East / Southeast Asia

The Alak are a central upland group of southern Laos. In 1981 their population was estimated at about 3,000, representing a near doubling of the population since the early 1960s.

Alorese

Identification. The Alorese live on the Island of Alor, in East Nusa Tenggara Province, Indonesia.

The Bagobo (Manobo, Manuvu, Obbo, Obo) may be thought of as several groups of people, each of whom speak one of three Bagobo languages; these languages belong to the Manobo Family. Until sometime in this century, there were two major groups, which were distinguished from each other by geographic separation and by several cultural distinctions.

Bahnar

Bajau

Balantak

Numbering about 30,000 in 1982, the Balantak inhabit the most easterly end of the east-central peninsula of Sulawesi Island, Indonesia. Balantak is classified in the West Indonesian Group of the Austronesian Language Family.

Balinese

Identification. The Balinese live on the island of Bali, in the archipelago nation of Indonesia.

Banggai

Batak

Baweanese

Bilaan

Bisaya

Bolaang Mongondow

Bonerate

Identification. Bonerate live on the island of Bonerate, which is situated in the middle of the Flores Sea in Indonesia.

Bontok

Brao

The Brao (Lave, Love), who numbered about 18,000 in 1984, are swidden rice cultivators located over a fairly large area from 14° to 16° N and 106° to 108° E in northeast Cambodia and southeast Laos. Brao is a Mon-Khmer, Austroasiatic language.

Bru

The Bru, also known as the Baru, B'ru, and Leu, are a group numbering about 50,000 in 1985 with 40,132 in Vietnam and the remainder in neighboring Laos. They are linguistically and culturally related to the nearby Kalo (Ca Lo, Ka Lo) and some experts suggest that the Kalo are best classified as a Bru subgroup.

Buddhist

The Buddhists of Southeast Asia are not considered here in a detailed article, since many of the longer articles in this volume deal with specific Buddhist cultural groups. Buddhism is, after all, a world religion with several hundreds of millions of adherents; and so, as with any other major and widespread faith, considerable diversity may be found in cultural practices.

Bugis

Bukidnon

Identification. The Bukidnon people of the southern Philippines speak the Binukid dialect within the Manobo Language Family.

Bunun

Identification. The Bunun of Taiwan use the term "Bunun" to refer to all Bunun; it means "person." Their language is also called Bunun.

Burakumin

Burmese

Identification. The Burmans speak Burmese (a Tibeto-Burman language) and live in the central plain of Burma, in the Union of Burma, which was renamed Myanmar in 1990.

Butonese

Central Thai

Cham

Chaobon

Also known as the "Niakuoll" and sometimes erroneously called the "Lawa," the Chaobon are a group of about 14,000 (1984) living in settled wet-rice agricultural villages in central and northern Thailand. "Niakuoll" is their self-name.

Chinese in Southeast Asia

Chong

The Chong (Xong) are a group estimated at 5,500 in 1984, located along the Cambodia-Thailand border at about 12° N and 103° E and in the Cardamom Mountains. The Chong are closely related to the Pear and Saoch, who also speak Mon-Khmer languages and are classified as Southwest Upland Groups.

Chrau

The Chrau are a group of about 20,000 (1981) located in Dong Nai Province in Vietnam. Known subgroups include the Ro, Bajieng, Mru, Jre, Buham, Bu-Preng, and Bla.

Cotabato Manobo

Numbering 10,000 to 15,000 in 1981, the Cotabato Manobo inhabit the central portion of the southwest highlands of Cotabato on Mindanao Island in the Philippines. Through contact with the neighboring Magindanao and Christian Filipinos who have settled in the region, much of the traditional culture has disappeared.

Cua

Also known as "Khua," the Cua are a group of about 10,000 to 15,000 (1973) settled in Gia Lai-Cong Turn Province in central Vietnam.

Duane

Like the Jeh, Menam, Noar, and the Sayan, the Duane are considered by some a distinct ethnic group in central Vietnam and Laos, although little is known about them.

Dusun

Endenese

Filipino

In its broadest sense, "Filipino" (fem. "Filipina") refers to citizens of the Republic of the Philippines, a grouping that numbered an estimated 62,380,000 people in 1992.

