assam population is an intermixture of mongolians, indo-burmese, indo-iranian and aryan. today assamese culture represents combination of all these races. the native residents of assam are known as “asomiya”. diverse tribes co-exist in assam with most tribes having their own languages. some of the keys tribes of assam are given below:

• bodo, also referred to as boro belong to greater bodo-khachari family and are one of the largest ethnolinguistic group of assam. they mainly speak bodo language with assamese as major second language.

• karbi community is mainly found in hilly region of karbi anglong district and belong to tibeto burman group. they mainly speak karbi language and also well versed with assamese.

• sonowal kacharis belong to bodo kachari family and are of tibeto burman origin. they are mainly inhabitants of dhemaji, north lakhimpur, tinsukia and dibrugarh districts of assam.

• rabha are also of tibeto burman origin and are inhabitants of lower assam and dooars.

• dimasa are mainly found in dima hasao district and also in parts of cachar, karbi anglong, hailakanda and karimganj districs of assam. they speak dimasa, a tibetan burman language.

• tiwas or lalung are recognized as scheduled tribe within assam.