Malaysians

Malaysians are natives and citizens of Malaysia who identify with the country in which they live. Despite the fact that citizens constitute the vast majority of Malaysians, non-citizen residents and Malaysians living abroad may also claim a Malaysian identity.

Various national, ethnic, and religious groups inhabit the country, which is home to a diverse population. A large number of Malaysians, as a consequence, do not identify with their ethnicity, but rather with their citizenship and commitment to the country. The majority of the population, on the other hand, is divided into several clearly defined racial groups within the country, each with their own distinct cultures and traditions: Malays, Orang Asli (aboriginal population), Malaysian Chinese (primarily Han Chinese), Malaysian Indians, and Chinese from other countries (primarily Tamils). A large proportion of the non-Malay and non-aboriginal population in contemporary Malaysia is made up of immigrants and their descendants, rather than native-born Malaysians and their descendants. Since colonisation began with the arrival of the Portuguese, Dutch, and then the substantially longer reign of the British, several waves (or peaks) of immigration and settlement of non-indigenous peoples have occurred throughout the span of almost five centuries and continue now.

Since the foundation of the Federation of Malaya in 1948, Malayan independence from the United Kingdom has grown progressively throughout the course of the twentieth century. In 1957, Malaya gained its independence from the United Kingdom (excluding Crown Colony of Singapore, Crown Colony of North Borneo and Crown Colony of Sarawak). People in Malaya have long desired to have their nation recognised as a fully-fledged sovereign state with its own unique citizenship, and World War II in particular has fueled this ambition.