The Va people (Va: Vāx, Burmese: ဝလူမျိုး ; Chinese: 佤族; pinyin: Wǎzú) live mainly in northern Burma, in the northern part of Shan State and the eastern part of Kachin State, near and along Burma's border with China. Their de facto capital is Pangkham in the unofficial Wa State in northeastern Shan State. The majority of the Va live in Burma. They were known as the "Wild Wa" by British administrators during Britain's colonial control of Burma.
The Va language belongs to the Palaungic branch of the Austroasiatic language family. In China, a written language was created for the Va people in 1956.
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