Mapping ethnic groups in Lao Cai Province, Vietnam...Lao Chai Ta Phinh Bau Khoang T.T. Sa Pa San Sa Ho Ta Giang Phinh Inh./Sq.km 151 to 200 (3) 91 to 150 (1) 41 to 90 (7) 10 to 40

RESEARCH NOTE

Mapping ethnic groups in Lao Cai Province,Vietnam

Yann Roche and Jean Michaud

Abstract: This research note offers a brief summary of recent carto-graphic work in the province of Lao Cai in northern Vietnam, with aspecific focus on the districts of Sa Pa and Bac Ha. By providing arepresentation of topography in digital format, which enables a con-nection between demographic and physical variables, the long termaim is to illustrate the relationship between ethnicity and topography.

Keywords: Vietnam, Lao Cai Province, ethnic cartography,anthropology

Studying ethnic minorities in the north of Vietnam can be a sensitive issue forthe Vietnamese State. Due to cultural identities in the highlands being differentfrom those in the lowlands, as well as the fact that many amongst these mountainsocieties are located in border areas with geo-strategic importance, the study ofthese groups is both delicate and difficult for the foreign researcher. For thisreason among others, very little has been published recently on peoples in thesehighlands. This research note offers a brief summary of our work in the provinceof Lao Cai (see Figure 1a), one of the remote mountainous areas in northernVietnam that is officially labelled a ‘sparcely populated area’.

The aim is to illustrate the relationship between ethnicity and topography. Itis hoped for example that this research project, by providing a representation oftopography in digital format, will enable a direct connection between demo-graphic and physical variables and provide tools for the evaluation of derivedelevation variables such as slopes, watershed limits, and so on. Whenconducted at province level such a study unavoidably omits details and patternsonly visible at a closer range. Therefore more detailed observations have been

Asia Pacific Viewpoint, Vol. 41, No. 1, April 2000ISSN: 1360-7456, pp101–110

ß Victoria University of Wellington, 2000. Published by Blackwell Publishers, 108 Cowley Road,Oxford, OX4 1JF, UK and 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148, USA.

Authors: Yann Roche, Department of Geography, UQAM, C.P.8888, Succursalle Centre-ville, Montre al, Quebec, H3C 3P8, Canada. E-mail: [email protected]. Jean Michaud,Department of Politics and Asian Studies, University of Hull, Hull, HU6 7RX, UnitedKingdom: E-mail: [email protected]

drawn for the Sa Pa and Bac Ha districts in Lao Cai province, see Figure 1b.However, the analysis of this material still remains to be completed and themaps presented here, all of which have been produced in the course of aCanada-UK project,1 and have not been published before, should beapproached with this restriction in mind.

Physical data as well as the administrative boundaries of 1994 have beenprovided in digital form by the Vietnam Department of Land Administration(DLA). These can be connected to demographic data through a GeographicalInformation System (GIS). The GIS package,MapInfo in this case, a rathersimple, yet relatively powerful vector-based software, provides a strongresearch and analysis tool for modelling and evaluating the links betweenethnic groups and their physical environment. Based on the contour linesdigitised by the DLA, the Digital Elevation Model (DEM) was produced usingthe Vertical Mapperinterpolation utility. The results are shown in Figures 1c(as well as Figures 3a and 5a).

The demographic data for the provincial and district levels was obtainedfrom the database completed by the DLA, based on data from theVietnamStatistical Yearbook 1994. They provide a broad overview of both thepopulation densities and ethnic distributions within the province (as shown inFigure 2a and b respectively). The maps also draw on demographic and culturaldata collected in 1999 at the commune (xa) level by researchers from theNational Center for Social Sciences and Humanities in Hanoi.

Even though demographic data collected at thexa (commune) level can beconsidered reliable, this data is not recent (1994, based on the 1989 census) anddoes not apply uniformly to the whole province. The acquisition of more recentdata would be rather difficult since the results of the 1999 census were notavailable and the ethnic composition of the population is still considered asensitive issue in Vietnam.

IN LAO CAI PROVINCE

As Figure 1c suggests, topography has a strong influence on human activities.In the north of Vietnam it also induces a temperature gradient that makes somerelatively high altitudes much cooler than the Red River Delta. The area has ahigh humidity level, the Hoang Lien Range having a barrier effect onatmospheric circulation. Its eastern half is cool and humid, with a highfrequency of fog and cloud. Life in this area is therefore harsh and healthproblems are a real concern. In order to fight the everlasting dampness,fuelwood consumption is high, which helps explain the small quantity of forestresources remaining in this part of the province.

