Mon people

The Mon are an ethnic group from Myanmar (Burma), living mostly in Mon State, Bago Division, the Irrawaddy Delta, and along the southern Thai-Myanmar border.

One of the earliest peoples to reside in Southeast Asia, the Mon were responsible for the spread of Theravada Buddhism in Myanmar and Thailand.

The Mon culture is credited as a major source of influence on the dominant Burmese culture.As the eastern Mon were absorbed into the Thai society long ago, the western Mon of Myanmar have largely assimilated into Burmese society.

In Myanmar, the Mon are fighting to preserve the Mon language and culture, and regain a greater degree of political autonomy.

The Mon of Myanmar are divided into three sub-groups based on their ancestral region in Lower Myanmar: the Man Nya from Pathein (the Irrawaddy delta) in the west, the Man Duin Bago in the central region, and the Man Da Mottama in the southeast.

The majority of Mon are monolingual in the Burmese language, and are counted as members of the majority Bamar (Burmans).

Recent studies have suggested evidence indicating that the Mon and Bamar share a common genetic ancestry.

A genetic study done on Mon and Bamar showed a high prevalence of a particular glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) mutation not found among Khmers, Laotians and Thais.

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