page_title: Malay world
hierarchical_section_title: Malay world
caption_attribution_description: English: Map of Malay world and areas historically influenced by Malay culture.
context_page_description: The Malay world or Malay realm, is a concept or an expression that has been utilised by different authors and groups over time to denote several different notions, derived from varied interpretations of Malayness, either as a racial category, as a linguistic group or as a political-cultural group. The use of the term 'Malay' in much of the conceptualisation is largely based on the prevalent Malay cultural influence, manifested in particular through the spread of Malay language in Southeast Asia as observed by different colonial powers during the Age of Discovery.
  The concept in its broadest territorial stretch may apply to a region synonymous with Austronesia, homeland to the Austronesian peoples, that extends from Easter Island in the east to Madagascar in the west. Such description has its origin in the introduction of the term Malay race in the late 18th century that has been popularised by the orientalists to describe the Austronesian peoples.
context_section_description: The Malay world or Malay realm (Malay: Dunia Melayu or Alam Melayu, Jawi:  دنيا ملايو or عالم ملايو‎), is a concept or an expression that has been utilised by different authors and groups over time to denote several different notions, derived from varied interpretations of Malayness, either as a racial category, as a linguistic group or as a political-cultural group. The use of the term 'Malay' in much of the conceptualisation is largely based on the prevalent Malay cultural influence, manifested in particular through the spread of Malay language in Southeast Asia as observed by different colonial powers during the Age of Discovery.
  The concept in its broadest territorial stretch may apply to a region synonymous with Austronesia, homeland to the Austronesian peoples, that extends from Easter Island in the east to Madagascar in the west. Such description has its origin in the introduction of the term Malay race in the late 18th century that has been popularised by the orientalists to describe the Austronesian peoples. In a narrower sense, the Malay world has been used as a synonym for Malay sprachraum, referring to the Malay-speaking countries and territories of Southeast Asia, where different standards of Malay are the national languages or a variety of it is an important minority language. The term in this sense encompasses Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Southern Thailand, and is sometimes used interchangeably with the concepts of 'Malay Archipelago' and 'Nusantara'.
  Alternatively, modern scholars correct these extended notions of the Malay world, defining it as a political and cultural area instead. In this context, the Malay world is reduced to a region that is homeland to the Malay people, historically ruled by different Malay sultanates, where various Malay dialects and cultural values are predominant. This area includes the Malay Peninsula, the coastal areas of Sumatra and Borneo and the smaller islands in between.
  The most notable use of the concept was in the early 20th century, embraced in an irredentist fashion, by the Malay nationalists in the form of 'Greater Malaya' (Melayu Raya), as an aspiration for the "natural" or desired borders of a modern nation for the Malay race.
  Malay culture has also had an impact on cultures outside of the traditional Malay world most notably in Sri Lanka and on the cuisine of Thailand. In Sri Lanka, Malay cultural influences have had a deep impact on many aspects of modern Sri Lankan culture. Malay culture has deeply influenced Sri Lankan cuisine with many dishes like sambal, dodol and kaha buth having their origins in the Malay archipelago. The Sri Lankan sarong, the Raban, the practice of making batik as well as the traditional use of the outrigger canoe among other things were introduced to Sri Lanka through Malay and Indonesian contact. In Thailand, the country's cuisine has absorbed Malay and Indonesian influences with Indonesian-origin dishes like satay being ubiquitous in the country.
caption:   Countries most often considered to be part of the Malay world
  (Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore)   Countries that have historically been influenced by Malay culture
  (East Timor, the Philippines, Sri Lanka and Thailand)
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