• Kachin
• Kayah
• Kayin
• Chin
• Mon
• Bamar
• Rakhine
• Shan

1. Kachin
The kachin are another Myanmar ethnicity that was heavily missionised by christian groups during British colonial times in Myanmar. The Baptists seemed to have been the most successful, with the above the tropic of Cancer, the Myanmar kachin climate is more extreme stifling hot in the summer months and downright clod in the winter and kachin seems to have abandoned their traditional dress for western clothes that can be easily changed to suit the seasons in their region of Myanmar. The Kachin reside in the northernmost region of Myanmar bordering India and Tibet, an area containing some of the highest Myanmar mountains in South East Asia including Mt. Kakaborazi, Myanmar's tallest peak. The Kachin and all the sub-groups originally migrated from Yunnan province in south-west China and occupied the great tract of hill-country in northern Myanmar around the headwaters of the Chindwin and Myanmar Ayeyawaddy Rivers. It is believed the Kachins were among the last of the Tibeto-Burman peoples to migrate into Myanmar country. The Kachin people are renowned for their weaving skills. A woven shoulder bag and a silver sword in a sheath are essential components of a typical Kachin man's dress while women decorate themselves with silverware that covers half of their torsos.The Kachin have their own written language based on Roman alphabet. Most Kachin converted to Christianity during the last century, but spirit worship is still observed in some areas of Kachin Myanmar. The Kachin people celebrate a number of fetes and festivals but the Manao festival is the biggest and most important annual celebration in which all Kachin enthusiastically participate in Myanmar. About the only vestige of Kachin dress that foreign visitors are likely to note are men's longyis of indigo, green and deep purple plaid of their style.

2. Kayah
More than a dozen ethnic groups inhabit Myanmar Kayah State, a rugged mountain region in eastern Myanmar, also known as the Karenni or red karen but the Kayah people, numbering just over 150, 000, comprise the largest Myanmar ethnic group in the region of kayah state. As with many of Myanmar's ethnicities that traditionally practiced animism, the Kayah were targeted for conversion to Christianity by the Baptist and Catholic missionaries during the Myanmar colonial period. Their brightly-colored head-cloths or shawls gave the territory its former name of Kayinni, or "Red Kayin". The Kayah are the smallest Myanmar population group among the four Myanmar major linguistic branches of the Kayins, together with the Pwo, Sgaw and Pa-O. Although spirit worship is still practiced, most Kayahs converted to Christianity last century in Myanmar. But today the kayah make up a very small percentage of the overall population of Myanmar. A significant number of Kayah also live in Thailand's Mae Hong Son Province. The most important annual Kayah festival is the Kutobo or Flag Mast Festival, held sometime between March and May in Myanmar.

3. Kayin
Kayin legends refer to a "river of running sand" which ancestors reputedly crossed. Many Kayins think this refers to the Gobi Desert, although they have lived in Myanmar for centuries. Kayan people are a large and diverse group, divided into numerous subgroups in Myanmar. They were originally animists, but some Kayin villages were heavily targeted by Christian missionaries in the 19th and 20th centuries, while other Myanmar Kayin villages converted to Buddhism. The Kayin were most probably among the earliest inhabitants to descend from China down the Ayeyawaddy, Sittaung and Than Lwin Rivers into Myanmar, but over the centuries they retreated into the mountains of the south-east and the forests of the Ayeyawaddy Delta. The Kayins constitute the biggest Myanmar ethnic population in Myanmar after the Bamars and Shans. The term Kayin usually refers to the major sub-groups of the Pwo and Sgaw as well as the Bwe-speak ers around Taungoo. Myanmar is home to around 4 million Kayins, half of whom live in the Delta region and the rest in the Thai borderlands. Most are Buddhists, about 20 per cent are Christian and in the eastern mountains regions some are still animists in Myanmar. The typical dress of both the Kayin men and women is a longyi with horizontal stripes. The Kayin are thought to make up less than 10% of the total population in Myanmar.

4. Chin
The Chins or Zomi, are a Tibeto-Burman people inhabiting the great mountain chain running up western Myanmar into Mizoram in north-east India. In the past the difficult terrain meant there was little communication between Chin Myanmar villages. The Chins had to rely on their lowland neighbors for food and supplies in times of emergency, but modern development and the establishment of infrastructure has made their life easier in Myanmar. More than forty sub-groups, many distinguished by their unique facial tattoos and costumes, have been identified among the 1.5 million Chins in Myanmar.

5. Mon
The Mon, a distinctive branch of the Mon-Khmer peoples, were probably the earliest of modern day inhabitants to settle in the plains of Myanmar. They soon established themselves as the most cultured people in Southeast Asia, as their art and architecture clearly show. The Mon brought both Buddhism and writing to Myanmar and traded with India as early as the dawn of the Christian era The earliest Mon writings date from the 5 th century AD, and they are believed to have founded the world-famous Shwedagon Pagoda in Yangon, originally a Mon settlement in Myanmar. For a thousand years, until the fall of Bago in 1757, the Mon ruled much of Lower Myanmar from their great cities at Thaton, Mottama and Bago. The Mon were once the dominant group in the Myanmar region, but now most have adopted Burma Myanmar dress and customs, although their distinctive red longyis are still popular for both men and women. Traditional Mon language and culture now survives mostly in rural areas and the south-east borderlands. Mon State is home to the Kyaikhtiyo Pagoda, an extraordinary golden rock perched precariously on a mountain outcrop in Myanmar.

6. Bamar
The upper and central plains of Myanmar are the traditional home of the Burma (Myanmar). They are a Tibeto-Burman people who migrated from the north and China-India borderlands long before they established their greatest capital at Bagan on the banks of the Ayeyarwaddy River between 1044 and 1287 AD in Myanmar. Later Myanmar capitals were built at Inwa, Amarapura, Sagaing, Mandalay and Taungoo. Today Burma Myanmar form the largest ethnic group in the Myanmar country, with 30 million people about 60 per cent of the population speaking only their language, Burmese(Myanmar). The rich Myanmar culture of the Burma, who are staunch Buddhists, shows influences of Indian civilizations. These include Pali script (derived from Sanskrit), cosmology, philosophy and statecraft, art, medicine and architecture in Myanmar. Mon State is home to the Kyaikhtiyo Pagoda, an extraordinary golden rock perched precariously on a mountain outcrop.

7. Rakhine
The Rakhine, the majority ethnic group in Rakhine State, have long been influenced by their proximity to India and have formed strong trading links with the sub-continent. Rakhine claim a long history of independence and ruled Rakhine own kingdom at Mrauk-U until 1784 AD. The recorded names of kings and imprints of Buddhism date back to the early centuries AD, Buddhism was reputedly established during the reign of King Chandra Surya in 146 AD, and the most Rakhines are still devout Buddhists. The Rakhines speak a dialect of Burma Myanmar that many scholars believe is the earliest form of the language, and they are very similar to Burmese Myanmar in culture and dress. Other Myanmar minority groups include the Thet, Khami, Daignet and Maramagyi, who live in the Myanmar hills.

8. Shan
The Shan are the second largest ethnic group in Myanmar after the Burma (Myanmar). They live mainly in Shan State, which is the biggest state in Myanmar with a population of over 4 million, and is a melting pot of over 35 races and tribes. Most Shans are valley-dwellers. They were among the first migrants into the area and are thought to have come from Yunnan, south-west China, where related Thai peoples still live in Myanmar. One division of Shans migrated south to the Menam valley and became known as the Siamese or Thais, while others remained in Myanmar or moved into Laos.