Kristang people
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| (37,000) | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
 Malaysia (Malacca, Kuala Lumpur, Penang) Singapore
|
|
| Languages | |
| Papia Kristang, English, Malay | |
| Religion | |
| predominantly Roman Catholic, minority Secular | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Eurasian, Portuguese diaspora, Bumiputera, Jews |
The Kristang (otherwise known as "Portuguese-Eurasians" or "Malacca Portuguese") are a creole ethnic group of people of mixed Portuguese and Malaccan descent based in Malaysia and Singapore. People of this ethnicity have, besides Portuguese, a strong Dutch heritage, as well as some British, Malay, Chinese and Indian heritage due to intermarriages, which is common among the Kristang. In addition to this due to the Portuguese Inquisition in the region a lot of the Jews of Malacca assimilated into the Kristang community. The creole group arose in Malacca (Malaysia) between the 16th and 17th centuries, when the city was a port and base of the Portuguese Empire. Some descendants speak a distinctive Kristang language or Malacca Portuguese, a creole based on Portuguese. Today the government classifies them as Portuguese Eurasians.
The Kristang language is formally called Malacca-Melayu Portuguese Creole, made up of elements of each. The Malay language, or Bahasa Melayu, has changed to incorporate many Kristang words. For example, garfu (Portuguese: garfo) is Kristang for "fork" and almari (Portuguese: armário) is Kristang for "cupboard"; the Malay language incorporated these Kristang words whole.
Scholars believe the Kristang community originated in part from liaisons and marriages between Portuguese men (sailors, soldiers, traders, etc.) and local native women. The men came to Malacca during the age of Portuguese explorations, and in the early colonial years, Portuguese women did not settle in the colony. Nowadays intermarriage occurs more frequently between Kristang and people of Chinese and Indian ethnicity rather than Malay because of endogamous religious laws. These require non-Muslims intending to marry Malay-Muslims first to convert to Islam. Eurasians are not always willing to alter their religious and cultural identity in this way. In earlier centuries, Portuguese and local Malays were able to marry without such conversions, because such religious laws did not exist.
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