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The Karen ( ), also known as the Kayin, are an ethnolinguistic group of peoples who speak Karenic languages and are indigenous to southern and southeastern Myanmar, including the Irrawaddy Delta and Kayin State. The Karen account for around 6.69% of the Burmese population. The Karen consist of approximately 20 subgroups, the largest of whom are the S'gaw and the Pwo peoples. (2025). 9780684806174, Charles Scribner's Sons. ISBN 9780684806174 Other Karenic-speaking peoples like the Pa'O, Karenni people, and the Kayan, have formed distinct identities.
The ethnic identity of the Karen peoples has significantly been shaped by British colonial rule, Christian missionaries, decolonisation, and sociopolitical developments in Myanmar. The group as a whole is heterogeneous and disparate, as many Karenic ethnic groups do not share a common language, culture, religion, or material characteristics. A pan-Karen ethnic identity is a relatively modern creation, established in the 19th century with the conversion of some Karen to Christianity, and mediated by British colonial policies and practices.
Karen insurgent groups, led primarily by the Karen National Union (KNU), have Karen conflict against the Burmese government since early 1949. The original aim of the KNU was to create an independent Karen homeland called Kawthoolei, but since 1976 they have shifted towards calling for a federal system in Myanmar instead. Even so, the KNU has declined invitations to speak with the Burmese junta.
In pre-colonial times, Burmese and Mon kingdoms recognised two general categories of Karen, the Talaing Kayin (တလိုင်းကရင်, ကရေၚ်မန်), who were lowlander Pwo Karens who were recognised as the "original settlers" and essential to Mon people court life, and the Bamar Kayin (ဗမာကရင်, ကရေၚ်ဗမာ), who were highlander S'gaw Karens who were subordinated or assimilated by the Bamar.
During colonial rule, the British adopted "Karen" as a broad label for diverse groups who speak Karenic languages and lived in the periphery of Mon and Burmese-speaking communities. The Burmese government today groups 11 subgroups under the Karen "national race":
The total number of Karen is difficult to estimate. The last reliable census of Myanmar was conducted in 1931. Ethnicity without Meaning, Data without Context- The 2014 Census: Identity and Citizenship in Burma/Myanmar 24 February 2014 www.tni.org, accessed 7 January 2020 A 2006 Voice of America article cites an estimate of seven million Karen in Myanmar.
Due to the ongoing insurgency, hundreds of thousands of Karen fled to refugee camps along the Thai-Burmese border, while many others (numbers unknown) are internally displaced within Kayin State. Some Karen have resettled elsewhere, including North America, Australia, New Zealand, and Scandinavia. In 2011, the Karen diaspora population was estimated to be approximately 67,000. (2013). 9780739184523, Lexington Books. ISBN 9780739184523
128,000 Karen live in Refugee camp on the Thai-Burmese border, the largest of which is Mae La refugee camp, in Tak province, where about 50,000 Karen refugees are hosted. According to BMC, "79% of refugees living in these camps are Karen ethnicity." According to refugee accounts, the camps suffered from overcrowding, disease, and periodic attacks by the Myanmar Army. (2025). 9781439102879, Free Press. ISBN 9781439102879 Their lives are restricted in the camps because they usually cannot go out, and the Thai police might arrest them if they do. Employment for the Karen refugees is scarce and risky. Home/Background/Thailand-Burma Border/Overview www.burmalink.org, updated 6 October 2016, accessed 2 January 2020, Mae Hong Son Province, Thailand.]]There is an established governance system in the camps, which are funded by the United Nations, and other donors. The Karen Refugee Committee governs the day-to-day administration of the camp under the authority of the Thai government which guards entrances and exits to the camp. Within the camp there is a robust school system for children up to high school. In some camps there are college courses organised by the Karen Refugee Committee – Education Entity.
/ref> More than 5,000 Karen live in Nebraska, and the Karen have also resettled in Southern California and central New York.
In 2014, Ler Htoo was sworn in after graduating from the St. Paul Police Academy in Minnesota as the first Karen police officer in the United States. Mu Aye is a young Karen woman who has resettled in San Diego, CA. Aye said, "After growing up in a place like I did, I wanted to become a nurse. I wanted to help sick people ... travel to refugee camps in Thailand and care for people who cannot afford medication." Additionally, Eh De Gray, who graduated from San Diego's Crawford High School, wants to go back to the camps and share his knowledge with the school children. Gray said, "I want to share my knowledge and experiences with them."
According to the legends, the Karen took a long time to cook shellfish at the river of flowing sand, until the Chinese taught the Karens to open the shells so as to acquire the meat. It is estimated by linguists Luce and Lehman that the Tibeto-Burman peoples such as the Karen migrated into present-day Myanmar between 300 and 800 CE. (1995). 9789004099333, BRILL. ISBN 9789004099333
Research indicates that the Karen exhibit signs of genetic isolation, suggesting a distinct genetic lineage separate from neighbouring populations. A study focusing on the Kayah (Red Karen) in Northern Thailand analysed autosomal short tandem repeats (STRs) and Y-chromosomal haplogroups. The findings revealed that the Kayah people are genetically closer to other Southeast Asian populations than to those from Northeast Asia or Tibet.
