Malay Indonesians
Orang Melayu Indonesia ملايو ايندونيسيا | |
|---|---|
A Riau Malay couple enjoying the traditional Gambus. The background panel incorporates the palettes of the Malay tricolour. | |
| Total population | |
| 8,753,791 (2010) | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Indonesia | 8,753,791 (2010) |
| South Sumatra | 3,139,000 |
| Riau | 2,880,240 |
| West Kalimantan | 1,259,890 |
| Bangka Belitung | 936,000 |
| Jambi | 914,660 |
| Riau Islands | 600,108 |
| North Sumatra | 582,100 |
| Lampung | 269,240 |
| West Java | 190,224 |
| Jakarta | 165,039 |
| Bengkulu | 125,120 |
| Central Kalimantan | 87,222 |
| East Kalimantan | 84,468 |
| North Kalimantan | 64,881 |
| Languages | |
| Native Malay (numerous vernacular varieties) Also Indonesian standard i.e. based on the Riau dialect | |
| Religion | |
| Predominantly Sunni Islam (98.77%) Minorities Christians (Protestant and Roman Catholic) (0,98%) • Vajrayana Buddhist (0,22%) • Confucianism (0.014%) • Hindu (0.011%) • Other (0.003%) | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
Malay Indonesians (Malay/Indonesian: Orang Melayu Indonesia; Jawi: اورڠ ملايو ايندونيسيا) are ethnic Malays living throughout Indonesia. They are one of the indigenous peoples of the country. Indonesian, the national language of Indonesia, is a standardized form of Riau Malay. There were numerous kingdoms associated with the Indonesian Malays along with other ethnicities in what is now Indonesia, mainly on the islands of Borneo and Sumatra. These included Srivijaya, the Melayu Kingdom, Dharmasraya, the Sultanate of Deli, the Sultanate of Siak Sri Indrapura, the Riau-Lingga Sultanate, the Sultanate of Bulungan, Pontianak Sultanate, and the Sultanate of Sambas. The 2010 census states that there are 8 million Malays in Indonesia; this number comes from the classification of Malays in East Sumatra and the coast of Kalimantan which is recognized by the Indonesian government. This classification is different from the Malaysia and Singapore census which classify Malays as a broader racial category, which aside from the core ethnic Malays also includes all Muslim ethnic groups from the Indonesian archipelago (inc. Acehnese, Banjarese, Bugis, Mandailing, Minangkabau and Javanese) as Malays.