Ethnic origins of people in Malaysia

Last updated

Given here are the ethnic origins of Malaysian residents (citizens, landed immigrants, and non-citizen temporary residents) as recorded by them on their 2010 census form. The relevant census question asked for "the ethnic or cultural origins" of the respondent's ancestors and not the respondents themselves.

As data were collected by self-declaration, labels may not necessarily describe the true ancestry of respondents. Also note that many respondents acknowledged multiple ancestries. These people were added to the "multiple origin" total for each origin listed. These include responses as varied as a respondent who listed eight different origins and a respondent who answered "Chinese Malaysian" (leading to him/her being counted once for "Chinese" and once for "Malaysian"). As with all self-reported data, understanding of the question may have varied from respondent to respondent.

Classification of 2010 Census ethnic group is as set by Inter-Agency Technical Committee (IATC) in Appendix 1. IATC is a committee formed to co-ordinate and monitor the implementation and use of standardised codes, classifications and definitions used by the Department of Statistics, Malaysia and other government agencies. For the purpose of tabulation and analysis, as well as taking into account the diverse ethnic group in Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah, Federal Territory of Labuan and Sarawak, major ethnic groups according to region as follows:

Peninsular MalaysiaSabah and
Federal Territory of Labuan
Sarawak
Malaysian Citizens
Bumiputera

Malay

Bumiputera

Malay
Kadazan-Dusun
Bajau
Murut

Bumiputera

Malay
Iban
Bidayuh
Orang Ulu
Melanau

Other Bumiputera

  • Negrito
  • Senoi
  • Melayu Asli / Proto-Malay
  • Bajau
  • Balabak / Molbog
  • Bidayuh
  • Bisaya / Bisayah
  • Bukitan
  • Bulongan
  • Dusun
  • Iban
  • Idah / Ida'an
  • Iranun / Ilanun
  • Kadayan / Kedayan
  • Kadazan
  • Kajang
  • Kanowit
  • Kayan
  • Kejaman
  • Kelabit
  • Kenyah
  • Lahanan
  • Lisum
  • Lugat
  • Lun Bawang
  • Lundayuh / Lundayeh
  • Malay Bruneian
  • Melanau
  • Murut
  • Orang Sungai / Sungoi
  • Penan
  • Punan
  • Rungus
  • Sabup
  • Sekapan
  • Sian
  • Siamese
  • Sipeng
  • Suluk / Tausug
  • Tabun
  • Tagal
  • Tanjong
  • Tidung
  • Ukit
  • Other Sabah Bumiputera
  • Other Sarawak Bumiputera

Other Malays/ Anak Dagang
Indonesian

Non-Bumiputera
Chinese

  • Cantonese
  • Foochow
  • Hainanese
  • Henghua
  • Hokchia
  • Hokchiu
  • Hokkien
  • Khek / Hakka
  • Kwongsai
  • Teochew / Chaoshanese
  • Other Chinese

Indian

Others

Non-Malaysian Citizens
(including Permanent Residents)

Information collected in the census including ethnic group and citizenship was based on respondent's answer and did not refer to any official document.

Information on citizenship should be used with caution as it is subject to content and coverage errors especially for non-citizens as in censuses in most countries.

Further reading


Related Research Articles

The terms multiracial people or mixed-race people refer to people who are of more than one race, and the terms multi-ethnic people or ethnically mixed people refer to people who are of more than one ethnicity. A variety of terms have been used both historically and presently for mixed-race people in a variety of contexts, including multiethnic, polyethnic, occasionally bi-ethnic, Métis, Muwallad, Melezi, Coloured, Dougla, half-caste, ʻafakasi, mestizo, mutt, Melungeon, quadroon, octoroon, sambo/zambo, Eurasian, hapa, hāfu, Garifuna, pardo, and Gurans. A number of these once-acceptable terms are now considered offensive, in addition to those that were initially coined for pejorative use.

In the United States census, the U.S. Census Bureau and the Office of Management and Budget define a set of self-identified categories of race and ethnicity chosen by residents, with which they most closely identify. Residents can indicate their origins alongside their race, and are asked specifically whether they are of Hispanic or Latino origin in a separate question.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">American Community Survey</span> Demographic survey in the United States

The American Community Survey (ACS) is an annual demographics survey program conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau. It regularly gathers information previously contained only in the long form of the decennial census, including ancestry, US citizenship status, educational attainment, income, language proficiency, migration, disability, employment, and housing characteristics. These data are used by many public-sector, private-sector, and not-for-profit stakeholders to allocate funding, track shifting demographics, plan for emergencies, and learn about local communities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2001 United Kingdom census</span> Nationwide census in the United Kingdom in 2001

A nationwide census, known as Census 2001, was conducted in the United Kingdom on Sunday, 29 April 2001. This was the 20th UK census and recorded a resident population of 58,789,194.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ethnic origins of people in Canada</span>

