They form a significant part of Malaysia's population and Malaysian law considers most of them to be Malays.
The majority of Javanese Malaysians originate from Central Java; the first wave came during the Shailendra era from the sixth to ninth century, then during the Singhasari and Majapahit era from the twelfth to fourteenth century.
There were also migrants from the Dutch East Indies looking for new opportunities in British Malaya.
[4][5] In the present day, they live predominantly in the West Malaysian states of Johor, Perak and Selangor, with significant minorities found in East Malaysia, especially in the states of Sabah and Sarawak.
Most Malaysians of Javanese descent have assimilated into the local Malay culture and speak Malaysian as a native tongue and first language rather than the Javanese language of their ancestors.