In 1881 the Karen National Association (KNA) was founded by western-educated Christians Karens to represent Karen interests with the British. Despite its Christian leadership, the KNA sought to unite all Karens of different regional and religious backgrounds into one organisation.Ardeth Maung Thawnghmung, The "Other" Karen in Myanmar: Ethnic Minorities and the Struggle without Arms (UK: Lexington Books, 2012), 29. They argued at the 1917 Montagu–Chelmsford hearings in India that Myanmar was not "yet in a fit state for self-government". Three years later, after submitting a criticism of the 1920 Craddock Reforms, they won 5 (and later 12) seats in the Legislative Council of 130 (expanded to 132) members. The majority Buddhist Karens were not organised until 1939 with the formation of a Buddhist KNA. In 1938 the British Burma recognised Karen New Year as a public holiday.
In January 1947 a delegation of representatives of the Governor's Executive Council headed by Aung San was invited to London to negotiate for the Aung San–Clement Attlee Treaty, but none of the ethnic minority groups was included by the British government. The following month at the Panglong Conference, when an agreement was signed between Aung San as head of the interim Burmese government and the Shan, Kachin and Chin leaders, the Karen were present only as observers; the Mon people and Rakhine people were also absent. (1996). 9781860643545, Tauris Academic Studies. ISBN 9781860643545
The British promised to consider the case of the Karen after the Burma Campaign. While the situation of the Karen was discussed, nothing practical was done before the British left Myanmar. The 1947 Constitution, drawn without Karen participation due to their boycott of the elections to the Constituent Assembly, also failed to address the Karen question specifically and clearly, leaving it to be discussed only after independence. The Shan State and Kayah State states were given the right to secession after 10 years, the Kachin their own state, and the Chin a special division. The Mon and Arakanese of Ministerial Myanmar were not given any consideration.
After the war ended, Myanmar was granted independence in January 1948, and the Karen, led by the KNU, attempted to co-exist peacefully with the Burman ethnic majority. Karen people held leading positions in both the government and the army. In the fall of 1948, the Burmese government, led by U Nu, began raising and arming irregular political militias known as Sitwundan. These militias were under the command of Major Gen. Ne Win and outside the control of the regular army. In January 1949, some of these militias went on a rampage through Karen communities.
The Karen National Union has maintained its structure and purpose from the 1950s onward. The KNU acts as a governmental presence for the Karen people, offering basic social services for those affected by the insurgency, such as Karen refugees or internally displaced Karen. These services include building school systems in Thailand and inside Burma,
by Hayso Thako and Tony Waters providing medical services, regulating trade and commerce, and providing security through the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA), the KNU's army.
Years later, the Karen had become the largest of 20 minority groups participating in an insurgency against the military dictatorship in Yangon. During the 1980s, the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) fighting force numbered approximately 20,000. After an uprising of the people of Myanmar in 1988, known as the 8888 Uprising, the KNLA had accepted those demonstrators in their bases along the border. The dictatorship expanded the army and launched a series of major offensives against the KNLA. By 2006, the KNLA's strength had shrunk to less than 4,000, opposing what is now a 400,000-man Burmese army. However, the political arm of the KNLA – the KNU – continued efforts to resolve the conflict through political means.
Religious tensions within the KNLA worsened conditions, as most front-line soldiers were Buddhists or traditionalists, while their mostly Christian leaders—often Baptists or Seventh-day Adventists—were accused of discrimination, abuse, and using child soldiers. Reports also cited forced recruitment and corruption within the KNLA. Disillusionment and government influence led many fighters to defect to the government-backed Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA) in 1994, which then helped the Burmese military capture the key KNU stronghold of Manerplaw, during the 1995 Fall of Manerplaw.
A new KNU headquarter was established in Mu Aye Pu, on the Burma–Thailand border. In 2004, the BBC, citing aid agencies, estimates that up to 200,000 Karen have been driven from their homes during decades of war, with 160,000 more refugees from Myanmar, mostly Karen, living in on the Thai side of the border.
A 2005 New York Times article on a report by Guy Horton into depredations by the Myanmar Army against the Karen and other groups in eastern Myanmar stated:
Using victims' statements, photographs, maps and film, and advised by legal counsel to the UN tribunal on the former Yugoslavia, he purports to have documented slave labour, systematic rape, the conscription of child soldiers, massacres and the deliberate destruction of villages, food sources and medical services.
