free}}</ref> According to the Royal Thai Government's 2011 Country Report to the UN Committee responsible for the [[International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination|International Convention for the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination]], available from the Department of Rights and Liberties Promotion of the Thai Ministry of Justice,{{RP|3}} 62 ethnic communities are officially recognised in Thailand. Twenty million Central Thai (together with approximately 650,000 [[Khorat Thai]]) made up approximately 20,650,000 (34.1 per cent) of the state's population of 60,544,937<ref>{{Cite web |title=Population total – Thailand |url=http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.POP.TOTL?locations=TH |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161013071134/http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.POP.TOTL?locations=TH |archive-date=13 October 2016 |access-date=12 October 2016 |publisher=World Bank Group}}</ref> at the time of completion of the Mahidol University ''Ethnolinguistic Maps of Thailand'' data (1997).<ref name="Ethnolinguistic 2004">{{Cite book |url=http://www.newmandala.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Thailand-Ethnolinguistic-Maps.pdf |title=Ethnolinguistic Maps of Thailand |date=2004 |publisher=Office of the National Culture Commission |language=th |access-date=8 October 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161009124208/http://www.newmandala.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Thailand-Ethnolinguistic-Maps.pdf |archive-date=9 October 2016 |url-status=dead}}</ref> The 2011 Thailand Country Report provides population numbers for mountain peoples ('hill tribes') and ethnic communities in the Northeast and is explicit about its main reliance on the Mahidol University Ethnolinguistic Maps of Thailand data.<ref name="Ethnolinguistic 2004" /> Thus, though over 3.288 million people in the Northeast alone could not be categorised, the population and percentages of other ethnic communities {{circa|1997}} are known for all of Thailand and constitute minimum populations. In descending order, the largest (equal to or greater than 400,000) are a) 15,080,000 Lao (24.9 per cent) consisting of the Thai Lao (14 million) and other smaller Lao groups, namely the Thai Loei (400–500,000), Lao Lom (350,000), Lao Wiang/Klang (200,000), Lao Khrang (90,000), Lao Ngaew (30,000), and Lao Ti (10,000); b) six million Khon Muang (9.9 per cent, also called Northern Thais); c) 4.5 million Pak Tai (7.5 per cent, also called Southern Thais); d) 1.4 million Khmer Leu (2.3 per cent, also called Northern Khmer); e) 900,000 Malay (1.5%); f) 500,000 Nyaw (0.8 per cent); g) 470,000 Phu Thai (0.8 per cent); h) 400,000 Kuy/Kuay (also known as Suay) (0.7 per cent), and i) 350,000 Karen (0.6 per cent).{{RP|7–13}} [[Thai Chinese]], including those of significant Chinese origins, are 14% of the population, while Thais with partial Chinese ancestry comprise up to 40% of the population.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Luangthongkum |first=Theraphan |author-link=Theraphan Luangthongkum |year=2007 |title=The Position of Non-Thai Languages in Thailand |journal=Language, Nation and Development in Southeast Asia |page=191}}</ref> [[Thai Malays]] also represent 3% of the Thai population's heritage, with the remainder consisting of [[Mon people|Mons]], [[Khmers]], and various "[[Hill tribe (Thailand)|hill tribes]]".{{Citation needed|date=June 2024}} Increasing numbers of migrants from neighbouring Myanmar, Laos, and Cambodia, as well as from Nepal and India, have pushed the total number of non-national residents to around 3.5 million {{As of|2009|lc=y}}, up from an estimated 2 million in 2008.<ref>[http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=84844 Thailand: Burmese migrant children missing out on education]. IRIN Asia. 15 June 2009. {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120227185950/http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=84844 |date=27 February 2012 }}</ref> Some 41,000 [[British people|Britons]] and 20,000 [[Australians]] live in Thailand.<ref>{{Cite news |last=McGeown |first=Kate |date=14 December 2006 |title=Hard lessons in expat paradise |publisher=BBC News |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/6176647.stm |url-status=live |access-date=1 March 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090813164737/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/6176647.stm |archive-date=13 August 2009}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=3 July 2008 |title=Speech to the Australian-Thai Chamber of Commerce |url=http://foreignminister.gov.au/speeches/2008/080704_bangkok.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190612030327/https://foreignminister.gov.au/speeches/2008/080704_bangkok.html |archive-date=12 June 2019 |access-date=12 November 2019 |website=Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade}}</ref>
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