Chams

Cham

ꨂꨣꩃ ꨌꩌꨛꨩ اوراڠ چامفا‎ Urang Campa
Cham women performing a traditional dance in Nha Trang, Vietnam
Total population
c. 822,648
Regions with significant populations
Cambodia	600,000[1]
Vietnam	178,948[2]
Malaysia	25,000[3]
China	10,000[4]
Thailand	4,000
United States	3,000
France	1,000
Laos	700[5]
Languages
Cham, Tsat, Haroi, Vietnamese, Khmer
Religion
Predominantly Sunni Islam (Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand, southern Vietnam, and Hainan, China) Minorities of Kan Imam San, Bani Islam, Hinduism and Theravada Buddhism (central Vietnam)[6]
Related ethnic groups
Utsuls, and other Austronesian peoples (especially Jarai, Rade, Acehnese)

The Chams (Cham: ꨌꩌ, چام, cam), or Champa people (Cham: ꨂꨣꩃ ꨌꩌꨛꨩ, اوراڠ چامفا, Urang Campa;^[7] Vietnamese: Người Chăm or Người Chàm; Khmer: ជនជាតិចាម, Chônchéatĕ Cham), are an Austronesian ethnic group in Southeast Asia and are the original inhabitants of central Vietnam and coastal Cambodia before the arrival of the Cambodians and Vietnamese, during the expansion of the Khmer Empire (802–1431 CE) and the Vietnamese conquest of Champa (11th–19th century CE).^[8][9]

From the 2nd century CE, the Chams founded Champa, a collection of independent Hindu-Buddhist principalities in what is now central and southern Vietnam. By the 17th century CE, Champa became an Islamic sultanate.^[10] Today, the Cham people are largely Muslim, with a minority following Hinduism, both formed the indigenous Muslim and Hindu population in both Cambodia and Vietnam.^[11] Despite their adherence to Islam, the Cham people still retain their ancestral practice of matriarchy in family and inheritance.^[12]

The Cham people speak Cham and Tsat (the latter is spoken by the Utsul, a Cham subgroup on China's Hainan Island), the two Chamic languages from the Malayo-Polynesian branch of the Austronesian family.^[13] The Cham people were one among several ethnic groups that were primarily targeted by the Khmer Rouge's ethnic cleansing campaign during the Cambodian Genocide (1975–1979).^[14]