The Kho Mu (Khmu) people are one of the largest ethnic groups living in northern Southeast Asia. They reside in northern Laos, Myanmar, southwestern China (in the Xishuangbanna Autonomous Region of Yunnan Province), Thailand, and Vietnam. In Vietnam, the Kho Mu people are one of the 54 ethnic groups in Vietnam. In China, however, they are not officially recognized as a separate ethnic group but are placed in a broad category of unclassified ethnic groups. The Kho Mu people speak the Kho Mu language, a language in the Mon-Khmer language family of the Austroasiatic language family. The Kho Mu are the earliest ethnic groups living in Laos, along with the Mon in Thailand and the Muong in Vietnam to form the earliest indigenous communities in the region.