Malays (ethnic group)

This article is about the ethnic group. For the race concept, see Malay race. For the Dravidian ethnolinguistic group, see Malayalis.

Malays
Orang Melayu
اورڠ ملايو‎
A Malay couple in traditional attire after their akad nikah (marriage solemnisation) ceremony. The groom is wearing a baju melayu paired with songkok and songket, while the bride wears baju kurung with a tudong.
Total population
30 million
Regions with significant populations
Malay world30 million[Note 1]
Malaysia17,600,000[Note 2][1]
Indonesia8,553,791[Note 3][2][3]
Thailand2,150,950[4]
Singapore545,498[Note 4][5]
Brunei314,560[6]
Diaspora500,000
South Africa330,000[7]
Arab world~50,000[8][9]
Sri Lanka40,189[10]
Australia33,183[11]
United Kingdom~33,000
United States29,431[12]
Myanmar~27,000
Canada16,920[13]
Japan11,287[14]
Languages
Malay
Religion
Predominantly Sunni Islam
Related ethnic groups
Other Austronesian peoples
The Malay tricolour embodies the philosophy of Kemelayuan.

Malays (/məˈleɪ/ mə-LAY; Malay: Orang Melayu, Jawi: أورڠ ملايو‎) are an Austronesian ethnoreligious group native to eastern Sumatra, the Malay Peninsula and coastal Borneo, as well as the smaller islands that lie between these locations. These locations are today part of the countries of Malaysia, Indonesia (eastern and southern Sumatra, Bangka Belitung Islands, West Kalimantan and Riau Islands), the southern part of Thailand (Pattani, Satun, Songkhla, Yala and Narathiwat), Singapore and Brunei Darussalam.

There is considerable linguistic, cultural, artistic and social diversity among the many Malay subgroups, mainly due to hundreds of years of immigration and assimilation of various regional ethnicity and tribes within Maritime Southeast Asia. Historically, the Malay population is descended primarily from the earlier Malayic-speaking Austronesians and Austroasiatic tribes who founded several ancient maritime trading states and kingdoms, notably Brunei, Kedah, Langkasuka, Gangga Negara, Chi Tu, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Pahang, Melayu and Srivijaya.[15][16]

The advent of the Malacca Sultanate in the 15th century triggered a major revolution in Malay history, the significance of which lies in its far-reaching political and cultural legacy. Common definitive markers of Malayness—the religion of Islam, the Malay language and traditions—are thought to have been promulgated during this era, resulting in the ethnogenesis of the Malay as a major ethnoreligious group in the region.[17] In literature, architecture, culinary traditions, traditional dress, performing arts, martial arts and royal court traditions, Malacca set a standard that later Malay sultanates emulated. The golden age of the Malay sultanates in the Malay Peninsula, Sumatra and Borneo saw many of their inhabitants, particularly from various tribal communities like the Batak, Dayak, Orang Asli and the Orang Laut become subject to Islamisation and Malayisation.[18] In the course of history, the term "Malay" has been extended to other ethnic groups within the "Malay world"; this usage is nowadays largely confined to Malaysia and Singapore,[19] where descendants of immigrants from these ethnic group are termed as anak dagang ("traders") and who are predominantly from the Indonesian archipelago such as the Acehnese, Banjarese, Bugis, Mandailing, Minangkabau and Javanese.

Throughout their history, the Malays have been known as a coastal-trading community with fluid cultural characteristics.[20][21] They absorbed, shared and transmitted numerous cultural features of other local ethnic groups, such as those of Minang and Acehnese.


Cite error: There are <ref group=Note> tags on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=Note}} template (see the help page).

  1. ^ "Minister: Census shows Malaysia's oldest man and woman aged 120 and 118; preliminary census findings to be released in Feb 2022". Malaymail. 17 January 2022. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
  2. ^ Ananta et al. 2015, p. 119.
  3. ^ "Ethnic Group (eng)". indonesia.go id. Indonesian Information Portal. 2017. Archived from the original on 21 April 2020. Retrieved 29 December 2020.
  4. ^ "Thailand". World Population Review. 2022. Archived from the original on 20 April 2015. Retrieved 5 May 2015.
  5. ^ "Census of Population 2020|Population" (PDF).
  6. ^ "CIA (B)"
  7. ^ "Malay, Cape in South Africa". Retrieved 21 March 2022.
  8. ^ "Jejak Melayu di bumi anbiya". Archived from the original on 15 September 2018. Retrieved 1 June 2018.
  9. ^ "Jabal Ajyad perkampungan komuniti Melayu di Mekah". Archived from the original on 15 September 2018. Retrieved 1 June 2018.
  10. ^ "A2: Population by ethnic group according to districts, 2012". Census of Population & Housing, 2011. Department of Census & Statistics, Sri Lanka.
  11. ^ "Australia – Ancestry". .id community. Archived from the original on 3 January 2023. Retrieved 28 December 2015.
  12. ^ "Data Access Dissemination Systems (DADS): Results". United States Census Bureau. 5 October 2010. Archived from the original on 27 December 1996. Retrieved 2 December 2018.[verification needed]
  13. ^ "Census Profile, 2016 Census". Statistics Canada. 8 February 2017. Archived from the original on 23 September 2017. Retrieved 23 March 2018.
  14. ^ "在留外国人統計（旧登録外国人統計） 結果の概要 | 出入国在留管理庁".
  15. ^ Milner 2010, pp. 24, 33.
  16. ^ Barnard 2004, pp. 7 & 60.
  17. ^ Melayu Online 2005.
  18. ^ Milner 2010, pp. 200, 232.
  19. ^ Milner 2010, p. 10 & 185.
  20. ^ Milner 2010, p. 131.
  21. ^ Barnard 2004, pp. 7, 32, 33 & 43.