Khmer speaking countries
Khmer is the official language in Cambodia and is spoken in 3 other countries as monther tongue by a part of the population. The Khmer language (native name: ខ្មែរ, ខេមរភាសា, ភាសាខ្មែរ) has its roots in the Austroasiatic language family.As a percentage of the total population, the largest share of around 89 percent is in Cambodia. A total of about 18.2 million people worldwide speak Khmer as their mother tongue.
| Country | Region | Official language | Distribution | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cambodia | Southeast Asia | yes | 88.6 % | 14,698,000 |
| Vietnam | Southeast Asia | no | 1.4 % | 1,365,000 |
| Laos | Southeast Asia | no | 16.5 % | 1,225,000 |
| Thailand | Southeast Asia | no | 1.3 % | 931,000 |
Unless otherwise described in the text, this page is about native speakers — not the total number of speakers. How many people understand or speak Khmer as a subsequently learned language is not the subject of this page. Countries where native speakers make up only a few thousand, or even a few hundred people, or countries with a percentage well below 1% are unlikely to be listed here.