The Khmer Krom (, , , lit. 'Lower Khmers' or 'Southern Khmers'; ) are ethnically Khmer people living in or from the region of Tây Nam Bộ, the south western part of Vietnam. In Vietnam, they are recognized as one of Vietnam's fifty-three ethnic minorities: and (both literally meaning 'Khmer People'). In Khmer, Krom (, ) means 'low' or 'below'. It is added to differentiate from the Khmers in Cambodia. Most Khmer Krom live in Tây Nam Bộ, the southern lowland region of historical Cambodia covering an area of around modern day Ho Chi Minh City and the Mekong Delta, which used to be the southeasternmost territory of the Khmer Empire until its incorporation into Vietnam under the Nguyễn lords in the early 18th century. This marks the final stage of the Vietnamese "March to the South" (Nam tiến). Khmer Krom people have been members of the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO) since 15 July 2001. According to the US-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) "the Khmer Krom people face serious restrictions of freedom of expression, assembly, association, information, and movement". Demographics The majority of Khmer Krom live in Southern Vietnam. According to Vietnamese government figures (2009 census), there are 1,260,640 Khmer Krom in Vietnam. Other estimates vary considerably, with at least 10 million (consistent with the data from Khmer Kampuchea-Krom Federation) to over ten million, reported in Taylor (2014) in his The Khmer lands of Vietnam. A significant number of Khmer Krom also fled to Cambodia, estimated at 1.20 million by one source. In other parts of the world, there are approximately 40,000 Khmer Krom emigrants notably in the United States (30,000), France (3,000), Australia (1,000), Canada (500). Khmer Krom emigrant communities in the US are located near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and in Washington state. Origins The Khmer Krom identify ethnically with the Khmer people who constitute a distinct people at least since the late eighth century and the foundation of the Khmer Empire by Jayavarman II in 802 C.E. They retain deep linguistic, religious, customary and cultural links to Cambodia proper. The Mekong Delta region constituted for more than 800 years an integral part of the empire and the subsequent kingdom. The region's economic center was the city of Prey Nokor, now Ho Chi Minh City. History Absorption of the Mekong Delta by Vietnam In the 17th century a weakened Khmer state left the Mekong Delta poorly administered after