Mon People

Mon မည္ มอญ
Burma : 8 million
Thailand : 114,500
Languages: Mon
Religion :Theravada Buddhism
Related ethnic groups: Khmer and other Mon-Khmer groups

The Mon (Mon language: မန္ or မည; Burmese: ‌မြန္လူမ်ဳိး; IPA: [mùn lùmjóʊ]; Thai: มอญ) are an ethnic group from Myanmar, living mostly in Mon State, Bago Division, Irrawaddy Delta of present Burma, 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 the present day Burma and Thailand. In Myanmar, 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/Siamese society long ago, the western Mon of Myanmar face the same pressure to assimilate. In Myanmar, the Mon are fighting for the retention of the Mon language and culture, and political autonomy. Once the predominant ethno-linguistic group in Lower Burma, the Mon language speakers number less than a million today, and those of Mon descent number anywhere between two million and eight million. The majority of Mon speak and are literate only in the Burmese language, and are often counted as the majority Bamar.

After Buremese independence,
The Mon soon became anti-colonialists and following the grant of independence to Burma in 1948 they sought self-determination, U Nu refused them this and they rose in revolt to be crushed again.

They have remained a repressed and defiant group in the country since then. They have risen in revolt against the central Burmese government on a number of occasions, initially under the Mon People's Front and from 1962 through the New Mon State Party. A partially autonomous Mon state, Monland, was created in 1974 covering Tenasserim, Pegu and Ayeyarwady River. Resistance continued until 1995 when NMSP and SLORC agreed a cease-fire and, in 1996, the Mon Unity League was founded.

In 1947, Mon National Day was created to celebrate the ancient founding of Hanthawady, the last Mon Kingdom, which had its seat in Pegu. (It follows the full moon on the 11th month of the Mon lunar calendar, except in Phrapadaeng, Thailand, where it is celebrated at Songkran.)

The largest Mon refugee communities are currently in Thailand, with smaller communities in the United States, Australia, Canada, Norway, Denmark, Finland, Sweden, and the Netherlands.