Malaysia
The Malaysia of today is a peaceful nation of many races and ethnicities. The 2000 Census placed the population at roughly 23.27 million. Of this number, bumiputeras are the most numerous ethnic group (broadly speaking), and are defined as those with cultural affinities indigenous to the region and to one another. Technically, this group includes people of the aboriginal groups and ethnic Malays. A smaller segment of the population is nonbumiputera groups such as the Chinese, Indians, Arabs, and Eurasians, most of whom descended from settlers to the region in the past 150 years. It is important to know the difference between the bumiputera and nonbumiputera groups to understand Malaysian politics, which favors the first group in every policy. It is equally important to understand that despite ethnic divisions, each group is considered no less Malaysian.