Gaddang

The Gaddang (Gadan, Ga'dang, Gaddanes, Iraya, Pagan Gaddang, Yrraya) live in the middle Cagayan Valley in northern Luzon, the Philippines. "Gaddang" refers to both the Christianized Gaddang who are now largely assimilated into Ilocano or general Filipino society and the Pagan Gaddang.

Gayo

Identification. The Gayo live predominantly in the central highlands of Aceh Province in Sumatra, Indonesia, and are Sunni Muslims.

Gorontalese

Numbering around 500,000, the six subgroups who comprise the Gorontalese occupy much of northwestern Sulawesi Island, Indonesia. The six subgroups are the Gorontalo, Suwawa, Limbotto, Bolango, Atinggola, and Boelemo.

Halang Doan

A group of about 2,000 swidden-rice cultivators in Attopeu Province in Laos and Dac Lac Province in Vietnam. There is some question as to whether the Halang Doan are a distinct group or a subgroup of the Jeh.

Hanunóo

The 7,000 Hanunóo (Bulalakao, Hampangan, Hanono-o, Mangyan) live in an area of 800 square kilometers at the southern end of Mindoro Island (12°30′ N, 121°10′ E), in the Philippines. They speak an Austronesian language, and most are literate, using an Indic-derived script that they write on bamboo.

Hmong

Identification. The Hmong have migrated to Southeast Asia from the mountainous parts of southwestern China, where many still remain.

Hre

Sometimes also called the Da Vach or Davak, the Hre are a group enumerated at 94,259 in the 1985 census of Vietnam. They are located in the mountainous area of central Vietnam.

Ibaloi

The Ibaloi (Benguetano, Benguet Igorot, Ibaloy, Igodor, Inibaloi, Inibaloy, Inibiloi, N abaloi) inhabit central and southern Benguet province and western Nueva Vizcaya Province, Luzon, the Philippines. In 1975 they numbered nearly 89,000.

Iban

Identification. The name "Iban" is of uncertain origin.

Ifugao

The Ifugao are a rice-growing people who live in a mountainous region of Luzon in the Philippines. The Ifugao homeland of Ifugao Province (17° N, 121° E) occupies less than 750 square miles in the center of northern Luzon.

Ilanon

Numbering about 65,000, the Ilanon (Ilano, Ilanum, Ilanun, Illanun, Iranon, Lanon) inhabit the area surrounding and inland from Polioc Harbor, on Moro Gulf, Mindanao, the Philippines, Ilanon is classified in the Hesperonesian Group of the Austronesian Language Family. Subsistence is based on wet rice and maize.

Ilongot

Indonesian

Indonesia is essentially an equatorial country that stretches from 11° S to 4° N,a location that gives its climate a certain unity. It is a very large country, spanning from west to east more than 4,800 kilometers between 95° E and 141° E.

Irianese

This new term is sometimes used for the inhabitants of Irian Jaya or West Irian, which is the most easterly province of Indonesia; it was known in colonial times (until 1963) as Dutch New Guinea. While the territory has been part of Indonesia since then, its inhabitants are culturally, linguistically, and racially separate, for they are Papuans and belong to the Melanesian culture area.

Isneg

The Isneg (Apayao, Isnag, Isned, Kalina', Mandaya, Payao) are a group in northern Luzon, the Philippines. In 1981 their population was estimated at 12,000.

Itneg

Itneg is a general term that refers to speakers of Itneg languages who reside on Luzon in the Philippines. The Summer Institute of Linguistics lists four Itneg languages: Binongan (Tinggian, Tinguian, Tinngguian), Inlaod, Masadiit, and Southern.

Japanese

Identification. The Japanese people, the majority of whom live in the archipelago known as Japan, which lies off the eastern coast of the Asian continent, speak the Japanese language.

Javanese

Kachin

Kalagan

There are aproximately 8,000 Kalagan (Calagan, Kagan, Karagan, Laoc, Saka, Tagakaolo) living on the island of Mindanao in the Philippines. They are located in the area between the interior uplands and the western coast of the Davao Gulf.

Kalibugan

"Kalibuga" (Kolibugan) means "mixed breed" and refers to the Subanun of the Philippines who have intermarried with the Tausug and Samal. Kalibugan, who number about 15,000, live in villages on the coast in western Mindanao.

Kalimantan Dayaks

The category "Kalimantan Dayaks" includes several groups of indigenous peoples in southern and western Kalimantan in both Malaysian and Indonesian parts of the island. They may be distinguished from the Malay population by the fact that they are not Muslim, and from the Penan (or Ot) by the fact that they are settled rather than nomadic.

