Malayalis

This article is about the ethnic group. For the 2009 film, see Malayali (film).
Not to be confused with Malays (ethnic group) or Malaysians.

Malayalis
malayāḷikal
മലയാളികൾ
Malayali men doing Kalaripayattu
Total population
c. 40 million
Regions with significant populations
 India 34,838,819[1]
     ∟Kerala 32,413,213
             ∟Lakshadweep 54,267
                     ∟Rest of India 2,371,339
Significant Malayali diaspora in
 United Arab Emirates1,014,000[2]
 Qatar745,000[3]
 Kuwait634,728[3]
 Saudi Arabia595,000[2]
 Malaysia369,000[4] [better source needed]
 United States300,000[5] [unreliable source?]
 Oman195,300[3]
 Bahrain101,556[3]
 Australia78,738[6][7][8][9]
 Canada77,910[10]
 United Kingdom45,264[11]
 Singapore26,000[12]
 Ireland24,674[13]
 New Zealand9,024[14]
 Pakistan6,000[15]
 Germany25,000-45,000[16]
 France5,000
  Switzerland5,000[17]
 Indonesia4,000[citation needed]
 Poland7,122
 Austria3,785[18]
 Finland633[19]
 Japan500[20]
Languages
Malayalam
Religion
Majority
Hinduism - 54.73%[citation needed]

Minority
Islam (mainly Sunni Islam)- 26.56%[citation needed]
Christianity - 18.38%[citation needed]

Others - <1%[citation needed]
മലയാളം (Malayalam)
Personമലയാളി Malayāḷi
Peopleമലയാളികൾ Malayāḷikaḷ
Languageമലയാളം Malayāḷam
Countryകേരളം Kēraḷam
Part of a series on
Dravidian culture and history
Origin
Indus Valley Civilisation Keezhadi excavation site
History
Dravidian dynasties
Culture
Language
Religion
Regions
People
Politics

The Malayali people (Malayalam: [mɐlɐjaːɭi]; also spelt Malayalee and sometimes known by the demonym Keralite) are a Dravidian ethnolinguistic group originating from the present-day state of Kerala & Union Territory of Lakshadweep in India, occupying its southwestern Malabar coast. They form the majority of the population in Kerala and Lakshadweep. They are predominantly native speakers of the Malayalam language, one of the eleven classical languages of India.[21] The state of Kerala was created in 1956 through the States Reorganisation Act. Prior to that, since the 1800s existed the Kingdom of Travancore, the Kingdom of Cochin, Malabar District, and South Canara of the British India. The Malabar District was annexed by the British through the Third Mysore War (1790–92) from Tipu Sultan. Before that, the Malabar District was under various kingdoms including the Zamorins of Calicut, Kingdom of Tanur, Arakkal kingdom, Kolathunadu, Valluvanad, and Palakkad Rajas.[22][23]

According to the Indian census of 2011, there are approximately 33 million Malayalis in Kerala,[24] making up 97% of the total population of the state. Malayali minorities are also found in the neighboring state of Tamil Nadu, mainly in Kanyakumari district and Nilgiri district and Dakshina Kannada and Kodagu districts of Karnataka and also in other metropolitan areas of India. Over the course of the later half of the 20th century, significant Malayali communities have emerged in Persian Gulf countries, including the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar and Kuwait and to a lesser extent, other developed nations with a primarily immigrant background such as Malaysia, Singapore, the United States (US), the United Kingdom (UK), Australia, New Zealand and Canada. As of 2013, there were an estimated 1.6 million ethnic Malayali expatriates worldwide.[25] The estimated population of Malayalees in Malaysia in year 2020 is approximately 348,000, which makes up 12.5% of the total number of Indian population in Malaysia that makes them the second biggest Indian ethnic group in Malaysia, after the Tamils. Most of the Malayalee population in Malaysia aged 18 to 30 are known to be either the third, fourth, or fifth generation living as a Malaysian citizen. According to A. R. Raja Raja Varma, Malayalam was the name of the place, before it became the name of the language spoken by the people.[26]

