page_title: Shan people
section_title: Culture
hierarchical_section_title: Shan people / Culture
caption_attribution_description: Shan peacock (kinnari and kinnara) dance
context_page_description: The Shan people, also known as the Dai or Tai Yai, are a Tai ethnic group of Southeast Asia. The Shan are the biggest minority of Burma and primarily live in the Shan State of this country, but also inhabit parts of Mandalay Region, Kachin State, and Kayin State, and in adjacent regions of China, Laos, Assam and Thailand. Though no reliable census has been taken in Burma since 1935, the Shan are estimated to number 4–6 million, with CIA Factbook giving an estimate of five million spread throughout Myanmar which is about 10% of the overall Burmese population.
  'Shan' is a generic term for all Tai-speaking peoples within Myanmar. The capital of Shan State is Taunggyi, the fifth-largest city in Myanmar with about 390,000 people. Other major cities include Thibaw, Lashio, Kengtung and Tachileik.
context_section_description: The majority of Shan are Theravada Buddhists, and Tai folk religion. the Shan constitute one of the four main Buddhist ethnic groups in Burma; the others are the Bamar, the Mon and the Rakhine. The Mon were the main source of early Shan Buddhism and Shan alphabets.
  Most Shan speak the Shan language and are bilingual in Burmese. The Shan language, spoken by about 5 or 6 million, is closely related to Thai and Lao, and is part of the family of Tai languages. It is spoken in Shan State, some parts of Kachin State, some parts of Sagaing Division in Burma, parts of Yunnan, and in parts of northwestern Thailand, including Mae Hong Son Province and Chiang Mai Province. The two major dialects differ in number of tones: Hsenwi Shan has six tones, while Mongnai Shan has five. The Shan script is an adaptation of the Mon script via the Burmese script. However, few Shan are literate in their own language.
  The Shan are traditionally wet-rice cultivators, shopkeepers, and artisans.
caption: The Shan kinnara and kinnari dance.[16]
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