According to the 2021 Canadian census, over 450 "ethnic or cultural origins" were self-reported by Canadians. The major panethnic origin groups in Canada are: European (52.5%), North American (22.9%), Asian (19.3%), North American Indigenous (6.1%), African (3.8%), Latin, Central and South American (2.5%), Caribbean (2.1%), Oceanian (0.3%), and Other (6%). Statistics Canada reports that 35.5% of the population reported multiple ethnic origins, thus the overall total is greater than 100%.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Majority minority in the United States</span> Places with less than 50% non-Hispanic white population

In the United States of America, majority-minority area or minority-majority area is a term describing a U.S. state or jurisdiction whose population is composed of less than 50% non-Hispanic whites. Racial data is derived from self-identification questions on the U.S. census and on U.S. Census Bureau estimates.. The term is often used in voting rights law to designate voting districts that are designed under the Voting Rights Act to enable ethnic or language minorities "the opportunity to elect their candidate of choice." In that context, the term was first used by the Supreme Court in 1977. The Court had previously used the term in employment discrimination and labor relations cases.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Asian Australians</span> Australian of Asian ethnicity or ancestry

Asian Australians are Australians of Asian ancestry, including naturalised Australians who are immigrants from various regions in Asia and descendants of such immigrants. At the 2021 census, the proportion of the population identifying as Asian amounted to approximately 17.4 percent with breakdowns of 6.5 percent from Southern and Central Asia, 6.4 percent from North-East Asia, and 4.5 percent from South-East Asia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Race and ethnicity in the United States</span>

The United States has a racially and ethnically diverse population. At the federal level, race and ethnicity have been categorized separately. The most recent United States census recognized five racial categories, as well as people who belong to two or more of the racial categories. The United States also recognizes the broader notion of ethnicity. The 2000 census and 2010 American Community Survey inquired about the "ancestry" of residents, while the 2020 census allowed people to enter their "origins". The Census Bureau also classified respondents as either Hispanic or Latino, identifying as an ethnicity, which comprises the minority group in the nation.

The 2002 Russian census was the first census of the Russian Federation since the dissolution of the Soviet Union, carried out on October 9 through October 16, 2002. It was carried out by the Russian Federal Service of State Statistics (Rosstat).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Demographics of Ontario</span>

Ontario, one of the 13 provinces and territories of Canada, is located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province by a large margin, accounting for nearly 40 percent of all Canadians, and is the second-largest province in total area. Ontario is fourth-largest in total area when the territories of the Northwest Territories and Nunavut are included. It is home to the nation's capital city, Ottawa, and the nation's most populous city, Toronto.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Demographics of Newfoundland and Labrador</span>

Newfoundland and Labrador is a province of Canada on the country's Atlantic coast in northeastern North America. The province has an area of 405,212 square kilometres and a population in 2024 of 541,391, with approximately 95% of the provincial population residing on the Island of Newfoundland, with more than half of the population residing on the Avalon Peninsula. People from Newfoundland and Labrador are called "Newfoundlanders," "Labradorians", or "Newfoundlanders and Labradorians".

The legal and social strictures that define White Americans, and distinguish them from persons who are not considered White by the government and society, have varied throughout the history of the United States. Race is defined as a social and political category within society based on hierarchy.

A number of different systems of classification of ethnicity in the United Kingdom exist. These schemata have been the subject of debate, including about the nature of ethnicity, how or whether it can be categorised, and the relationship between ethnicity, race, and nationality.

Asian people are the people of the continent of Asia. The term may also refer to their descendants. According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, an Asian is “a person of Asian descent”.

American ancestry refers to people in the United States who self-identify their ancestral origin or descent as "American", rather than the more common officially recognized racial and ethnic groups that make up the bulk of the American people. The majority of these respondents are visibly White Americans, who are far removed from and no longer self-identify with their original ethnic ancestral origins. The latter response is attributed to a multitude of generational distance from ancestral lineages, and these tend be Anglo-Americans of English, Scotch-Irish, Welsh, Scottish or other British ancestries, as demographers have observed that those ancestries tend to be recently undercounted in U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey ancestry self-reporting estimates.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Race and ethnicity in censuses</span> Ethnic identity questions on national censuses

Many countries and national censuses currently enumerate or have previously enumerated their populations by race, ethnicity, nationality, or a combination of these characteristics. Different countries have different classifications and census options for race and ethnicity/nationality which are not comparable with data from other countries. In addition, many of the race and ethnicity concepts that appear on national censuses worldwide have their origins in Europe or in the views of Europeans, rather than in the views of the locals of these countries.

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 in Singapore, Australia, Brunei and the United Kingdom.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Malaysians</span> Citizens or people of Malaysia

Malaysians are 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 census in Malaysia, or officially, the Population and Housing Census, is a descriptive count of everyone who is in Malaysia on the Census Day, and of their dwellings. The decennial Malaysian census has been conducted six times, As of 2010. It has been conducted every 10 years, beginning in 1960.

References