The Newsletter 57 Summer 2011

Betel chewing in Laos

Nguyên Xuân HiênPeter A. Reichart

The global betel chewing community stands at around 600 million. Nguyên Xuân Hiên recently mapped this community, based on on-the-spot, up-to-date observations and surveys during the last decade, and on a review of literature from the last half century. His and Peter A. Reichart’s research categorizes the global betel chewing community into two groups: autochthon and allochthon/ migrant betel chewers. It also shows that Laos is an integral part of the global betel chewing area and in this article, Nguyễn and Reichart shed light on the little-known betel chewing customs of this landlocked nation.

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