Another physical constraint also apparent from the elevation map, Figure 1, isthe high proportion of steep slopes, especially in Sa Pa district. Combined withthe level of deforestation in the province, steep slopes enhance the sensitivity toerosion of cultivated or barren lands. In Sa Pa district, this physical constrainthas produced widespread use of cultivated terraces, even though this district ispopulated by a majority of Hmong (52 per cent), a group for whom this type of

Asia Pacific Viewpoint Volume 41 No 1

102 ß Victoria University of Wellington 2000

land use is unusual elsewhere in Southeast Asia. For the Hmong though, and to alesser extent for the Yao (their linguistic cousins and the second most importantminority group in the province) steep slopes do not represent a serious obstacle,either in terms of cultivation or in terms of establishing villages.

Figure 1. Lao Cai Province

April 2000 Mapping ethnic groups

ß Victoria University of Wellington 2000 103

Data at the district (huyen) level is much easier to access. However, the highlydispersed spatial distribution of the ethnic minority groups in Lao Cai makes amap based on ethnic data at district level of little use. To solve this problem,the spatial data has to be collected and mapped at least at thexa level and

20Km1002a) Number of people

Inh./Sq.km

251 to 7700151 to 25086 to 15051 to 850 to 50

G

2b20Km100

TTh

Other Groups

Giay

Yao

Hmong

Nung

Thai

Tay

Kinh

Than Uyen

Bao Yen

Van Ban

Bat Xat

Sa Pa

Bac Ha

Lao Cai

National Minority Groups

by district

Th

Cam DuongCam Duong

Muong KhuongMuong Khuong

Bao ThangBao Thang

K

K

K

K

K

K

K

K

Th

Ta

Ta

Ta

Ta

Ta

Ta

H

H

H

H

H

H

H

H

K

H N

Y

YG

Y

O

G

G

Y

O

Y

YTa

Y

O

Y

Ta

K

N

O

O

O

O

G

Y

K

N

O

O

35000

93000Inhabitants

Source: General Department of Land Administration and National Center for Human and Social Sciences, Hanoi, Vietnam. Production : Yann ROCHE, UQAM

Cam Duong

Muong Khuong

Bao Thang

Figure 2. Population and population density by commune, 1994 and ethnic composition bydistrict, 1994



ideally at theban (village) level which are more ethnically homogeneous. Thenumber ofban in Sa Pa and Bac Ha districts is over 200 posing data collectiondifficulties which are compounded by the problem of locating eachban on amap. Severalban and hamlets have moved over the last decades andVietnamese cartographers have not always kept up with the changes.Topographic maps which are currently available to foreign researchers areeither too old or not accurate enough to be used and buying aerial photographsis a difficult task for the non-Vietnamese. Because of these predicaments, themaps presented in this note focus on data available at thexa level only,although theban level is much more ethnically homogeneous and thereforemore appropriate for research with an anthropological concern.

Historically, Lao Cai town has been a crossroads, as the Red River Valley was amajor communication axis between the Delta and southwest China. Yet, awayfrom the valley itself, it is a remote area with an under-developed road network. Asthe scale in Figure 1c suggests, elevations range from 100m along the Red RiverValley, to the summit of Vietnam, the Fan Si Pan (3143 m) in the vicinity of Sa Pa.

The overall population density of Lao Cai province is low, with 60inhabitants per square km in 1994. This population is unevenly distributed,ranging from 204 inhabitants/km2 in Lao Cai town district, to 32 in Van Bandistrict. Figures 2a and 2b stress the impact of the Red River Valley as acommunication axis and a population centre, especially in the districts of LaoCai, Cam Duong, and Bao Thang. Not surprisingly, three quarters of thepopulation of these districts are Kinh.

The population numbers for the province are low (491, 000 inhabitants in1994) with a large proportion from National Minority groups (35 per cent Kinhonly, compared with 20 per cent H’mong [Hmong], 15 per cent Dao [Yao] and30 per cent other National Minority groups).2 Figure 2b uses data gathered atthe district level to show a strong relationship between topography and thelocation of the Kinh in the lower lands. This relationship can also be observedin Figure 2a, between elevation and population density, with most of thepopulation located along the lowlands of the Red River Valley.

