2,019,600[1] 6.6% of the Malaysian population (2020)[1]
Regions with significant populations
West coast of Peninsular Malaysia
(mostly in Selangor, Negeri Sembilan, Perak, Penang, Kuala Lumpur, Kedah and Johor) Singapore (20,483 in 2010)[2]
Languages
Malaysian Tamil/Tamil (majority) • English • Malay • Manglish (creole) • Melayu Chetty • Other Indian languages such as Punjabi, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, Hindi, Gujarati, Sindhi, and others
Indian Singaporeans, Burmese Indians, Indian Indonesians, Malaysian Malayali, Chitty, Chindians, Indo-Caribbeans, Indians in South Africa, Indo-Fijians, Indo-Mauritians
Malaysian Indians or Indo-Malaysian are Malaysian citizens of Indian or South Asian ancestry. They now form the third-largest group in Malaysia, after the Malays and the Chinese. Most are descendants of those who migrated from India to British Malaya from the mid-19th to the mid-20th centuries.[3][4] Most Malaysian Indians are ethnic Tamils; smaller groups include the Malayalees, Telugus and Punjabis. Malaysian Indians form the fifth-largest community of Overseas Indians in the world.[5] In Malaysia, they represent the third-largest group, constituting 7% of the Malaysian population, after the ethnic Malays and the Chinese.[1] They are usually referred to simply as "Indians" in English, Orang India in Malay, "Yin du ren" in Chinese.
Malaysia's Indian population is notable for its class stratification, with a significant elite and a large low income group within its fold.[6][7] Malaysian Indians large percentage of professionals per capita by constituting 15.5% of Malaysia's professionals in 1999 has been reduced with substantial population close to 40% is now considered the B40 category.[8][6] In the 1984 census, up to 38% of the nation's medical professional workforce consisted of Malaysian Indians, but this has been since been reduced.[8][9] In 1970, the per-capita income of Malaysian Indians was 76% higher than that of the Malay majority.[10] Despite attempts by the Malaysian government to redistribute wealth since the 1970s through institutionalized racial policy,[11][12] by 2005 Malaysian Indians still earned a 27% higher per capita income than that of the dominant Malay community.[10]
^ abcDepartment of Statistics Malaysia (2020). "Current population and estimates, Malaysia 2020 Group". Retrieved 15 July 2020.
^"Census of Population 2010" (PDF). Singapore Department of Statistics. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 October 2016. Retrieved 4 February 2018.
^Viswanathan Selvaratnam (1 May 2021). "From Servitude to Underclass: The Empire's South Indian 'Coolies' in Postcolonial Malaysia". Economic and Political Weekly. 56 (18). The ancestral root of about 80% of Malaysian Indians is in the British Empire's Madras Presidency (now Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala).
^Watson Andaya, Barbara; Andaya, Leonard Y. (2001). A History of Malaysia. University of Hawaii Press. pp. 4, 181–185. ISBN 9780824824259.
^"Indian Diaspora" (PDF). Ministry of External Affairs. 24 November 2023. Retrieved 24 November 2023.
^ abCite error: The named reference malaymail2015 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^"Visiting Indian Diaspora in Malaysia | Diplomacy & Beyond Plus".
^ abM. Shamsul Haque (November 2003). "The Role of the State in Managing Ethnic Tensions in Malaysia" (PDF). American Behavioral Scientist. 47 (3): 240–266. doi:10.1177/0002764203256186. S2CID 53021386.
^Cite error: The named reference :0 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ abSaari, M Yusof; Dietzenbacher, Erik; Los, Bart (2015). "Sources of Income Growth and Inequality Across Ethnic Groups in Malaysia, 1970–2000" (PDF). World Development. 76: 311–328. doi:10.1016/j.worlddev.2015.07.015. Retrieved 29 January 2018.
^Cite error: The named reference :1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Cite error: The named reference :4 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
MalaysianIndians or Indo-Malaysian are Malaysian citizens of Indian or South Asian ancestry. They now form the third-largest group in Malaysia, after...
