page_title: Chin people
section_title: Present-day ethnic groups
hierarchical_section_title: Chin people / Divisions / Present-day ethnic groups
caption_attribution_description: Elderly Chin woman in the Lemro river area
context_page_description: The Chin people are Sino-Tibetan people native to Chin State of Myanmar. The Chin are one of the founding groups of the Union of Burma. The Chin speak a variety of related languages, share elements of cultures and traditions. According to BBC News, "The Chin people... are one of the most persecuted minority groups in Burma." These people predominantly live in the Chin State, Bago Division, Ayeyarwady Division, Magwe Division, Rakhine State and Sagaing Region of Myanmar, but are also spread throughout Burma, Bangladesh and India. In the 2014 Burmese ethnic census, the Chin ethnicity was again dismissed by the people of the Chin State.
  The name "Chin" is disputed. During the British era, the British used the compound term 'Chin-Kuki-Mizo' to group the Kukish language speaking people, and the Government of India inherited this. Chin nationalist leaders in Burma's Chin State popularized the term "Chin" following Burma's independence from Britain. More recently the word Chin has been rejected by some in favor of Zomi.
context_section_description: There are 12 groups and several tribes, clans and names associated with the Chin people such as: Cumtu, Zomi, Matu,Lautu(Lutuv), Mara, Yaw, Asho, Cho, Kuki, Laimi, Mizo, and Khumi. Each group has hundreds of clans and family names. Although the word "Chin" is absent among the Chin language, it is found to be used by these people since the 8th century. Therefore, the majority of people living in Chin State accepted the name "Hill people" or "Chin".
caption: Elderly Zo woman with facial tattoos in the Lemro River valley.
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