This article's tone or style may not reflect the encyclopedic tone used on Wikipedia. (April 2017) |
A∙chik | |
---|---|
Total population | |
1.1 million (c. 2011) | |
Regions with significant populations | |
India • Bangladesh | |
India, Mainly Northeast Regions | 997,716[1] |
• Meghalaya | 821,026 |
• Assam | 136,077 |
• Tripura | 12,952 |
Bangladesh | 120,000[2] |
Languages | |
Garo (A∙chikku) | |
Religion | |
Majority ~ Christianity (90%)[3] Minority ~ Songsarek, Hinduism, Buddhism, Animism (40% in Bangladesh)[4] | |
Related ethnic groups | |
Bodo-Kachari groups; Boro, Hajong, Rabha, Koch, Dimasa, Tripuri, Konyak people, other Tibeto Burman peoples |
The Garo people are a Tibeto-Burman ethnic group who live mostly in the Northeast Indian state of Meghalaya with a smaller number in neighbouring Bangladesh.[5][6] Historically, the name Garo was used for a large number of different peoples living on the southern bank of Brahmaputra River, but now refers primarily to those who call themselves A∙chik Mande (literally "hill people," from A∙chik "bite soil" + mande "people") or simply A∙chik or Mande and the name "Garo" is now being used by outsiders as an exonym.[7] They are the second-largest tribe in Meghalaya after the Khasi and comprise about a third of the local population.