Jarai

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Scope note
The Jarai (or Dega) are an Austronesian indigenous people inhabiting Vietnam's Central Highlands and Cambodia's Ratanakiri Province, with diaspora communities in the United States following their collaboration with US forces during the Vietnam War. Speaking a Malayo-Polynesian language related to Cham and other Pacific Island languages, the approximately 332,558 Jarai constitute the largest Montagnard ethnic group and comprise 23% of Ratanakiri's population. While Cambodian and Vietnamese Jarai communities maintain shared cultural traditions and close interchange, their languages have diverged due to respective Khmer and Vietnamese linguistic influences, with only the Vietnamese Jarai possessing a standardized Latin script writing system.
Jarai
Accepted term: 09-Mar-2026