The MalaysianIndian Congress (MIC; Tamil: மலேசிய இந்திய காங்கிரஸ், romanized: Malēciya Intiya Kāṅkiras; formerly known as Malayan Indian Congress) is...
and its Malaysian dialect are used predominantly by Tamils, who form a majority of MalaysianIndians. It is especially used in Peninsular Malaysia. The Education...
Penangite Indians (Tamil: பினாங்கு இந்தியர்கள்; Malay: Kaum India di Pulau Pinang), also known as Chulias, are MalaysianIndians that live primarily in...
Bumiputera of Sabah and Sarawak, and MalaysianIndians adopt patronymic naming customs. On the other hand, Malaysian Chinese, some Malays and Bumiputera...
considered the original inhabitants of Malaysia, over non-bumiputera such as Malaysian Chinese and MalaysianIndians. These policies provide preferential...
MalaysianIndian cuisine, or the cooking of the ethnic Indian communities in Malaysia, consists of adaptations of authentic dishes from India, as well...
Malays, Orang Asli (aboriginal population), Malaysian Chinese (primarily Han Chinese), MalaysianIndians (primarily Tamils). The majority of the non-Malay...
per woman. Malay fertility rates are 40% higher than MalaysianIndians and 56% higher than Malaysian Chinese. Population projections in 2017 show that the...
Sarawakian Indians are MalaysianIndians that live primarily in the state of Sarawak, Malaysia. Unlike in Peninsular Malaysia, the Indian population in...
a list of notable Malaysians of Indian origin, including original immigrants who obtained Malaysian citizenship and their Malaysian descendants. Entries...
immigrated to Malaysia. Most Malaysian Telugus are descended from migrants from Madras Presidency during the colonial period. Historically, most Malaysian Telugus...
Malaysian cuisine consists of cooking traditions and practices found in Malaysia, and reflects the multi-ethnic makeup of its population. The vast majority...
Sabahan Indian (Tamil: சபா இந்தியர்கள்; Malay: Kaum India di Sabah), are MalaysianIndians that live primarily in the state of Sabah, Malaysia. Unlike...
Malaysian Malayalees, also known as Malayalee Malaysians, are people of Malayali descent who were born in or immigrated to Malaysia from the Malayalam...
in Malaysia is mainly practised by the ethnic Malaysian Chinese, but there are also Malaysian Siamese, Malaysian Sri Lankans and Burmese in Malaysia that...
citizens who are of Malaysian descent. This may include Malaysian Chinese, Malays, MalaysianIndians, Orang Asal, mixed Malaysians and other groups. Malay...
MalaysianIndians have served in the Cabinet of Malaysia since independence and continue to do so. Tun Samy Vellu is one of the longest serving ministers...
migration of hundreds of thousands of ethnic Indians, exacerbated by internal conflict in Myanmar. Burmese Indians today are estimated to account for approximately...
(0.1%). Indians, along with other ethnic groups such as Chinese, began arriving in Malaysia in the ancient and medieval era. In 2010, Malaysian Census...
some Malaysian Chinese and MalaysianIndian minorities. About half of Malaysian Christians are Catholic. Most Christians are found in East Malaysia, where...
Overseas Indians (ISO: Pravāsī Bhāratīya), officially Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) and People of Indian Origin (PIOs) are Indians who reside or originate...
unique as opposed to the Indian diaspora of Peninsular Malaysia and the Asian region in general. A number of Sarawak Indians can be found working as doctors...
of the MalaysianIndian populations in Malaysia were from Indian Tamil ethnic groups from Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka. The bulk of Tamil Malaysian migration...
Minnal FM is a Malaysian state owned Indian language radio station, owned and operated by Radio Televisyen Malaysia. Most of the shows on the Station are...
serve nasi lemak to accompany barbecued seafood. There are Malaysian Chinese and MalaysianIndian versions, as well as Singaporean Malay and Singaporean Chinese...
Chinese Malaysians, also commonly called locally as Malaysian Chinese, are Malaysian citizens of Han Chinese ethnicity. They form the second-largest ethnic...
reported by the media. The Malaysian Ministry of Transport's final report from July 2018 was inconclusive. It highlighted Malaysian ATC's failures to attempt...
instruction. They are primarily attended by MalaysianIndians of Tamil descent. Within the framework of the Malaysian educational system, Tamil primary schools...
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