Abstract:The distribution of 30 HLA‐DRB1 alleles in 85 individuals and of 10 HLA‐DQB1 alleles in 91 individuals of the Viet Muong population was studied and compared with those of nine other Asian populations, including 103 Viet Kinh belonging to the major ethnic group in Vietnam. In terms of genetic distance, our data are consistent with a close ethnogeographic relationship between Viet Muong, Buyi and Dai Lue, two Southern Chinese ethnic groups. Conversely, these three populations are distant from the Northern Chinese population. The Viet Kinh belong to an intermediate group, together with North‐eastern Thais, Thais and present day Thais. The striking presence of the HLA‐DQ1*0502 allele (48% frequency) in the Viet Muongs is possibly anthropological or environmental in origin: the Viet Muongs have been submitted to endemic malaria for centuries, and the survivors carry the protective trait of glucose‐6‐phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency. This raises the hypothesis of a possible resistance to lethal or severe forms of the disease, where the association with a specific HLA‐DQB1 allele may play a role.