Majority of the population, however, belong to several clearly defined racial groups within the country with their own distinct cultures and traditions: Malays, Orang Asli (aboriginal population), Malaysian Chinese (primarily Han Chinese and Peranakans), Malaysian Indians (primarily South Asian Tamils and Chitty).

Following the initial period of Portuguese, Dutch and then significantly longer British colonisation, different waves (or peaks) of immigration and settlement of non-indigenous peoples took place over the course of nearly five centuries and continue today.

World War II in particular gave rise to a desire amongst Malayans to have their country recognised as a fully-fledged sovereign state with a distinct citizenship.

[1] Malaysia does not keep track of emigration and counts of Malaysians abroad are thus only available courtesy of statistics kept by the destination countries.

Classification of 2010 Census ethnic group is as set by Inter-Agency Technical Committee (IATC) in Appendix 1.

IATC is a committee formed to co-ordinate and monitor the implementation and use of standardised codes, classifications and definitions used by the Department of Statistics, Malaysia and other government agencies.