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Shan Language




Studies of the Shan people are complicated by the civil war within Myanmar and Anti-immigration laws in Thailand . The number of Shan speakers is not known, in part because the Shan population is unknown. Estimates range from 4 million to 30 million, though it is likely that the true number of Shan is somewhere around 6 million, with the vast majority speaking the Shan language. Many Shan speak local dialects as well as the language of their trading partners. Few can read or write in Shan script.