  1. ^ "Census of India" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 24 August 2023. Retrieved 18 April 2023.
  2. ^ a b "Kerala Migration Survey - 2014". The Indian Express. (This is the number of approximate emigrants from Kerala, which is closely related to, but different from the actual number of Malayalis.). No. 17 September 2014. Archived from the original on 26 December 2018. Retrieved 21 October 2014.
  3. ^ a b c d Zachariah, K. C. & Rajan, S. Irudaya (2011), Kerala Migration Survey 2011 Archived 10 January 2020 at the Wayback Machine (PDF), Department of Non-resident Keralite Affairs, Government of Kerala, p. 29. This is the number of emigrants from Kerala, which is closely related to but different from the actual number of Malayalis /Malayalees.
  4. ^ "Malayali, Malayalam in Malaysia". Archived from the original on 13 November 2021. Retrieved 17 July 2019.
  5. ^ "FOKANA, About Us". Archived from the original on 29 March 2023. Retrieved 18 April 2023.
  6. ^ "SBS Census Explorer: How diverse is your community?". Archived from the original on 27 March 2023. Retrieved 27 March 2023.
  7. ^ Cite error: The named reference IMMI was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ "In the Australia, 18% of people spoke a language other than English at home in 2011". abs.gov.au/. Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). Archived from the original on 26 December 2018. Retrieved 21 October 2014.
  9. ^ "India-born Malayalam-speaking community in Australia: Some interesting trends". The Times of India. No. 16 July 2014. Archived from the original on 26 December 2018. Retrieved 21 October 2014.
  10. ^ Government of Canada, Statistics Canada (17 August 2022). "Knowledge of languages by age and gender: Canada, provinces and territories, census metropolitan areas and census agglomerations with parts". www12.statcan.gc.ca. Retrieved 12 October 2022.
  11. ^ "Survey finds only 16.25 lakh NoRKs". The Hindu. 31 October 2013. Archived from the original on 24 August 2023. Retrieved 18 December 2017.
  12. ^ "Singapore Malayalee Association 100th Anniversary". 27 December 2018. Archived from the original on 24 August 2023. Retrieved 15 October 2019.
  13. ^ "Irish Census 2022". Archived from the original on 5 August 2020. Retrieved 13 September 2023.
  14. ^ "2018 Census Totals by Topic – National Highlights (Updated)". Statistics New Zealand. 30 April 2020. Retrieved 2 October 2020.
  15. ^ "Where Malayalees once held sway". DNA India. 5 October 2005. Archived from the original on 2 February 2021. Retrieved 11 August 2015.
  16. ^ Muringatheri, Mini (22 September 2023). "Learning German made easy for Keralites". The Hindu.
  17. ^ "With Kerala in their hearts..." Archived from the original on 24 August 2023. Retrieved 17 May 2023.
  18. ^ "Vienna Malayalee Association". Archived from the original on 14 June 2021. Retrieved 21 September 2017.
  19. ^ "Väestö 31.12. Muuttujina Maakunta, Kieli, Ikä, Sukupuoli, Vuosi ja Tiedot". Archived from the original on 7 April 2021. Retrieved 22 July 2019.
  20. ^ "Welcome to Nionkairali.com - Indian Malayalees in Japan- Japan malayalees, Malayali, Keralite, Tokyo". nihonkairali.com. Archived from the original on 7 May 2021. Retrieved 21 September 2017.
  21. ^ "'Classical' status for Malayalam". The Hindu. Thiruvananthapuram, India. 24 May 2013. Archived from the original on 27 September 2013. Retrieved 25 May 2013.
  22. ^ "Travancore." Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2011. Web. 11 November 2011.
  23. ^ Chandra Mallampalli, Christians and Public Life in Colonial South India, 1863–1937: Contending with Marginality, RoutledgeCurzon, 2004, p. 30
  24. ^ Cite error: The named reference Censusedia was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  25. ^ 재외동포현황 총계(2015)/Total number of overseas Koreans (2015). South Korea: Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade. 2015. Archived from the original on 23 April 2019. Retrieved 30 March 2014.
  26. ^ Varma, A.R. Rajaraja (2005). Keralapanineeyam. Kottayam: D C Books. ISBN 81-7130-672-1.