Kaiingas

Identification. Largely celebrated in the popular literature for their invidious headhunting, the Kalingas are surrounded by other Philippine peoples who are equally famous for their headhunting, including the Apayaos to the north, the Bontoks to the south, and the Ifugaos farther to the southeast.

Kankanai

The Kankanai (Central Kankanaey, Igorot, Kakanay, Kankanaey, Kankanay, Southern Kankanai) are a group numbering around 110,000 in 1981 in northern Benguet Province, southwest Mountain Province, and southeast llocos Province, Luzon, the Philippines. Kankanai is classified in the Hesperonesian Group of the Austronesian Language Family.

Karen

Kasseng

The Kasseng (Kaseng) are a group of about 6,000 (1981) swidden rice cultivators located in the Boloven plateau region of southern Laos.

Kattang

The Kattang (Katang) are a group of about 10,000 (1981) swidden rice cultivators and wet-rice agriculturalists in the Muong Nong area of southern Laos.

Katu

The Katu (Cò Tu, Kato, Ka-Tu) are a group of swidden rice, maize, and cassava cultivators located primarily along the Laos-Vietnam border in central Vietnam. The 1985 census of Vietnam enumerated 36,967 Katu.

Kédang

Identification. The Kédang speak "the language of the mountain" (tutuq-nanang wéla), as opposed to the Lamaholot of their neighbors on the small eastern Indonesian island of Lembata.

Kenyah-Kayan-Kajang

"Kenyan-Kayan-Kajang" is a term referring to a complex of riverine culture groups living in Sarawak. The Kenyah and Kayan are the main groups, whereas the Kajang consist of a number of small groups that are assimilating to one or the other of the other two.

Kerintji

Numbering around 170,000 as of 1977, the Kerintji people (Corinchee, Corinchi, Corinchia, Kerinchi, Kinchai, Koerintji, Korinchi, Korinci, Korintji, Kurintji) live in the fertile, high-elevation "Kerintji Basin," two degrees south of the equator in West Sumatra, Indonesia. Kerintji is classified in the Hesperonesian Group of the Austronesian Language Family.

Khmer

Identification. The term "Khmer" designates the dominant ethnic population (and the language) of Cambodia.

Khua

Khua number about 5,000 (1981) and live in northern Vietnam and east-central Laos.

Kmhmu

Kolisuch'ǒk

Korean

Identification. Because Korea is an ethnically homogeneous nation, there are no ethnonyms per se.

Koreans in Japan

Kubu

The Kubu (Koeboe, Orang Darat) live in Sumatra and are found throughout the east-coast lowlands westward to the foothills of the Barisan Range. "Kubu" is a generic label used by outsiders for a number of scattered former hunter-gatherers in Sumatra.

Kui

The Kui (Kuoy, Soai) are a group of more than 100,000 located in east-central Thailand, northeast Cambodia, and Laos. Some experts suggest that the Kui were settled in the area prior to the arrival of the now-dominant Thai and Lao.

Lahu

Laki

The Laki (Lalaki, Lolaki, To Laki), who numbered 125,000 in 1977, are located in the southern portion of the southeastern peninsula of Sulawesi, Indonesia. Laki is classified in the West Indonesian Group of the Austronesian Language Family.

Lamaholot

Lamet

The Lamet (Kha Lamet, Le-Met) are an ethnic group numbering about 5,800 in northwest Laos. Along with the Kmhmu, the Lamet claim to be the original inhabitants of the region.

Lao

Lao Isan

Identification. The Lao Isan speak the Lao dialect of the Thai language, live in northeastern Thailand, and are predominantly Buddhists.

Lawa

Lisu

Loven

The Loven (Boloven, Laven) are a group of about 25,000 (1981) in the Boloven Plateau area of southern Laos. The Loven are one of the more acculturated of the local groups, through frequent contact with the Lao, Chinese merchants, and European colonists in the past.

Ma

Also known as the Cau Ma, the Ma are a group located in the highlands of Lam Dong, Dong Mai, and Thuan Hai provinces in Vietnam. In the census of 1985, the Ma population was placed at 25,436 with the Cho Ro (a subgroup of the Ma) enumerated at 15,022.

