, leopard, gaur, water buffalo, and gibbon. The Siamese cat is, as its name implies, indigenous to Thailand. Thailand has more than 50 species of snakes, including several poisonous varieties. Crocodiles are numerous, as are various species of fishes and birds.
             IIIPOPULATION About 75 percent of the inhabitants of Thailand are Thai. The largest minority group consists of the Chinese, who make up about 14 percent of the total population, and most are Thai nationals. Other minority groups include the Malay-speaking Muslims in the south, the hill tribes in the north, and Cambodian (Khmer) and Vietnamese refugees in the east. The population of Thailand is 80 percent rural.
             APopulation Characteristics The population of Thailand is about 59,450,818 (1997 estimate), yielding an overall population density of 116 persons per sq km (300 per sq mi). The population is unevenly distributed, however, with the greatest concentration of people in the central region.
             BPolitical Divisions Thailand is divided into 76 provinces ( changwats). The provinces are furthe
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