The 30 officially recognized ethno-linguistic groups of the Austroasiatic family can be divided into five subcategories, of which two—Palaungic and Khmuic—are located only in northern Laos, one (Vietic) is confined to a strip along the Lao-Viet- namese frontier, and the remaining two—Katuic and Bahnaric—are found only in the plateaus and mountains of southern Laos. Chazée (1999, p 51) reports having identified 59 distinct ethnic and “subethnic” minorities in this family. Many of the largest group are the Khamu, accounting for 11% of the Lao population. The two largest groups in the south are the Katang (2.1%) and the Makong (2%). No other group numbers more than 1%.