Malay world

The Malay world, also called the Malay realm, Malaysphere, Dunia Melayu or Alam Melayu, is a political and cultural concept whose meaning has changed with the author using it. Depending on the reading, Malay can refer to an ethnic group, a racial category, a linguistic group or a cultural group. The cultural sense rests largely on the influence of Malay culture, carried by the spread of the Malay language and of Islam across Southeast Asia. In its broadest sense the term overlaps with Austronesia, stretching from Easter Island to Madagascar, a usage tied to the old idea of a Malay race. In a narrower sense it means the Malay-speaking lands of Southeast Asia, including Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Southern Thailand. The term is contested in Indonesia and elsewhere because it can be read as politically charged.