Elsewhere in the province, densities decrease drastically. Kinh are present,but in smaller numbers and proportions, and are chiefly concentrated in towns.In several of these districts, the majorities consist of one specific minoritygroup, although a different one in each district: more than half the populationof Than Uyen is Thai, while in Sa Pa and Bac Ha it is the Hmong whodominate, as for the Tay in Van Ban. Bat Xat, the northwestern tip of theprovince, is more heterogeneous, with 75 per cent of its population almostequally divided into Hmong, Yao and Giay.

THE DISTRICTS OF SA PA AND BAC HA

The districts of Sa Pa and Bac Ha have been chosen for more detailedexamination because of their high proportion of National Minority groups,their topography, and their less extensive contiguity with China, a factor whichotherwise would have raised security issues for the Vietnamese authorities.



While maps showing the distribution patterns of major ethnic groups as well asthe distribution of Kinh have been produced, as detailed in Figure 2b, thispaper focuses on the results for Hmong, Yao and Kinh only, the main groupsboth in the province and in these districts (Figures 4 and 6).

The topography of the Sa Pa district is shown in Figure 3a, its populationdensity in Figure 3b and the ethnic composition in Figure 4. The population of

Source: General Department of Land Administration, Hanoi, Vietnam, Production : Yann ROCHE, UQAM

kilometerskilometers

00 5 km5 km2,52,5

Suoi ThauSuoi Thau

Thanh PhuThanh Phu

Nam SaiNam Sai

Thanh KimThanh Kim

Trung TraiTrung Trai

Sa PaSa Pa

Hau ThaoHau Thao

Su PhanSu PhanLao ChaiLao Chai

Ta PhinhTa Phinh

T.T. Sa PaT.T. Sa Pa

San Sa HoSan Sa Ho

Ta Giang PhinhTa Giang Phinh

Van BanVan Ban

Lao CaiLao Cai

Than UyenThan Uyen

Bat XatBat Xat

Cam DuongCam Duong

BaoBao

ThangThang

Sa PaSa Pa

Suoi Thau

Nam Cang

Thanh Phu

Nam Sai

Ban Phung

Thanh Kim

Ban Ho

Trung Trai

Sa Pa

Hau Thao

Ta Van

Su PhanLao Chai

Ta Phinh

Bau Khoang

T.T. Sa Pa

San Sa Ho

Ta Giang Phinh

Inh./Sq.km

151 to 200 (3)

91 to 150 (1)

41 to 90 (7)10 to 40 (7)

kilometers

0 5 km2,5

a)Topography

b) Population Density, 1994

Lai Chau

Van Ban

Lao Cai

Than Uyen

Sa Pa

Bat Xat

Cam Duong

Bao Thang

Van Ban

Lao Cai

Than Uyen

Bat Xat

Cam Duong

Bao

Thang

Figure 3. Sa Pa District



the district reached 28,539 habitants in 1994. Sa Pa town is the majorpopulation centre of the district and as one travels away from it, populationdensity decreases as seen in Figure 3b, the pattern of population density of thedistrict being roughly concentric around Sa Pa town.

As Figure 3a reveals Sa Pa is a high altitude district. Accordingly, it has oneof the smallest proportion of Kinh in the province (Figure 2b); indeed, shouldSa Pa town be removed from the district, the Kinh who make up 15 per cent in1994 would virtually be wiped off the district population map. While theHmong majority (52 per cent) is typically established in the highest communes(Figure 4b), the Yao (25 per cent) are immediately below but mix with theHmong in several communes (Figure 4c). The other minority groups dwell

4a) Proportion of Kinh 4b) Proportion of Hmong

4c) Proportion of Yao

60,1 to 98,8

No Hmong

98,8 to 100,0

20,1 to 60,0

4,9 to 20,0

HMONG

Lai

Chau Bao

Thang

Bat Xat

Than Uyen

Lai

Chau Bao

Thang

Bat Xat

Than Uyen

95,1 to 100,01,1 to 95,0

0,3 to 1,1No Kinh

Lai

ChauBao

Thang

Bat Xat

Than Uyen

KINH

YAO

85,1 to 92,765,1 to 85,030,1 to 65,04,8 to 30,0

No Yao

Sa Pa Sa Pa

Sa Pa

Cam DuongCam Duong Cam DuongCam Duong

Cam DuongCam Duong

0 2,5 5 km0 2,5 5 km

Sa Pa Sa Pa

Sa Pa

Cam Duong Cam Duong

Cam Duong

0 2,5 5 km

Figure 4. Ethnic Composition of Sa Pa District, 1994



essentially in the south-east, a region that is not low enough nor appealingenough to attract spontaneous Kinh settlers.

