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The word "Malay" comes from the Dutch word "Malayo", which comes from the original Malay word "Melayu", the word they use to identify themselves.
The term "Malay" is both generic and specific. Three-quarter scale bronze sculptures 19th C. Malay people, Indonesia, Borneo. The men are readying their roosters for a cockfight. A boy, eating a fruit, is watching them. The central figure, a woman, balances a load of fruit atop her head. Until the 1960s, it was not uncommon for women in BaliThis article is about Bali, the Indonesian island. For other uses of Bali, see Bali (disambiguation). Bali is an Indonesian island. It is located in a chain with Java to the west and Lombok to the east. The island is a popular tourist destination and know, for example, to dress bare-breasted. Antonio Pigafetta's journal 1521Events January 3 Pope Leo X excommunicates Martin Luther. January 28 Diet of Worms begins, lasting until May 25. March 6 Ferdinand Magellan discovers Guam. March 16 Ferdinand Magellan reaches the Philippines. April 7 Ferdinand Magellan arrives at Cebu. records this custom in the Philippines as well. The sculptures can be seen in the Field Museum of Natural HistoryThe Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago, Illinois, USA, sits on Lake Shore Drive next to Lake Michigan, part of a scenic complex called known as the Museum Campus which includes Soldier Field, the football stadium that is the home of the Chicago Be, Chicago
Generally, the name "Malay" is used to describe all the numerous related groups including the Acehnese, Minangs, BatakBatak designates two distinct peoples, one living in Indonesia, the other in the Philippines. Both speak languages of the Austronesian family. The Batak of Indonesia The term "Batak" is used to identify a number of ethnic groups found in the highlands ofs and Mandailing s who live in SumatraSumatra or Sumatera is the sixth largest island of the world (approximately 470,000 kmē) and is part of Indonesia. Geography The longest axis of the island runs approximately northwest southeast, crossing the equator near the center. The interior of the i ; Javanese and Sundanese in Java ; Banjar s, Ibans, Kadazan s and Melanaus in Borneo ; Bugis and Torajan s in Sulawesi; and the various dominant ethnic groups in the Philippines such as the Tagalogs, the Maguindanaoans, the Tausug, the Ilocanos, and the Visayans.
Specifically, this name is also the proper name of the subgroup which is native to the eastern part of Sumatra but migrated to the Malay Peninsula and the Riau Archipelago over the past thousand years or so. Sometimes, but very rarely, this subgroup is called "Riau Malays" to distinguish it as a specific group.
Other groups classified as Malays which live outside what is called the Malay archipelago include the Cham who live in Cambodia and Vietnam and the Utsuls who live on the island of Hainan. Descendants of the Malays could be found today in Sri Lanka, South Africa (the " Cape Malays") and Madagascar. In the latter, they are known as the Merina and one of the dominant ethnic groups in that country.
Surinam, on the north-eastern coast of South America, has a large population of ethnic Javanese.
The languages spoken by the Malays were classified in the Malayo-Polynesian family of languages which is now known as Austronesian family of languages which includes the language spoken by the Merinas in Madagascar, the Maori language in New Zealand and other Polynesian languages such as Samoan and Hawaiian.
In terms of religion, most of the Malays are Muslims; they form the dominant religious group in Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei. Their conversion to Islam from Hinduism and Theravada Buddhism began in the 1400s. Most Malays in Singapore, Thailand, South Africa, Sri Lanka and Surinam are also Muslims. Most Malays in the Philippines have been Christians since the colonization by Spain with the native groups of the southern island of Mindanao and the Sulu chain being mostly Muslim. Like Malays of The Philippines, Malays in East Timor are Christians as a result of the Portuguese rule. Hinduism is the dominant religion in the island of Bali while small groups in other parts of the archipelago practice animism and Buddhism.
See also: Bumiputra, Hinduism in Southeast Asia