_(20672742846).jpg) A Malay bride and bridegroom as seen in a wedding event in the Cocos (Keeling) Islands, 1912. | |
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| 4,000–5,000[1] | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
 Malaysia ( Sabah): ~5,000[1] Australia ( Cocos (Keeling) Islands): 400 | |
| Languages | |
| Cocos Malay, English and Malaysian | |
| Religion | |
| Majority: Sunni Islam[2] | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Bantenese, Betawi people, Javanese people, Malays |
Cocos Malays are a community that form the predominant group of the Cocos (Keeling) Islands, which is now a part of Australia. Today, most of the Cocos Malay can be found in the eastern coast of Sabah, Malaysia, because of diaspora originating from the 1950s during the British colonial period.
Despite that they all have assimilated into the ethnic Malay culture, they are named in reference to the Malay race, originating from different places of the Malay Archipelago such as Bali, Bima, Celebes, Madura, Sumbawa, Timor, Sumatra, Pasir-Kutai, Malacca, Penang, Batavia and Cirebon,[3] as well as South Africa and New Guinea.[4]
- ^ a b Cite error: The named reference
Lee1965was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ https://cocoskeelingislands.com.au/culture-and-language Archived 24 October 2023 at the Wayback Machine [bare URL]
- ^ Mission Atlas Project: Cocos (Keeling) Islands: SnapShot (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 December 2013. Retrieved 24 December 2013 – via worldmap.org.
- ^ Herriman, Nicholas; Irving, David R.M.; Acciaioli, Greg; Winarnita, Monika; Kinajil, Trixie Tangit (25 June 2018). "A group of Southeast Asian descendants wants to be recognised as Indigenous Australians". The Conversation. Archived from the original on 26 July 2019. Retrieved 2 December 2019.