Overseas Minangkabau

Overseas Minangkabau
Minangkabau Perantauan

Malaysian girls in traditional Minangkabau attire at the Istano Silinduang Bulan, Tanah Datar Regency, West Sumatra, Indonesia.
Languages
Indonesian, Minangkabau, Malay, other Indonesia languages, English
Religion
Islam and Christianity
Related ethnic groups
Native Indonesians, Bumiputera (Malaysia)

The Overseas Minangkabau is a demographic group of Minangkabau people of Minangkabau Highlands origin in Central Sumatra, Indonesia who have settled in other parts of the world.^[1] Over half of the Minangkabau people can be considered overseas Minangkabaus. They make up the majority of the population of Negeri Sembilan (in Malaysia) and Pekanbaru (in Indonesia). They also form a significant minority in the populations of Jakarta, Bandung, Medan, Batam, Surabaya and Palembang in Indonesia as well as Kuala Lumpur, Malacca, Penang, Singapore and Brunei Darussalam in the rest of the Malay world. Minangkabaus have also emigrated as skilled professionals and merchants to the Netherlands, United States, Saudi Arabia and Australia.^[2] The matrilineal culture and economic conditions in West Sumatra have made the Minangkabau people one of the most mobile ethnic group in Maritime Southeast Asia.

The young people usually have to go outside the region after their teens to become traders or students. For most of the Minangkabau people, wandering is an ideal way to reach maturity and success. By moving, wealth and scientific knowledge are gained and the prestige and honor individuals in the midst of indigenous environment.

The immigrants usually send part of the wealth home to be invested in family businesses, such as by expanding the ownership of paddy fields, control of land management, or pick up the rice fields of the spout. Money from the diaspora is also used to improve village facilities, such as mosques, roads, or the rice fields.