Malays
Sign in to saveethnic group native to eastern Sumatra, the Malay Peninsula, the Riau Islands and the coast of Borneo
AI overview
The Malays are an ethnic group native to Southeast Asia, primarily inhabiting eastern Sumatra, the Malay Peninsula, the Riau Islands, and the coast of Borneo. They matter historically and culturally because they form a significant population in this region and have shaped the development of several modern Southeast Asian nations, particularly Malaysia.
AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.
Article
Malays (Malay: Orang Melayu, Jawi script: اورڠ ملايو) are an Austronesian ethnoreligious group native to the Malay Peninsula, eastern Sumatra, coastal Borneo, and the smaller islands that lie between these locations known as Riau Archipelago. These locations are today part of the countries of Malaysia, Indonesia (eastern and southern Sumatra, Bangka Belitung Islands, West Kalimantan, Riau Islands, and the coast of East Kalimantan), the southern part of Thailand (Pattani, Satun, Songkhla, Trang, Krabi, Yala, and Narathiwat), Singapore, Brunei Darussalam, and the southern tip of Myanmar (Tanintharyi).
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.
Gallery (12)
Connections
Categories
Austronesian peoplesEthnic groups divided by international bordersEthnic groups in BahrainEthnic groups in BruneiEthnic groups in IndonesiaEthnic groups in JordanEthnic groups in LebanonEthnic groups in SabahEthnic groups in SarawakEthnic groups in Saudi ArabiaEthnic groups in SingaporeEthnic groups in Southeast Asia