Vietnamese is spoken by 60 million people living in Vietnam as well as by a smaller number of ethnic minorities in neighboring Southeast Asian countries such as Cambodia and Laos. Vietnamese has three major dialectical variations: Central, Northern and Southern. It is a tonal language which means that the meaning of its words and sentences may change with the pitch of the speaker's words. Vietnam existed under Chinese rule for many centuries and in as much, there has been a sizable Chinese influence on the Vietnamese language. After the prolonged conflict that brought and end to the French colonial regime and a series of foreign occupations, a movement began which advocated the study of national languages and the development of a consolidated national culture. Vietnamese became the official language of the Republic of Vietnam and is today used in the media, education, and all official business.