Vietnam is a multi-national state, consisting of 54 ethnic groups. Among them, the Vietnamese people (Kinh) constitute the majority with more than 85% of the population; the smallest groups being the Rơ Măm, Brâu, and Ơ Đu (less than 500 people) [according to 2009 General Census). The community of Vietnamese peoples was founded and developed simultaneously with the thousand-year historical course of building and protecting, thus creating a unified Vietnamese people. Each people with its own unique cultural nuance brought the diversity, variety, distinction and helped forge the Vietnamese cultural identity.

Historically, in the Southern portion, from Quang Binh to Ca Mau lies the inhabiting area of people who spoke Austroasiatic and Austronesian languages. Since the 16th century, Vietnamese and Chinese immigrants have arrived here, colonizing and prospering in this land. After 1975, due to the need of socio-economic development, the distribution of population has dramatically changed in which numerous groups of North Vietnamese peoples have migrated and settled in the South.