Undistinguished ethnic groups in China

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Undistinguished ethnic groups in China (未识别民族: Wèi Shíbié Mínzú; sometimes translated as Undistinguished nationalities) are ethnic groups in the People's Republic of China that have not been officially recognised as individual ethnic groups. These groups number more than 730,000 people, and if counted together as a single group, would constitute the 20th most populous ethnic group of China. In addition, there are ethnic groups with relatively small populations that may be thought to be unique, but were classified as parts of larger ethnic groups that are officially recognised. It should be noted that the term wèi shíbié carries the meaning "unclassified" in this context.

Examples of undistinguished ethnic groups include:

• Bajia (八甲人)
• Deng (僜人)
• Gejia (革家人)
• Khmu^[1] (克木人)
• Kucong (苦聪人)
• Macanese^[2] (土生葡人, people of mixed Chinese-Portuguese ancestry in Macau)
• Mang^[3] (芒人)
• Shan (掸族)
• Sherpa^[4] (夏尔巴人)
• Yi (羿人)
• Youtai^[5] (犹太, Jews)

Ethnic groups that have been classified as part of the official list of 56 recognized ethic groups:

• Ainu/Ani of China - officially classified as Uyghurs
• Chuanqing - officially classified as Han Chinese
• Mosuo (摩梭人)^[6] - officially classified as Naxi
• Tuvans - officially classified as Mongolian
• Utsul - officially classified as Hui

[edit] References

1. ^ Profile of the Khmu people in China, as cited by Native Planet
2. ^ Article "A Proud People", from Asiaweek
3. ^ Article about the Mang people, from Yunnan Travel Online (Article written in Simplified Chinese)
4. ^ Article on the Sherpa people, on ChinaCulture.org
5. ^ Article "Are There Really Jews in China?: An Update", from The Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs
6. ^ Article about the Mosuo people, from Yunnan Travel Online

[edit] External links

• List of the 56 officially recognised ethnic groups, and their population sizes