Hmong–Mien languages

This family is also known as Miao–Yao and also Hmongic–Mienic. The Ethnologue ("An encyclopedic reference work cataloging all of the world’s 6,912 known living languages") lists 35 languages in this family—29 Hmongic, 5 Mienic and 1 other. All of these languages are native to China. Pockets also occur among the Northern hills of Thailand, Laos, and Vietnam, with acknowledgment of their Chinese heritage. Since the Vietnam war, Hmong and Mien immigrants representing at least 3 Hmong–Mien languages have immigrated from Laos and Thailand to Western countries.