Madurese

Maguindanao

Makassar

Identification. The Makassar live in the southern corner of the southwestern peninsula of Sulawesi (formerly the Celebes), Indonesia.

Malay

Malays live chiefly in peninsular Malaysia, where they are more than half of the population. Malays also live in East Malaysia (Sabah and Sarawak), on the coasts of Sumatra and other islands of Indonesia, extending up to the Sulu Sea of the southern Philippines.

Manggarai

The Manggarai (Ata Manggarai) are an ethnic group located on the western end of the island of Flores, Indonesia. In 1981 their population was estimated at 400,000.

Maranao

The Maranao inhabit mainly the Lake Lanao region in the northwestern section of Mindanao, the Philippines, located between 7°30′ and 8°30′ N and 124°00′ and 125°00′ E. "Maranao" means "people of the lake." The Maranao language is an Austronesian language.

May

A group of about 1,500 (1981) living along the northern Vietnam and Laos border. They were formerly itinerant swidden cultivators, but now have become more settled.

Melanau

Mentaweian

Mentaweians (Mentaweier, Orang Mantawei, Poggy-Islander) inhabit the Mentawei (Mentawai) Islands (Siberut, Sipura, North Pagai, and Utara Selatan) and the islands of Nias and Enggano off the west coast of Sumatra. In 1966, Mentaweians numbered about 20,000.

Minahasans

Numbering around 40,000 in 1977, the Minahasans (Minahasa, Minahasser, Minhasa, Tombalu, Tombula, Toumbulu) inhabit the mountainous terrain of the extreme northeastern section of Sulawesi's northern peninsula in Indonesia. Rather than a single group, the Minahasans are a confederation of groups including the Tontemboan, Toulour, Tondano, Tombalu, Tonsea, Tonsawang, Bentenan, Ponosokan, Belang, and Bantik.

Minangkabau

Identification. The Minangkabau are similar to their neighbors, the Malays, from whom they differ most notably in reckoning descent through females.

Mnong

Located in the southern highlands of Vietnam, the Mnong (M.Nông, Mnong Gar, Phii Bree) registered 67,340 in the 1985 census of Vietnam. The scholarly literature is unclear about which groups and subgroups therein should be classified as Mnong.

Modang

Moluccans—North

The Northern Moluccas constitute the original "Moluccas" sought out for millennia by foreigners for their cloves. Nowadays they form a subdivision of the province of Maluku in the Republic of Indonesia, with approximately half a million inhabitants spread over Halmahera, the Sula and Obi Islands, Bacan, Morotai, and a number of smaller islands.

Moluccans—Southeast

This far-flung island region between New Guinea and Timor is part of the province of Maluku in the Republic of Indonesia. In this thinly inhabited region, Protestant Christians make up more than half of the population, while the rest is about evenly split between adherents of Roman Catholicism and Islam.

Mon

In 1983 the Mon (Mun, Peguan, Talaing, Taleng) numbered about 835,000 in Myanmar (Burma) and between 70,000 and 100,000 in Thailand, with smaller numbers in Cambodia and Vietnam. A more recent estimate places their number at 1.3 million in Myanmar alone.

Monom

The Monom (Bonom) are a group of about 5,000 (1973) located in eastern Gia Lai-Cong Turn Province in Vietnam.

Muna

The Muna (Mina, Moenanezen, To Muna), numbering about 200,000 in 1977, live on Muna Island, adjacent to Buton, south of the southeastern peninsula of Sulawesi, Indonesia. Muna is classified in the West Indonesian Group of the Austronesian Language Family.

Muong

Murut

Ndaonese

The Ndaonese, who call themselves "Ndau Ndau" (meaning "men of Ndau") are the inhabitants of the islands of Ndao and Nuse off the west coast of Roti, Indonesia. In 1981, there were an estimated 3,500 Ndaonese living on Ndao, Sumba, Roti, and Nuse.

Ngeh

The Ngeh (Nghe) are a group of about 4,000 (1981) in the Muong Phine-Bung Sai area of southern Laos. They speak a language of the Mon-Khmer Group.

Nias

Ogan-Besemah

Identification. The name Ogan-Besemah" refers to an ethnolinguistic grouping of peoples living primarily in the province of South Sumatra, Indonesia.

