Malaysia



MALAYS … 213

The people of Malaysia are called Malays. The native-born Malays, known as Bumiputras ("sons of the soil") make up about 60 percent of the total population; people of Chinese descent make up about 30 percent; people of Indian, Pakistani, and Bangladeshi descent are about 10 percent. Hostility between the Malays and Chinese has occasionally erupted into violence. Native groups in Malaysia, known as the Orang Asli (aborigines), number about 50,000. For more information on the Chinese, see the chapter on China in Volume 2; on the Indians, the chapter on India in Volume 4; on the Pakistanis, the chapter on Pakistan in Volume 7; and the Bangladeshis, the chapter on Bangladesh in Volume 1.

User Contributions:

1
joe
Excellent site Malaysia cultural environment starts from the 19 million people which form this extraordinary country. There are several main ethnic groups composed by: Chinese, Indians, Pakistanis and Bangladeshis. There national language is Malay which has basics word formations from Portuguese, Persian, Arabic, English and Sanskrit. Their main religion practiced is Islam’s but they are other religions allowed such, Buddhism, Hinduism, Confucianism and Christianity.

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