Khmers ( Khmer. ខ្មែរ , kʰmaːe , North Khmer dialect : kʰmɛr or Cambodians ) - nationality, the main population of Cambodia . The total number is about 16 million people, of which 14.2 million people live in Cambodia, 895 thousand - 1.3 million people in the south of Vietnam ( Khmer Krom ) and 1.4 million in Thailand .
| Khmer | |
|---|---|
| Abundance and area | |
| Total: about 16 million (2008) | |
 Belgium - 3 thousand | |
| Tongue | Khmer language |
| Religion | Theravada |
| Included in | mon Khmer peoples |
Content
Language
They speak the Khmer (Cambodian) language of the Mon Khmer branch of the Austro-Asian family . Use Khmer writing .
Religion
Khmers mainly profess Buddhism of the southern branch ( Theravada ). In the priestly families of Cambodia, the religious dignity could be passed from man to son of his sister on the maternal side, as Khmer priests observed celibacy [1] .
History
The Khmer people formed at the beginning of our era in the process of consolidation of numerous Khmer tribes, probably the original inhabitants of South Indochina , with neighboring Indonesian tribes, under the influence of a higher culture of neighboring countries, especially India . The civilizations of India and the Khmers were closely related, but their rapprochement was not always friendly, which accordingly greatly influenced the culture of both civilizations [2] . The Khmer mountain tribes living in hard-to-reach areas were not involved in this process. In anthropological terms, the Khmers belong to the southern Mongoloids , but possess some Veddo australoid features, which are especially pronounced in the Khmer mountain.
The Khmers gained independence in 1953 [3] .
Traditional Activities
The main occupation of the Khmers is agriculture ( rice , corn ); cattle breeding and fishing play an important role.
See also
- Khmer Rouge
- Khmer art
- Cambodians in France
Notes
- ↑ Ledgerwood J. Khmer Kinship: The Matriliny / Matriarchy Myth // Journal of Anthropological Research, Vol. 51, No. 3 (Autumn, 1995), p. 248
- ↑ Bosch R. Khmer Sculpture // The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, Vol. 18, No. 5 (May, 1923), p. 129
- ↑ Pouvatchy J. Cambodian-Vietnamese Relations // Asian Survey, Vol. 26, No. 4 (Apr., 1986), p. 440
Literature
- Great Soviet Encyclopedia .
- Dajan B. Khmer. M .: Veche, 2009.
- Bosch R. Khmer Sculpture // The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, Vol. 18, No. 5 (May, 1923), pp. 129-130.
- Pouvatchy J. Cambodian-Vietnamese Relations // Asian Survey, Vol. 26, No. 4 (Apr., 1986), pp. 440–451.
- Ledgerwood J. Khmer Kinship: The Matriliny / Matriarchy Myth // Journal of Anthropological Research, Vol. 51, No. 3 (Autumn, 1995), pp. 247—261