Malaysians

For other uses, see Malaysian (disambiguation).

For information on the population of Malaysia, see Demographics of Malaysia.

Not to be confused with Malays (ethnic group).

Malaysians

Orang Malaysia (Malay) أورڠ مليسيا‎ (Jawi)
Flag of Malaysia
Map of the Malaysian diaspora around the world
Total population
c. 30–31 million (Malaysian diaspora 1,730,152)
Regions with significant populations
Malaysia 34,973,000 (2017 est.) (excluding the diaspora)
Christmas Island Minority populations	More than 981
Singapore	952,261
Australia	174,136
United Kingdom	84,638
United States	77,647
Brunei	52,001
China	26,248
Canada	25,337
Japan	18,821
New Zealand	8,661
India	12,228
Libya	8,404
Germany	5,676
Ireland	4,595
Netherlands	4,036
Brazil	2,608
Indonesia	2,363
Languages
Malay, English Malayic • North Bornean • Melanau-Kajang • Aslian • Land Dayak • Sama–Bajaw
Religion
Predominantly Islam 63.5% Minority Buddhism 18.7% Christianity 9.1% Hinduism 6.1%
Related ethnic groups
Indonesians

Malaysians (Malay: Orang Malaysia; Jawi: أورڠ مليسيا‎) are citizens who are identified with the country of Malaysia. Although citizens make up the majority of Malaysians, non-citizen residents may also claim a Malaysian identity.

The country is home to people of various national, ethnic and religious origins. As a result, many Malaysians do not equate their nationality with ethnicity, but with citizenship and allegiance to Malaysia. Majority of the population, however, belong to several clearly defined racial groups within the country with their own distinct cultures and traditions: Malays, Orang Asli (aboriginal population), Malaysian Chinese (primarily Han Chinese and Peranakans), Malaysian Indians (primarily South Asian Tamils and Chitty). The majority of the non-Malay and non-aboriginal population in modern Malaysia is made up of immigrants and their descendants. Following the initial period of Portuguese, Dutch and then significantly longer British colonisation, different waves (or peaks) of immigration and settlement of non-indigenous peoples took place over the course of nearly five centuries and continue today.

Malayan independence from the United Kingdom in 1957 grew gradually over the course of latter part of the 20th century since the formation of the Federation of Malaya in 1948 (excluding Crown Colony of Singapore, Crown Colony of North Borneo and Crown Colony of Sarawak). World War II in particular gave rise to a desire amongst Malayans to have their country recognised as a fully-fledged sovereign state with a distinct citizenship.

Population

Main article: Demographics of Malaysia

See also: Immigration to Malaysia

As of 2010, Malaysians make up 0.4% of the world's total population, having relied upon immigration for population growth and social development. Approximately 30% of current Malaysians are first- or second-generation immigrants, and 20 percent of Malaysian residents in the 2000s were not born in Malaysian soil. It is estimated, by 2031, nearly one-half of Malaysians above the age of 15 will be foreign born or have one foreign born parent. Bumiputera, according to the 2010 Malaysian Census, numbered at 17,523,508 or 61.85% of the country's 28,334,135 population.

Citizenship and diaspora

Main articles: Malaysian nationality law and Malaysian diaspora

The Malaysian diaspora has a population of 1,730,152 in 2019, according to the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs. Malaysia does not keep track of emigration and counts of Malaysians abroad are thus only available courtesy of statistics kept by the destination countries. The diaspora includes both descendants of early emigrants from Malaysia, as well as more recent emigrants from Malaysia.

Since independence, a total of 688,766 naturalised foreigners had been granted Malaysian citizenship while 10,828 individuals had their citizenships revoked. The community of Malaysians in Australian external territory of Christmas Island makes up the majority of the population, while Singapore has the largest minority community of Malaysians, with 952,261 people, followed by Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States.

