The Khmu (; Khmu: ; Lao: ຂະມຸ ; Thai: ขมุ; Khơ Mú in Vietnam) are an ethnic group of Southeast Asia. The majority (88%) live in northern Laos where they constitute one of the largest minority ethnic groups, comprising eleven percent of the total population. Alternative historical English spellings include Khamu, Kemu and Khammu, among others. The Khmu can also be found in southwest China (in the Sipsong Panna in Yunnan province), and in recent centuries have migrated to areas of Burma, Thailand and Vietnam (where they are an officially recognized ethnic group). In the People’s Republic of China, however, they are not given official recognition as a separate ethnic group, and are instead placed under the broad category undistinguished ethnic groups. The endonym “Khmu” is suspected to stem from their word kymhmuʔ meaning “people”. Khmu also often refer to their ethnicity as pruʔ.