Reports as recently as February 2010, state that the Burmese army continues to burn Karen villages, displacing thousands of people. Many Karen, including people such as former KNU secretary Padoh Mahn Sha Lah Phan and his daughter, Zoya Phan, have accused the military government of Myanmar of ethnic cleansing. The US State Department has also cited the Burmese government for suppression of religious freedom.
DKBA officially integrated into Myanmar’s military structure as the Kayin Border Guard Force (BGF) on 18 August 2010. This transition placed the DKBA under the command of the Tatmadaw (Myanmar’s national army), effectively dissolving it as an independent insurgent group.
Buddhism was brought to Pwo-speaking Karens in the late-1700s, and the Yedagon Monastery atop Mount Zwegabin became the leading center of Karen language Buddhist literature. Many millennial sects were founded throughout the 1800s, led by Karen Buddhist minlaung rebels. Two sects, Telakhon (or Telaku) and Leke, were founded in the 1860s. The Telaku sect, founded in Kyaing and considered a Buddhist sect, is a mixture of spirit worship, Karen customs and worship of the future Buddha Maitreya. The Leke sect was founded on the western banks of the Thanlwin River, and is no longer associated with Buddhism (as followers do not venerate Buddhist monks). believe that the future Buddha will return to Earth if they maintain their moral practices (following the Dharma and five precepts), and they practice vegetarianism, hold Saturday services and construct distinct pagodas. Several Buddhist socioreligious movements, both orthodox and heterodox, have arisen in the past century. Duwae, a type of pagoda worship, with animistic origins, is also practised.
There are several prominent Karen Buddhist monks, including U Thuzana (S'gaw), Taung Galay Sayadaw, and Zagara, who was conferred the Agga Maha Saddammajotika title by the Burmese government in 2004.
The Karen of Thailand have their own religion, but some have converted to Buddhism through the efforts of missionaries. In 1965, the Dhammacharik Buddhist missionary program began to convert Thai hill tribes from traditional religions to Buddhism, in order to foster a Thai national identity among them, and to secure their loyalty to Thailand. Its most significant success has been in education, especially by ordaining Karen boys as Samanera and providing them with monastic education, with some eventually attaining college degrees.
Tha Byu, the first convert to Christianity in 1828, was baptism by Rev. George Boardman, an associate of Adoniram Judson, founder of the American Baptist Foreign Mission Society. Today there are Christians belonging to the Catholic Church and various Protestant denominations. Some of the largest Protestant denominations are Baptists and Seventh-day Adventists.
A popular legend among the Karen people concerns a prophecy about a book which had been lost and would be returned by a "white brother". This is held to have been fulfilled when the first American Baptist missionaries brought the Bible to the Karen people, but this legend is probably of nineteenth-century origin.
The Karen Baptist Convention (KBC) was established in 1913. Its headquarters is in Yangon with 20 member associations throughout Myanmar. The KBC operates the KBC Charity Hospital in Insein Township, Yangon. The KBC also operates the Karen Baptist Theological Seminary in Insein. The seminary runs a theology program as well as a secular degree program (Liberal Arts Programme) to fulfill young Karens' intellectual and vocational needs. The Pwo Karen Baptist Convention is in Ahlone Township, Yangon and also operates the Pwo Karen Theological Seminary. There are other schools for Karen people in Myanmar, such as Paku Divinity School in Taungoo, Kothabyu Bible School in Pathein, and Yangon Home Mission School. The Thailand Karen Baptist Convention is in Chiang Mai, Thailand.
The Seventh-day Adventists have built several schools in the Karen refugee camps in Thailand. Eden Valley Academy in Tak Province and Karen Adventist Academy in Mae Hong Son are the two largest Seventh-day Adventist Karen schools.
The don dance is a traditional Karen performance. "Don" roughly translates to "in agreement". The dance is a series of uniform movements accompanied by music played from traditional Karen instruments. During the performance, a "Don Koh" leads the troupe of dancers. The don dance originated from the Pwo Karen, who developed it as a way to reinforce community values.
The sae klee dance or bamboo dance is a traditional Karen performance held during celebrations such as Christmas and New Year's. Performers are typically divided into two groups. One group creates a platform by holding bamboo sticks in a checkered pattern, while the other group dances on top of the platform. Dancers must be careful to avoid stepping into one of the platform's many holes.
Karen National Day is commemorated on 11 February.
Karen Wrist Tying (; ) is an important Karen holiday. This holiday is observed annually in August.
Karen Martyrs' Day ( Ma Tu Ra) commemorates the Karen soldiers who have died fighting for Karen self-determination. It is observed annually on 12 August, the anniversary of the death of Saw Ba U Gyi, the first President of the Karen National Union.Rand, Nelson. "Martyr's Day in Myanmar: Karen rebellion." Asia Times. Asia Times Online, 14 August 2003. Web. 28 April 2016.Core, Paul. "Burma/Myanmar: Challenges of a ceasefire accord in Karen state." Journal of Current Southeast Asian Affairs 28.3 (2009): 95–105.
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