A diaspora is a population that is scattered across regions which are separate from its geographic place of origin. Historically, the word was used first in reference to the dispersion of Greeks in the Hellenic world, and later Jews after the Babylonian exile. The word "diaspora" is used today in reference to people who identify with a specific geographic location, but currently reside elsewhere.
The demographics of Malaysia are represented by the multiple ethnic groups that exist in the country. Malaysia's population, according to the 2010 census, is 28,334,000 including non-citizens, which makes it the 42nd most populated country in the world. Of these, 5.72 million live in East Malaysia and 22.5 million live in Peninsular Malaysia. The population distribution is uneven, with some 79% of its citizens concentrated in Peninsular Malaysia, which has an area of 131,598 square kilometres (50,810.27 sq mi), constituting under 40% of the total area of Malaysia.
Overseas Chinese refers to people of Chinese birth or ethnicity who reside outside Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan. As of 2011, there were over 40.3 million overseas Chinese.
Overseas Vietnamese refers to Vietnamese people who live outside Vietnam. There are approximately 5 million overseas Vietnamese, the largest community of whom live in the United States. The oldest wave of overseas Vietnamese left Vietnam as economic and political refugees after the 1975 fall of Saigon and the North Vietnamese annexation of South Vietnam.
Burmese people or Myanma people are citizens or people from Myanmar (Burma), irrespective of their ethnic or religious background. Myanmar is a multi-ethnic, multi-cultural and multi-lingual country. The Burmese government officially recognises 135 ethnic groups, who are grouped into eight 'national races,' namely the Bamar (Burmans), Shan, Karen, Rakhine (Arakanese), Mon, Kachin, Chin, and Kayah (Karenni). Many ethnic and ethnoreligious communities exist outside these defined groupings, such as the Burmese Chinese and Panthay, Burmese Indians, Anglo-Burmese, and Gurkhas.
The Tamil diaspora refers to descendants of the Tamil immigrants who emigrated from their native lands to other parts of the world. They are found primarily in Malaysia, Arab states of the Persian Gulf, South Africa, North America, Western Europe, and Singapore.
The Turkish diaspora refers to ethnic Turkish people who have migrated from, or are the descendants of migrants from, the Republic of Turkey, Northern Cyprus or other modern nation-states that were once part of the former Ottoman Empire. Therefore, the Turkish diaspora is not only formed by people with roots from mainland Anatolia and Eastern Thrace ; rather, it is also formed of Turkish communities which have also left traditional areas of Turkish settlements in the Balkans, the island of Cyprus, the region of Meskhetia in Georgia, and the Arab world.
Overseas Pakistanis, or the Pakistani diaspora, refers to Pakistani people who live outside of Pakistan. These include citizens that have migrated to another country as well as people born abroad of Pakistani descent. According to the Ministry of Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development, approximately 8.8 million Pakistanis live abroad according to December 2017 estimates, with the vast majority, over 4.7 million, residing in the Middle East. The second-largest community, at around 1.2 million, live in the United Kingdom; followed in third place by the United States. According to the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Pakistan has the 6th largest diaspora in the world. In 2021, overseas Pakistanis sent record remittances with growth at 26 percent and levels reaching US$33 billion in 2021.
European emigration is the successive emigration waves from the European continent to other continents. The origins of the various European diasporas can be traced to the people who left the European nation states or stateless ethnic communities on the European continent.
The Punjabi diaspora mainly refers to the descendants of ethnic Punjabis who emigrated out of the Punjab region before Independence of Pakistan and India. The Punjabis who migrated after the independence of both countries are either part of Pakistani diaspora or Indian diaspora, depending on which Punjab they originated from. Punjabis constitute the largest ethnic group in both diasporas. The Punjabi diaspora worldwide is between 2.5 and 10 million, mainly concentrated in the UK, Canada, the United States, Western Europe, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Australia and New Zealand.
The Bangladeshi diaspora are people of Bangladeshi birth, descent or origin who live outside of Bangladesh. First-generation migrants may have moved abroad from Bangladesh for various reasons including better living conditions, to escape poverty, to support their financial condition, or to send money back to families there. The Ministry of Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment estimates there are 13 million Bangladeshis living abroad, the fourth highest among the top 20 countries of origin for international migrants. Annual remittances transferred to Bangladesh were almost $22.1 billion in 2021, the seventh highest in the world and the third highest in South Asia.
Malaysian Telugus, consists of people of full or partial Telugu descent who were born in or immigrated to Malaysia. Most Malaysian Telugus are descended from migrants during the colonial period. While the ancestors of most Malaysian Telugus originate from what is now Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, substantial numbers originated from the states of Orissa and Bengal. While most Telugus came to Malaysia as labourers, some were professionals and traders who arrived as refugees. In the 1930s, anti-Indian riots in Burma resulted in large numbers of ethnic Telugus fleeing from Burma either back to India, or to Thailand and Malaya. Another wave of Telugu migration from Burma occurred during World War II, when the Japanese invaded Burma.
Overseas Indians, officially Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) and Overseas Citizens of India (OCIs) are Indians who live outside of the Republic of India. According to the Government of India, Non-Resident Indians are citizens of India who are not living in the country, while the term People of Indian Origin are people of Indian birth or ancestry who are not citizens of India, but are citizens of other nations and may additionally have Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI), with those having the OCI status known as Overseas Citizens of India. According to a Ministry of External Affairs report, there are 32 million NRIs and OCIs residing outside India and overseas Indians comprise the world's largest overseas diaspora. Every year 2.5 million Indians migrate overseas, which is the highest annual number of migrants in the world.
Pakistanis are the citizens and nationals of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. According to the 2017 Pakistani national census, the population of Pakistan stood at over 213 million people, making it the world's fifth-most populous country. The majority of Pakistanis natively speak languages belonging to the Indo-Iranic family.
The Bengali Hindu diaspora is the worldwide population of the Bengali Hindus of Indian and Bangladeshi origin.
The Malaysian diaspora are Malaysian emigrants from Malaysia and their descendants that reside in a foreign country. Population estimates vary from seven hundred thousand to one million, both descendants of early emigrants from Malaysia, as well as more recent emigrants from Malaysia. The largest of these foreign communities are on the Australian external territory of Christmas Island where they make up the majority as well as significant minorities in Singapore, Australia, Brunei and the United Kingdom.
Malaysians are nationals and citizens who are identified with the country of Malaysia. Although citizens make up the majority of Malaysians, non-citizen residents and overseas Malaysians may also claim a Malaysian identity.
The South Indian diaspora (Tamil: அயலகத் தென்னிந்தியர்) comprises people who have emigrated from South Indian states to other Indian states and other countries, and people of South Indian descent born or residing in other Indian states and other countries.
The Tamil Nadu diaspora comprises people who have emigrated from South Indian state of Tamil Nadu, to other non-Tamil Indian states and other countries, and people of Tamil Nadu descent born or residing in other non-Tamil Indian states and other countries.