Okinawans

The Okinawans (Amamijin, Loochoo Islanders, Okinawajin, Ryuku Islanders, Ryūkyūjin, Sakishimajin) are Japanese people who inhabit the Ryukyu Islands, a group of small islands 640 kilometers south of Japan. Most Okinawans live on Okinawa, the largest of the Ryukyu Islands.

Oy

The Oy (also spelled Huei or Oi) are a group of about 10,000 (1981) located on the slopes of the Boloven plateau in Attopeu Province in southern Laos. A subgroup, the The, are considered by some to be a distinct group, although they may now be totally assimilated.

Pacoh

The Pacoh (Khas Pakho) are a group of about 15,000 (1973) located in the highlands of Thien province in Vietnam and bordering Laos.

Pak Thai

Also known as the "Pak Tai" and "Southern Thai," the approximately 4,500,000 (1981) speakers of Tai who reside in about fourteen different provinces in southern Thailand are called "Pak Thai" by the Thai. They are primarily wet-rice agriculturalists and cattle breeders.

Palaung

Palawan

The Palawan (Ira-an, Palawano, Palawanon, Paluanes, Palawanin) are located mainly in the interior of the island of Palawan in the southern Philippines. Palawan is the fifth-largest Philippine island and also the least-heavily populated of the larger islands.

Palu'e

Pear

Also known as the "Bahr" or "Pohr," the Pear number about 1,000 (1981) and live in southwest Cambodia. They are now largely assimilated into Khmer society.

Penan

Philippine Negritos

P'u Noi

The P'u Noi (Kha P'ai Pu Noi, Phunoi) are a group numbering about 32,000 (1981) who reside in the uplands of northern Laos. The linguistic affiliation of the P'u Noi language is unclear.

Rengao

The Rengao (Reungao, Rongao, Ro-ngao) are a group of about 15,000 (1973) in the Gia Lai-Cong Turn province in the central Vietnam highlands. They are considered by some scholars to be a subgroup of the Bahnar or the Sedang.

Rhadé

The Rhadé (E-De, E Dê, Raday) are a group in the southern highlands of Vietnam and neighboring Cambodia. The 1985 Vietnam census places the population at 194,710, an increase from the roughly 120,000 reported in the 1960s.

Rotinese

Identification. The Rotinese have long taken their name from some version of their Indonesian island's name and combined this with a dialect word for "man" (Atahori Rote, Hataholi Lote).

Sagada Igorot

Saluan

The Saluan (Loinan, Loinanezen, Loindang, Madi, To Loinang), who numbered about 74,000 in 1979, inhabit eastcentral Sulawesi Island, Indonesia. Saluan is classified in the Hesperonesian Group of the Austronesian Language Family.

Samal

Samal Moro

Identification. "Samal" is a covering term for Muslim Samalan speakers.

Sangir

The Sangir (Sangirezen, Talaoerezen) are the indigenous inhabitants of the Sangihe (Sangir) and Taluad island chains located between southern Mindanao and northern Celebes. They speak Sangir, sometimes referred to as Sangil, Sangihé, or Sangirese, an Austronesian language.

Saoch

A group of about 500 (1981) in southwest Cambodia, the Saoch are closely related to the Pear and Chong. The Saoch, who were once hunter-gatherers, are largely assimilated into Khmer society today.

Sasak

Sea Nomads of the Andaman

Bands of hunter-gatherers of the sea once ranged freely through the many tiny isles and reefy shoals strewn across the eastern Andaman Sea. These Sea Nomads now inhabit an oceanic fringe extending from the seas off southern Myanmar (Burma) southward along the Malay Peninsula past Thailand to Malaysia.

Sedang

The Sedang (Ha[rh] ndea[ng], Xó dâng) are a group located in the highlands of Gia Lai-Cong Turn Province in Vietnam, centered approximately at 17° N by 107° E. The 1985 census of Vietnam counted 96,766 Sedang.

Sek

The Sek (Saek) are a group of about 20,000 (1981) located on both sides of the Mekong River in northeastern Thailand and central Laos. Through extensive contact, the Sek have been largely assimilated into Lao society.

Selung/Moken

ETHNONYMS: The names used by and for nomadic boat people typically refer to the people's connections with the sea. "Moken" (Mawken, Maw khen) is the name people living around the Mergui Archipelago of Myanmar (Burma) use to identify themselves.

