Kachin

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Any member of a group of tribal peoples occupying parts of northeastern Myanmar and contiguous areas of India (Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland) and China (Yunnan).

Numbering more than 700,000, they speak a variety of languages of the Tibeto-Burman group of Sino-Tibetan languages. Traditional Kachin society largely subsisted on the shifting cultivation of hill rice, supplemented by the proceeds of banditry and feudal warfare. The traditional Kachin religion is a form of animistic ancestor cult entailing animal sacrifice.

More on "Kachin" from the 32 Volume Encyclopædia Britannica:

Kachin - tribal peoples occupying parts of northeastern Myanmar (Burma) and contiguous areas of India (Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland) and China (Yunnan). The greatest number of Kachin live in Myanmar (roughly 590,000), but some 120,000 live in China and a few thousand in India. Numbering about 712,000 in the late 20th century, they speak a variety of languages of the Tibeto-Burman group and are thereby ...

Kachin Hills - heavily forested group of highlands situated in the northeasternmost section of Myanmar (Burma). They range north-south and are bordered on the northwest by Arunachal Pradesh state of India, on the north by the Tibet autonomous region of China, and on the east by Yunnan province of China. The hills blend with the Kumon Range to the west. The Kachin Hills are drained by the Mali and Nmai rivers, ...

Sino-Tibetan languages - The Burmic division comprises Burmish, Kachinish, and Kukish.

Myanmar - The vast majority of the population is Theravada Buddhist. The Burmans are Buddhists except for minimal numbers of Christians and Muslims; the Shan also are Buddhists. Among the Karen, there are many more Buddhists than Christians. The other hill peoples are animists except for a small number of Kayah Buddhists and Kachin and Chin Christians, and even they practice animism to some degree.

Myanmar - Speakers of Burmese and Mon historically have lived in the plains, while speakers of a dialect of Burmese retaining archaic features occupied the Arakan and Tenasserim coastal plains. The hills were inhabited by those speaking Shan, Kachin, Chin, and numerous other languages. In the plains the division between northern and southern Myanmar (Upper and Lower Burma, respectively) dates from early ...

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