The Rawang people are an

ethnic group An ethnic group or an ethnicity is a grouping of people who identify with each other on the basis of shared attributes that distinguish them from other groups. Those attributes can include common sets of traditions, ancestry, language, history, ...

who inhabit far northern

Kachin State Kachin State ( my, ကချင်ပြည်နယ်; Kachin: ), also known by the endonym Kachinland, is the northernmost state of Myanmar. It is bordered by China to the north and east (Tibet and Yunnan, specifically and respectively); Sh ...

Burma Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...

(Myanmar). They speak the

Rawang language Rawang, also known as Krangku, ''Kiutze (Qiuze)'', and ''Ch’opa'', is a Sino-Tibetan language of India and Burma. Rawang has a high degree of internal diversity, and some varieties are not mutually intelligible. Most, however, understand Mutwa ...

. There are one D'rung family and several Anung families found among Lisu tribe people in

Arunachal Pradesh Arunachal Pradesh (, ) is a state in Northeastern India. It was formed from the erstwhile North-East Frontier Agency (NEFA) region, and became a state on 20 February 1987. It borders the states of Assam and Nagaland to the south. It shares int ...

in India. However, Nung rawang people and Anung (Lisu) people are two different groups. Anung people speak and write in their own language. The Anung population mixed with Lisu tribe people in China is estimated about 20000. According to cultural research and their own oral traditions, the Nung-Rawang are most likely Mongolian descendants who moved south from the Mongolian steppes to the 3 river region (Mekong, Yantzi, Salween)of China. During the second millennium, the Nung-Rawang migrated south west into the Himalayas at the top of Burma, seeking fertile farm lands. They settled in some of the most remote valleys and mountains in all of

. The Nung-Rawang are a proud, peaceful, industrious, agriculturally based

mountain people Hill people, also referred to as mountain people, is a general term for people who live in the hills and mountains. This includes all rugged land above and all land (including plateaus) above elevation. The climate is generally harsh, with s ...

known for their stability, hospitality, and colourful traditions. Living in the beautiful and isolated regions of northern Burma, they have also become prosperous through the plentiful supplies of jade and gold in their region. During the British colonial period, their very existence was thought to be a myth, as incoherent reports of "

pygmy In anthropology, pygmy peoples are ethnic groups whose average height is unusually short. The term pygmyism is used to describe the phenotype of endemic short stature (as opposed to disproportionate dwarfism occurring in isolated cases in a pop ...

tribes" in the mountains of north Burma surfaced from time to time. The Drung, a sub tribe of the Nung-Rawang are short in stature, and are known for their crossbow hunting skills, and an extensive anthropological study has been initiated on this remote ethnic group by Dr. P. Christiaan Klieger of the California Academy of Sciences, since 2001.

External links

Rawangs in China
Ethnic groups in Myanmar {{Asia-ethno-group-stub