Editing Isan language (section)

==Geographical distribution==
[[File:Thailand Isan.png|thumb|150 px|right|A map showing the provinces of Northeastern Thailand or Isan. The region is a stronghold of the language.]]

The homeland of the Isan language is mainly the twenty provinces of [[Northeastern Thailand]], also known as ''Phak Isan'' ({{lang|tts|ภาคอีสาน}}), 'Isan region' or just ''Isan''. The region is covered by the flat topography of the [[Khorat Plateau]]. The Lao language was able to thrive in the region due to its historical settlement pattern, which included the vast depopulation of the left bank of the Mekong to the right bank and its geographical isolation from the rest of what is now Thailand. The peaks of the [[Phetchabun Mountains|Phetsabun]] and [[Dong Phaya Yen|Dong Phanya Nyen]] mountains to the west and the [[Sankamphaeng Range|Sankamphaeng]] to the southwest separate the region from the rest of Thailand and the [[Dangrek Mountains|Damlek]] ridges forming the border with [[Cambodia]]. The [[Phu Phan Mountains]] divide the plateau into a northern third drained by the [[Loei River|Loei]] and [[Songkhram River|Songkhram]] rivers and a southern third drained by the [[Mun River]] and its predominate tributary, the [[Chi River|Si]]. The [[Mekong River]] 'separates' Isan speakers from Lao speakers in Laos as it is the geopolitical boundary between Thailand and Laos, with a few exceptions.

Isan speakers spill over into some portions of [[Uttaradit Province|Uttaradit]] and [[Phitsanulok Province|Phitsanulok]] provinces as well as the northernmost fringes of [[Phetchabun Province|Phetsabun]] to the northwest of the Isan region, with speakers in these areas generally speaking dialects akin to Luang Phrabang. In the southwest, Isan speakers are also found in portions of [[Sa Kaeo Province|Sa Kaeo]] and [[Prachinburi Province|Phrasinburi]] provinces. In addition, large numbers of Isan people have left the region for other major cities of Thailand for employment, with large pockets of speakers found in [[Bangkok]] and its surrounding areas as well as major cities across the region. Outside of Thailand, it is likely that Isan speakers can also be found in the [[United States]], [[South Korea]], [[Australia]], [[Taiwan]] and [[Germany]] which house the largest populations of [[Overseas Thai]].