The Wa people (Wa: Vāx; Burmese: ဝလူမျိုး, [wa̰ lùmjóʊ]; Chinese: 佤族; pinyin: Wǎzú; Thai: ว้า) are a Southeast Asian ethnic group that lives mainly in Northern Myanmar, in the northern part of Shan State and the eastern part of Kachin State, near and along Myanmar's border with China, as well as in China's Yunnan Province. Many of the Wa are animists and a small proportion of the population follows a derivative of either Buddhism or Christianity. The Wa were once known as the "Wild Wa" by the British due to their practice of headhunting.