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The Jumma people are composed of 13 main nationalities. According to the
1981 census, the total Jumma population was 590,000, the 350,000 Chakmas
formed the largest of these and they occupy the central and northern parts
of the district, including its capital, Rangamati. The Marmas numbered
about 140,000, live in the southern and north-eastern parts of the CHT
and, like the Chakmas, are Buddhists. The 60,000 or so Tripuras practise
a form of Hinduism, live mostly in the north and are related to similar
peoples in the neighbouring Tripura state of India. Together these three
nationalities make up about 87 per cent of the hill peoples and, in contrast to the
rest of the hillmen, live mainly in the valleys. The other nationalities, numbering
together about 40,000, live mostly in the south, occupying the forested hill
ridges. They include the Tanchangya, Ryang, Murung, Chak, Khumi,
Mro, Khyang, Bonjugi, Pankhu and Lushai peoples. The latter two nationalities
speak a language belonging to the Tibeto-Burmese group. They are of Sino-Tibetan
descent belonging to the Mongolian groups. They closely resemble the people of
the North-East India, Myanmar and Thailand rather than the Bengali population of
Bangladesh who are a "mixed race comprising Australoid, Mongoloid, Caucasoid and
Dravidian strains".
According to the
1981 census the religious orientation and the numbers of the Jummas were as
following.
POPULATION AND RELIGION OF THE JUMMA PEOPLE
| Nationality | Religion | Population |
| Chakmas | Buddhist | 350,000 |
| Marmas | Buddhist | 140,000 |
| Tripuras | Hindu | 60,000 |
| Mros | Animist | 5,000 |
| Tanchangyas | Buddhist | } |
| Ryangs | Animist | } |
| Khumis | Animist/Buddhist | } |
| Chaks | Buddhist | } |
| Murungs | Animist | } 35,000 |
| Khyangs | Buddhist/Christian | } |
| Bunjugis | Christian | } |
| Pankhus | Christian | } |
| Lushais | Christian | } |
In 1981, the indigenous peoples of the Chittagong Hill Tracts
numbered about 590,000 out of a total population of 815,000.
The population of the tracts has increased rapidly since the turn of the
century. In 1901 it numbered 125,000; in 1931 it had increased to just over
210,000 and by 1974 it had reached 508,000. However, despite the
increase, the population density is one-tenth of the rest of Bangladesh.
The hill people still live in widely scattered settlements and there are only
four population centres officially classified as urban: Rangamati, with a
population of 2O,500; Bandarban, with a population of 13,500 and
Chandraghona and Kaptai, the main industrial centres, with populations
of 9,600 and 8,300 respectively.
According to the 1991 census, the total population of the CHT is 974,465.
Of them 501,145 (i.e. 51%) are Jumma people and the rest 473,300 (i.e. 49%)
are Bangladeshi people. It's notable that 70,000 Jumma refugees who were
in Tripura state of India in 1986-1998 were not included in this census.
There was sharp increase of the number of the Bangladeshis between since
1971 due the government's sponsored migration program, while the Jumma
population remained standstill due to persecution and lack of security
of their lives
Sources:
- The Chittagong Hill Tracts: Militarization, Oppression and Hill Tribes, Anti
Slavery International, 1984
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