In all, the indigenous peoples of Malaysia represent around 12% of the 28.6 million people in Malaysia.

The Orang Asli are the indigenous peoples of Peninsular Malaysia. They number 150,000, representing a mere 0.6% of the national population. Anthropologists and government officials have traditionally regarded the Orang Asli as consisting of three main groups, comprising several distinct sub-groups: Negrito (Semang), Senoi and Aboriginal-Malay.

In Sarawak, the indigenous peoples are collectively called Orang Ulu or Dayak and include the Iban, Bidayuh, Kenyah, Kayan, Kedayan, Murut, Punan, Bisayah, Kelabit, Berawan and Penan. They constitute around 50% of Sarawak’s population of 2.5 million people.

The 39 different indigenous ethnic groups in Sabah are called natives or Anak Negeri. At present, they account for about 47.4% of the total population of Sabah, a steep drop from the 60% estimated in 2000.

In Sarawak and Sabah, laws introduced by the British during their colonial rule recognizing the customary land rights and customary law of the indigenous peoples are still in place. However, they are not properly implemented, and are even outright ignored by the government, which gives priority to large-scale resource extraction and plantations of private companies over the rights and interests of the indigenous communities.

International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs, The Indigenous World 2011