ShanThe Shan are an ethnic group of Southeast Asia. The Shan live primarily in the Shan State of Myanmar, and in adjacent parts of China, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. The Shan number approximately 6 million, but a population census has not been taken. The Shan language is part of the Tai languages group of the Tai-Kadai language family, and is related to Thai and Lao. The southern Shan use an alphabet based on the Burmese alphabet. The Shan dwell mostly on the plains of the Shan Plateau, which is drained by the Salween River. The capital of Shan state is Taunggyi, which is a small city of perhaps 150,000 people. The Shan are traditionally wet-rice cultivators, shopkeepers, and artisans. Most Shan are Theravada Buddhists and/or observe their traditional religion. The Shan have been engaged in an intermittant civil war within Myanmar for decades, however there is currently a peace agreement with the main Shan faction. During conflicts, the Shan are often burned out of their villages and forced to flee into Thailand. There, they are not given refugee status, and often work as undocumented laborers. Their legal status in Thailand often leads to non-sustainable wages and unsafe work conditions. His Royal Highness Prince Hso Khan Pha of Yawnghwe, lives in exile in the Canada, he pressuring politically the government of Burma to respect the tradional, culture and indegenious lands of the Shan people and he works with Shan exiles abroad helping to provide schooling for displaced Shan children because their parents are unable to provide this and we hope too to provide some training in life skills to fend for themselves and their families in the future. The ISO language code for Shan is SHN; the SIL code is SJN. 陕, or Shǎn, is an abbreviation for the Shaanxi province of the People's Republic of China. External Link
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