Demography

Ethnicity and religion

The Malaysian Census in 2010 reported the population of Malacca City was 484,885.Malays comprised the majority with 273,844, followed by Chinese with 158,828, Indian with 20,310 and others totalling 9,732. Around 22,171 were identified as a Non-Malaysian citizens. Due to a large amount of interracial marriage since the era of the Malacca Sultanate, the city features its own ethnic mixtures of Baba Nyonya, Chitty and Kristang peoples. The Majority of the Malays were Muslims, and the Chinese and Peranakan were either Buddhist, Confucianist, Taoist or followers of other Chinese folk religions. The Indians, including the Chitty, were mainly Hindus while the Kristang were mostly Christian.

The Baba Nyonya are Straits-born Chinese, who have resided for generations since the era of the Malacca Sultanate as traders and intermarried with the local Malay women. They adopted the local culture and the Malay language as part of their lives while at the same time preserving some of their Chinese heritage. The Chitty are also a mixture of Indian traders with local women of various ethnic backgrounds such as Malays, Javanese, Bataks and Chinese. The Kristang exist as a result of marriage between the European Portuguese men with Malay women during the era of Portuguese Malacca.

Languages

The main language spoken in the city is the Malay, although the Baba Nyonya and Chittyhave their own variations of Baba and Chitties creoles respectively.The Malaccan Portuguese have their own version of Portuguese creole, known as Kristang language.