Bruneian Malays

Bruneian Malay people

A Bruneian Malay bride during her Malam Bebedak pre-wedding ceremony. The Malam Bebedak tradition is unique to the Brunei-Muara District.
Total population
c. 330,000[1] (1999 estimate)
Regions with significant populations
Brunei  Malaysia Sarawak (Miri, Lawas and Limbang) Sabah (Sipitang, Beaufort, Kuala Penyu, Papar, Kota Kinabalu) Labuan
Languages
Brunei Malay and Standard Malay
Religion
Predominantly Sunni Islam (Shafi'i)
Related ethnic groups
Kedayan, Lun Bawang/Lundayeh, other Malays

Bruneian Malays^{[note 1]} (Malay: Orang Melayu Brunei, Jawi: اورڠ ملايو بروني‎) are a native Malay ethnic group that lives in Brunei, the federal territory of Labuan, the southwestern coast of Sabah and the northern parts of Sarawak.^[2][3] The Bruneian Malays are a subgroup of the larger ethnic Malay population found in the other parts of the Malay World, namely Peninsular Malaysia and the central and southern areas of Sarawak including neighbouring lands such as Singapore, Indonesia and Southern Thailand, having visible differences especially in language and culture, even though they are ethnically related to each other and follow the teachings of Islam. All Bruneian Malays who are born or domiciled in East Malaysia even for generations before or after the independence of the states of Sabah and Sarawak from the British Empire through the formation of Malaysia in 1963 are also considered Malaysian Malays in the national census and were in the same status like the Malaysian Malays domiciled in Peninsular Malaysian states and the central and southern parts of Sarawak. They are also defined as a part of the Bumiputera racial classification together as a subgroup within the Malaysian Malay ethnic population along with the Kadazan-Dusuns, Orang Ulu, Ibans, Malaccan Portuguese, Muruts, Orang Sungai, Bajau, Suluks and the Malaysian Siamese.

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