Palaung is a Mon–Khmer language, or actually a dialect cluster, spoken by over half a million people in Burma and neighboring countries. There are three distinct varieties, Shwe (Gold Palaung, De'ang), Ruching (Pale, Silver Palaung), and Rumai, each with their own dialects. A total number of speakers is uncertain; there were 150,000 Shwe speakers in 1982, 272,000 Ruching speakers in 2000, and 139,000 Rumai speakers at an unrecorded date (Ethnologue).