Ethnic groups and citizenship

Main article: Ethnic origins of people in Malaysia

Classification of 2010 Census ethnic group is as set by Inter-Agency Technical Committee (IATC) in Appendix 1. IATC is a committee formed to co-ordinate and monitor the implementation and use of standardised codes, classifications and definitions used by the Department of Statistics, Malaysia and other government agencies. For the purpose of tabulation and analysis, as well as taking into account the diverse ethnic group in Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah, Federal Territory of Labuan and Sarawak, major ethnic groups according to region as follows:

Peninsular Malaysia	Sabah and Federal Territory of Labuan	Sarawak
Malaysian Citizens
Bumiputera Malay	Bumiputera Malay Kadazan-Dusun Bajau Murut	Bumiputera Malay Iban Bidayuh Orang Ulu Melanau
Other Bumiputera Negrito Senoi Melayu Asli / Proto-Malay Bajau Balabak / Molbog Bidayuh Bisaya / Bisayah Bukitan Bulongan Dusun Iban Idah / Ida'an Iranun / Ilanun Jawi Peranakan Kadayan / Kedayan Kadazan Kajang Kanowit Kayan Kejaman Kelabit Kenyah Kristang Lahanan Lisum Lugat Lun Bawang Lundayuh / Lundayeh Malay Bruneian Melanau Murut Orang Sungai / Sungoi Penan Peranakan Punan Rungus Sabup Sekapan Siamese Sian Sipeng Suluk / Tausug Tabun Tagal Tanjong Tidung Ukit Other Sabah Bumiputera Other Sarawak Bumiputera
Other Malays / Anak Dagang Indonesian Malay Acehnese Banjarese Batak Cham Buginese Javanese Mandailing Minangkabau Sundanese Other ethnic groups from Indonesia, Philippines and Thailand
Non-Bumiputera Chinese Cantonese Fuzhounese Hainanese Henghua Fuqing Hokchiu Hokkien Khek / Hakka Guangxi Teochew / Chaoshanese Other Chinese Indian Muslim Indian / Malabari Malayali Punjabi Sikh Sinhalese Tamil Indian Tamil Sri Lankan Telugu Other Indians Others Arab Bangladeshi Burmese Cambodian Cocos Islander Filipino Japanese Korean Nepalese Pakistani Russian Thai Turkish Vietnamese Other Asian Nationality British Danish English French German Irish Italian Scottish Spanish Other European Nationality African American Australian New Zealander Eurasian Other Nationality
Non-Malaysian Citizens (including Permanent Residents)
African Arab Bangladeshi Burmese Chinese nationals East Timorese Filipino Indian nationals Indonesian Iranian Japanese Korean Nepalese Pakistani Sri Lankan Thai Vietnamese Refugee / Refugee Article 1/1951 / United Nations Specialised Agency / United Nations Organisation / Unspecified Nationality Stateless / Stateless Person Article 1/1954 Other Nationality

Information collected in the census including ethnic group and citizenship was based on respondent's answer and did not refer to any official document.

Information on citizenship should be used with caution as it is subject to content and coverage errors especially for non-citizens as in censuses in most countries.

Culture

Language

Main article: Languages of Malaysia

Malaysia contains speakers of 137 living languages, 41 of which are found in Peninsula Malaysia. Malaysian, or Standard Malay, is the official language, while English is considered the de facto language for business. The Bumiputeras speak various Austronesian and Austroasiatic languages as well as smaller language families such as Tai-Kadai and Creoles. Chinese Malaysians predominantly speak varieties of Chinese from the southern provinces of China. The more common varieties in the country are Cantonese, Mandarin, Hokkien, Hakka, Teochew, Hainanese, and Fuzhou. Tamil is the predominant among Indian Malaysians, though languages like Telugu, Malayalam and Punjabi are also spoken.

Religion

The percentage distribution of Malaysian population by religion based on 2010 census.

Main articles: Religion in Malaysia, Islam in Malaysia, Buddhism in Malaysia, Christianity in Malaysia, Hinduism in Malaysia, and Malaysian folk religion

The Malaysian constitution guarantees freedom of religion while making Islam the state religion. According to the Population and Housing Census 2010 figures, ethnicity and religious beliefs correlate highly. Approximately 61.3% of the population practice Islam, 19.8% practice Buddhism, 9.2% Christianity, 6.3% Hinduism and 1.3% practice Confucianism, Taoism and other traditional Chinese religions. 0.7% declared no religion and the remaining 1.4% practised other religions or did not provide any information.

Further reading

• Saw Swee-Hock (6 January 2015), The Population of Malaysia (Second Edition), Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, pp. 220–, ISBN 978-981-4620-36-9