Malaysians

Not to be confused with Malays (ethnic group).

For other uses, see Malaysian (disambiguation).

Malaysian people
Orang Malaysia

Total population
c. 32–33 million (Malaysian diaspora 700,000–1,000,000)
Regions with significant populations
Malaysia   34,950,000 (2017 est.) (excluding the diaspora)
Christmas Island Minority populations	More than 981
Singapore	385,979
Australia	92,337
Brunei	70,000
United Kingdom	63,000
United States	26,179
China	15,000
New Zealand	14,547
Canada	12,165
Taiwan	10,000
Japan	8,115
United Arab Emirates	6,000
Indonesia	5,000
Qatar	5,000
India	2,500
Languages
Languages of Malaysia
Religion
Religion in Malaysia

Malaysians are the people who are identified with the country of Malaysia, its citizens and their descendants worldwide. This connection may be residential, legal, historical, or cultural. For most Malaysians, several (frequently all) of those types of connections exist and are the source(s) of their being considered Malaysians. Although citizens make up the majority of Malaysians, non-citizen residents and overseas Malaysians 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 ethnolinguistic groups within the country with their own distinct cultures and traditions: Malays, Orang Asli (aboriginal population), Malaysian Chinese (primarily Han Chinese), Malaysian Indians (primarily Tamils). Malays themselves are the source of the name Malaysia ("land of Malays") as they traditionally formed the majority during the British rule. 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 colonization, different waves (or peaks) of immigration and settlement of non-aboriginal peoples took place over the course of nearly five centuries and continue today.

Malayan independence from 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

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.

Immigration

Main article: Immigration to Malaysia

Citizenship and diaspora

Main articles: Malaysian nationality law and Malaysian diaspora

Ethnic ancestry

Main article: Ethnic origins of people in Malaysia

Ethnic groups and citizenship

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
Non-Bumiputera Chinese Cantonese Foochow Hainanese Henghua Hokchia Hokchiu Hokkien Khek / Hakka Kwongsai 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 Indonesian Acehnese Banjarese Batak Buginese Javanese Mandailing Minangkabau Sundanese Japanese Korean Nepalese Pakistani Thai 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, 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 {{citation}}: Cite has empty unknown parameters: |laydate=, |authormask=, and |laysummary= (help)