Ethnicity in Myanmar

Myanmar (Burma) is an ethnically diverse nation with 135 distinct ethnic groups officially recognised by the Burmese government, which are grouped into eight "major national ethnic races" — the Bamar, Kayin, Arakanese, Shan, Mon, Chin, Kachin, and Karenni. The Bamar (Burman) comprise about 68% of the population, and the rest belonging to numerous major and minor ethnic and language groups.

The "major national ethnic races" are grouped primarily according to geographic region rather than ethnolinguistic affiliation. For example, the Shan national race includes 33 ethnic groups that live in Shan State and speak languages in at least four language families. Myanmar's contemporary politics around ethnicity surround treating ethnicity as a minoritising discourse, pitting a "pan-ethnic" national identity against minority groups. Often ethnicity identities in practice are flexible — sometimes as flexible as simply changing clothes — in part due to a lack of religious or ethnic stratification prior to British colonialism.

Ethnic identity in modern-day Myanmar has been significantly shaped by British colonial rule, Christian missionaries, and decolonisation in the post-independence era. To this day, the Burmese language does not have precise terminology that distinguishes the European concepts of race and ethnicity; the term lu-myo (လူမျိုး, lit. 'type of person') can reference race, ethnicity, and religion. For instance, many Bamar self-identify as members of the 'Buddhist lu-myo' or the 'Myanmar lu-myo,' which has posed a significant challenge for census-takers.

Many unrecognised ethnic groups exist in the country, the largest being the Burmese Chinese and Panthay (who together form 3% of the population), Burmese Indians (who form 2% of the population), Rohingya, Anglo-Burmese and Gurkha. There are no official statistics regarding the population of the latter two groups, although unofficial estimates place around 52,000 Anglo-Burmese in Burma with around 1.6 million outside the country.