The most detailed ancestry breakdown for Southeast Asia

Key Takeaways

23andMe has added 137 new Genetic Groups across Thailand, Myanmar, Malaysia, Laos, Cambodia, Indonesia and Madagascar, our most detailed ancestry breakdown of this part of the world to date.
The new groups trace to specific communities, from the Kachin peoples of Myanmar to the Réunionnais and Seychellois communities of the Indian Ocean.
Most members with ancestry from this region will see at least one of these new Genetic Groups in their Ancestry Composition report.

Today, 23andMe added 137 new Genetic Groups across Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Madagascar and Thailand, rounding out the most detailed ancestry breakdown available for this region yet.

Southeast Asia isn’t one history so much as many histories layered on top of each other, and it’s one of the most genetically intricate regions on Earth. Cambodia’s Khmer Empire once stretched from the Mekong Delta into what is now Thailand and Vietnam. Myanmar’s government officially recognizes 135 distinct ethnic groups within its borders. Further west, Madagascar’s people speak a language whose closest relatives sit nearly 4,000 miles away, across the Indian Ocean in Borneo. Now, 23andMe’s Ancestry Composition report better reflects these diverse stories from a region that has historically been underrepresented in genetic research.

What Are Genetic Groups?

Genetic Groups are part of 23andMe’s Ancestry Composition report. They’re clusters of people who share more recent DNA with one another than with the broader population, usually because their families lived in the same region, city or community for generations. By analyzing shared DNA patterns across thousands of 23andMe members with ancestry from this region, our scientists can identify genetic signatures more specific than a single label like “Thai” or “Indonesian” can capture. Most 23andMe members with ancestry from this region will see at least one new Genetic Group reflected in their results, and 23andMe Premium members can also explore any distant Genetic Group connections they may have to these regions.

Communities Written Into the Update

Some of the 137 new groups trace back to communities whose histories rarely make it onto a genetic map. In Myanmar’s Chin Hills, near the border with India, members can now see if they have connections to specific Chin subgroups, including the Falam, many of whom still speak a dialect known as Falam Chin.

In Cambodia, these new Genetic Groups now distinguish communities across the Khmer heartland, from the Tonlé Sap Basin to the Khmer Krom, a community in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta. A separate new group traces to the Cham, descendants of the once-powerful kingdom of Champa, which ruled along the coast of central Vietnam for centuries.

Madagascar tells one of the more unusual stories in this update. The Malagasy people trace to Austronesian seafarers who reached Madagascar roughly 1,500 years ago, likely sailing from what is now Borneo. Their descendants later mixed with East African populations. That voyage connects Madagascar to the same Austronesian expansion that carried seafaring peoples across the Philippines, Indonesia and the far islands of Polynesia.

Réunionnais and Seychellois communities in this update trace to a much more recent chapter in history. Both Réunion and Seychelles were uninhabited until European colonization began in the 17th and 18th centuries, when French settlers brought enslaved people from East Africa and Madagascar to work sugar and spice plantations. It’s a reminder that many stories can be hidden within a broad Ancestry Composition population.

Rounding Out the Map of Southeast Asia

Southeast Asian and Malagasy communities have historically been underrepresented in genetic research, which has often meant broader labels and fewer specific insights for 23andMe members with roots in the region. This update builds on Genetic Groups 23andMe has already added across Oceania, the Philippines and Vietnam, and makes 23andMe’s Ancestry Composition report the most detailed breakdown available for this part of the world.

None of this would be possible without the 23andMe members who chose to share their family stories and participate in research. There are more stories to be told, and we’re committed to finding ways to tell them with DNA.

Already a 23andMe member? Sign in to see if you have connections to these new Genetic Groups in your Ancestry Composition report.

With this update there are now: