Jarai People

Jarai People

The Jarai (also Người Gia Rai, Gia Rai, or Gia-rai) is an ethnic group based primarily in Vietnam's Central Highlands. The Jarai language is a member of the Malayo-Polynesian branch of the Austronesian language family. The Jarai language is related to the Cham language of central Vietnam and the Malayo-Polynesian languages of Indonesia, Malaysia, Madagascar, Philippines and other Pacific Islands (Hawaii, New Zealand, Rapa Nui, Samoa, Guam, Fiji, etc.). The speakers of Jarai number approximately 332,557. They are the largest of the upland ethnic groups of the Central Highlands known as Degar or Montagnards.

The Jarai live primarily in the Gia Lai and Kon Tum Provinces, with some others in the Dak Lak Province and a few thousand in Ratanakiri, Cambodia. Following the Vietnam War, many Jarai (as well as members of other Montagnard groups) who had been allied with the United States were resettled with their families in the United States, particularly in the state of North Carolina.