Bai

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For other uses, see BAI.

Bai
Alternative names: Minjia
Total population	1,858,063
Regions with significant populations	China, mostly in the Yunnan province (Dali area), Guizhou province (Bijie area) and Hunan province (Sangzhi area)
Language	Bai, Chinese
Religion	Buddhists, with a strong belief in local deities; In Dali itself there is a strong protestant and catholic community, too.

The Bai (Chinese: 白族; pinyin: bái zú) (their own name: Pɛ²¹tsi³³) are one of the 56 ethnic groups officially recognized by the People's Republic of China. They numbered 1,858,063 as of 2000.

Bai people live mostly in the provinces of Yunnan (Dali area), and in neighboring Guizhou (Bijie area) and Hunan (Sangzhi area) provinces.

An estimated 1,240,000 (as of 2003) of the Bai speak the Bai language in all its varieties. The tongue is either a member of the Tibeto-Burman language family or possibly part of an independent branch of the Sino-Tibetan language family. The SIL codes for Bai are BCA, BFC and BFS.

[edit] See also

• Nanzhao
• Kingdom of Dali

[edit] External links

• The bai ethnic minority
• Bai culture
• Ethnologue

Chinese ethnic groups (as classified by the government of the PRC)

Achang • Bai • Blang • Bonan • Buyei • Dai • Daur • De'ang • Derung • Dong • Dongxiang • Evenk • Gaoshan • Gelao • Han • Hani • Hezhen • Hui • Jing • Jingpo • Jino • Kazakh • Kirgiz • Korean • Lahu • Lhoba • Li • Lisu • Manchu • Maonan • Miao • Monba • Mongol • Mulao • Nakhi • Nu • Oroqen • Pumi • Qiang • Russian • Salar • She • Shui • Tajik • Tatar • Tibetan • Tu • Tujia • Uyghur • Uzbek • Va • Xibe • Yao • Yi • Yugur • Zhuang • Undistinguished ethnic groups