Semang

Senoi

ETHNONYMS: Sakai (Malay for "infidel slave"); Senoi or Mai in the Central Aslian language; Smaq or Mah in South Aslian; Orang in Malay with words added from Malay or other languages for "hill" (Bukit), "upriver country" (Darat, Seraq, Seroq, Ulu) or "forest" (Bri, Hutan, Rih). Local groups take the name of the watersheds where they live.

Shan

Singaporean

The Singaporeans are not an ethnic group, but simply citizens of the Republic of Singapore, which was established in 1959. Before that time Singapore was a part of Malaysia, one island at the southern tip of the peninsula.

So

A group of about 130,000 (1981), the So are located on both sides of the Mekong River in Thailand and central Laos. Through extensive contact with the Sek and the Lao they have largely been assimilated into Laotian society.

Sork

The Sork or Sok are a group of about 1,600 (1981) in Attopeu Province in southern Laos.

Sou

The Sou (Souk) are a group of about 1,000 (1962) in Attopeu Province in southern Laos, who by now may be totally assimilated into Laotian society.

South Asians in Southeast Asia

There is a fairly large Indian and Pakistani population in Southeast Asia, primarily in Myanmar (Burma), Malaysia, and Singapore. The great majority of these people were, and still are, plantation laborers, though a sizable minority are traders, and today many may be found in the urban professions of law, medicine, education, and administration.

Stieng

The Stieng (Budip, X. Tiêng) are a group of about 70,000 (1981) located in Song De Province in Vietnam and bordering areas of Cambodia.

Subanun

Sulod

The Sulod (Buki, Bukidnon, Mondo, Mundo, Putian) are a mountain people numbering about 14,000 in 1980, who live along the banks of the Panay River on central Panay Island in the Bisayan Islands in the central Philippines. Sulod is classified in the Hesperonesian Group of the Austronesian Language Family.

Sundanese

Tagalog

Tagbanuwa

The Tagbanuwa (Tagbanoua, Tagbanua) are one of the indigenous peoples of Palawan Island in the Philippines and, aside from the Batak, the only group on the island to have been studied extensively by anthropologists. At the time of first Spanish contact the population of Palawan and nearby islands was comprised of Batak, Tagbanuwa, Palawan, Kenoy, Moro, Kalamian, Agutayano, Kuyono, and Kagayano peoples.

Tai Lue

Taiwan Aboriginal Peoples

The indigenous people of the island of Taiwan (Formosa) are now only a small minority of the Taiwan population, which is mainly Han Chinese. Many of the aboriginal groups are now assimilated almost completely into the mainstream culture.

Taiwanese

The Chinese who live on the island of Taiwan are of fairly recent mainland origin. The indigenous people of the island are represented by seven tribes who speak Malayo-Polynesian languages and who numbered 338,151 in 1991.

Tasaday

In 1971 the news story broke of the discovery of a band of cave-dwelling people called "Tasaday," who were said to be living in a secluded area of rain forest in the Philippines. The discovery team was led by Manuel Elizalde Jr., the Filipino politician who headed PANAMIN (Presidential Assistant on National Minorities), the government agency then in charge of all Philippine tribal peoples.

Tau-Oi

The Tau-Oi (Ta Hoi, Tà ôi) are a group of swidden rice farmers and fishers located in Saravane Province in Laos and in neighboring areas of Vietnam. In Vietnam, they numbered 26,004 in 1985; their entire population was estimated at 30,000 in 1981.

Tausug

Tay

"Tay" (Tày, Tho, Thu) is a general term used in reference to the large, rural, Thai-speaking population in Vietnam, primarily in northern Vietnam. In 1985, the total number of people classified as "Tay" was 1,190,342, making them the largest ethnic population in Vietnam other than the Vietnamese themselves.

Temiar

Ternatan/Tidorese

Tetum

The label "Tetum" (Belu, Teto, Tetun) refers to the more than 300,000 speakers of the Tetum language on the island of Timor in Indonesia. The people call themselves "Tetum" or "Tetun," and are referred to as "Belu" by the neighboring Atoni.

Tidong

"Tidong" (Bolongan, Camucones, Nonukan, Tarakan, Tedong, Tidoeng, Tidung, Tiran, Tirones, Tiroon, Zedong) is the name used for an Islamized population found in north-eastern Kalimantan and Sabah. In Malaysia, the population is estimated at about 10,000.