n.
or Miao
Mountain-dwelling peoples of China, Vietnam, Laos, and Thailand who speak Hmong-Mien languages .
There are also émigré communities in the U.S. Agriculture is the chief means of subsistence for the Hmong throughout their traditional territories; they grow corn (maize) and rice and raise opium as a cash crop. Most venerate spirits, demons, and ancestral ghosts, and animal sacrifice is widespread. Households are multigenerational. In China many Hmong follow the Chinese practice of arranged marriage. Worldwide they number about 9 million.