Bac Ha district, in the northeastern part of the province, is a hilly area,deeply carved on its western boundary by the Chay River, as illustrated inFigure 5a. Its climate is hotter and drier than Sa Pa. Although Bac Ha, with

Ha Giang

Bao Yen

Bao Thang

Bao Yen

S o n g

Ch

ay

a) Topography

b) Population Density, 1994

0 5 km

Ban Cai

Ban GiaBan Gia

Nam KhanhNam Khanh

Lung PhinhLung Phinh

Lung SuiLung Sui

Coc Lau

Ban MeBan Me

Thao Chu PhinThao Chu Phin

0 4,5 9 km

120 to 1600

80 to 119

55 to 79

25 to 54

Muong

Khuong

Ta Van ChuTa Van Chu

Na HoiNa Hoi

Bac HaBac HaTa ChaiTa Chai

San ChaiSan Chai

Si Ma CaiSi Ma Cai

Nam MonNam Mon

Can HoCan HoMan ThanMan Than

Nan SinNan Sin

Coc LyCoc Ly

Sin ChengSin Cheng

Ha

Giang

Bao Thang

Bao Yen

China

Inh./Sq.km

Na Hoi

Bac HaTa Chai

San Chai

Si Ma Cai

Nam Mon

Can HoMan Than

Nan Sin

Coc Ly

Sin Cheng Lung CaiLung Cai

Ta Cu TyTa Cu Ty

Lu ThanLu Than

Ban LienBan Lien

Nam LucNam Luc

Thai Giang PhoThai Giang Pho

Nam DetNam Det

Ban PhoBan Pho

Lau Thi NgaiLau Thi Ngai

Bao NhaiBao Nhai

Hoang Thu PhoHoang Thu Pho

Can CauCan Cau

Quan Than SanQuan Than San

Nan SanNan San

China

MuongMuong

KhuongKhuong

Lung Cai

Ta Cu Ty

Lu Than

Ban Lien

Nam Luc

Thai Giang Pho

Nam Det

Ban Pho

Lau Thi Ngai

Bao Nhai

Hoang Thu Pho

Can Cau

Quan Than San

Muong

KhuongBac HaBac Ha

Ban Gia

Nam Khanh

Lung Phinh

Lung Sui

Nan San

Ban Me

Thao Chu Phin

Ta Van Chu

Bac Ha

Source: General Department of Land Administration, Hanoi, Vietnam, Production : Yann ROCHE, UQAM

Figure 5. Bac Ha District



Figure 6. Ethnic Composition of Bac Ha District, 1994



62,693 inhabitants in 1994, is twice as populated as Sa Pa, the populationdensity is only 50 per cent higher: 60 inhabitants/km2 (versus 39 in Sa Pa), andis also unevenly distributed as apparent from Figure 5b.

The more densely populated areas located Bac Ha town, as well as the townitself, are inhabited predominantly by the Kinh, shown in Figure 6a; whilstFigure 6b illustrates the prominence of the Hmong majority in the mountainousnorthern part of the district. At 65 per cent, the Hmong represent the majorityof the population of the district, while the eight per cent Yao constitute a‘buffer’ between the highlands and the lowlands of the district as seen in Figure6c. The majority of the Kinh not located in Bac Ha town are in the southern andlowest part of the district. However, even though they may sometimes be smallin numbers, seldom are they totally absent from the more remote communes,where a few will represent the State in various services.

The next step in this research is to establish a quantitative comparisonbetween the distribution of ethnic groups in the study area and the kind ofelevation, slope, vegetation cover they traditionally live in. The maps presentedhere show that this comparison is possible at a satisfactory level of detail andaccuracy, provided that the necessary data can be acquired and processed.Ultimately, it is hoped that GIS technology will make it possible to model thiscultural link in order to compare the situation in Lao Cai province with othermountainous provinces in northern Vietnam.

NOTES

1 ‘Cartographie ethnique et culturelle de la province de Lao Cai, Vietnam. Un projet pilote.’Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, 1998–2001.

2 Ethnonyms in brackets follow the most common internationally accepted usage for theseethnic groups, and are used throughout this paper.



Documents

Mapping ethnic groups in Lao Cai Province, Vietnam...Lao Chai Ta Phinh Bau Khoang T.T. Sa Pa San Sa Ho Ta Giang Phinh Inh./Sq.km 151 to 200 (3) 91 to 150 (1) 41 to 90 (7) 10 to 40