Japan

The people of Japan are called Japanese. The one distinct ethnic group in Japan, the Ainu, live on the Japanese island of Hokkaido.

Japanese

Ainu

Jordan

The people of Jordan are called Jordanians. Most of the population trace their heritage to more than one of the many people that lived in Jordan throughout history, including Greeks, Egyptianss, Persians, Europeans, and Africans.

Jordanians

Kazakstan

The people of Kazakstan are called Kazaks (or Kazakhs). About 38 percent of the population of Kazakstan is Russian; about 6 percent is German; and about 5 percent is Ukrainian.

Kazaks

LOCATION: Kazakstan; China; Uzbekistan; Turkmenistan; Tajikistan.

Kenya

The people of Kenya are called Kenyans. The estimated proportions of the main tribal groups are Gikuyu (Kikuyu), 21 percent; Luhya, 14 percent; Luo, 13 percent; Kalenjin, 11 percent; and Gusii (Kisii), 6 percent.

Kenyans

Gikuyu

Gusii

Kalenjin

Luhya

Luo

Korea, Republic of

The Koreans are believed to be descended from Mongoloid people from the cold northern regions of Central Asia. However, there are two Koreas, North and South.

South Koreans

Kuwait

The people of Kuwait are called Kuwaitis. Forty percent of the residents of Kuwait are citizens of the country; the remainder are divided roughly in half between Arabs and non-Arabs.

Kuwaitis

Kyrgyzstan

The people of Kyrgyzstan are called Kyrgyz. Ethnic Kyrgyz (people who trace their ancestry to Kyrgyzstan) make up more than 50 percent of the population.

Kyrgyz

Laos

The people of Laos are called Laotians. There are officially 68 ethnic groups in Laos.

Lao

Kammu

Latvia

The people of Latvia are called Latvians. More than half the population trace their ancestry to Latvia.

Latvians

Lebanon

The people of Lebanon are called Lebanese. Lebanese are divided into Muslims and Christians.

Lebanese

Maronites

Lesotho

The people of Lesotho are called Sotho (or Basotho).

Sotho

Liberia

The people of Liberia are called Liberians. The country has about 28 ethnic tribes, but tribal divisions are becoming less distinct.

Malinke

Libya

The people of Libya are called Libyans. More than 90 percent of the population identify themselves as Arab, with most of the remaining minority composed of Berbers (general name for North Africans) and black Africans.

Libyans

Liechtenstein

The people of Liechtenstein are called Liechtensteiners. Over 60 percent of the population are descended from people of Switzerland and southwestern Germany.

Liechtensteiners

Lithuania

The people of Lithuania are called Lithuanians. The native-born population is about 80 percent of the total.

Lithuanians

Luxembourg

The people of Luxembourg are called Luxembourgers. Those who are native-born consider themselves a distinct nationality.

Luxembourgers

Macedonia

The people of Macedonia are called Macedonians. About 65 percent of the population trace their ancestry to Macedonia.

Macedonians

Madagascar

The people of Madagascar are called Malagasy. The original immigrants to Madagascar are believed to have come from East Africa.

Malagasy

Malawi

The people of Malawi belong mainly to various groups. About half belong to the Chewa and Nyanja groups, known collectively as Malawi (or Maravi), who arrived in Malawi before the nineteenth century.

Chewa and other Maravi Groups

Malaysia

The people of Malaysia are called Malays. The native-born Malays, known as Bumiputras ("sons of the soil") make up about 60 percent of the total population; people of Chinese descent make up about 30 percent; people of Indian, Pakistani, and Bangladeshi descent are about 10 percent.

Malays

Mali

The people of Mali are called Malians. The main ethnic groups are the Bambara (about 30–35 percent), mostly farmers occupying central Mali; and the Fulani (just over 10 percent) who are of mixed origin.

Malians

Songhay