Malayali

The Malayali people (also spelled Malayalee people) are the native speakers of the Malayalam language. They originate from the south of the current Indian state of Kerala. Sometimes they are called Keralites. There are about 39 million people who speak Malayalam as their first language. 34 million of these live in India, about 1 million in the United Arab Emirates. About 55% are Hindus, about 27% are Muslims, and about 19% are Christian.

Malayali people

Total population
c. 39 Million[1]
Regions with significant populations
India	34,838,819[2]
United Arab Emirates	1,014,000[3]
United States	644,097[4]
Kuwait	634,728[5]
Saudi Arabia	595,000[3]
Qatar	445,000[5]
Malaysia	344,000[6]
Oman	195,300[5]
Bahrain	101,556[5]
Australia	53,206[7][8]
Israel	46,600[source?]
United Kingdom	45,264[9]
Canada	28,000[10]
Singapore	26,000[11]
Myanmar	23,000
New Zealand	6,000[source?]
Pakistan	6,000[12]
Germany	5,867[13]
Indonesia	4,000[source?]
Austria	3,784[14]
Maldives	800
Japan	500[15]
Finland	474[16]
Fiji	134
Languages
Malayalam
Religion
Hinduism – 54.73%[17] Islam – 26.56%[17] Christianity – 18.38%[17] Buddhism, Judaism, Atheism and others – 0.33%[17]
Related ethnic groups
Tamils Tuluvas Kodava Kannadigas

The Malayali language is part of the Dravidian language group. The Malayali have their own cooking styles, movies, and form of martial arts, Kalaripayattu.^[18]

The United Nations declared a Malayali dance called Kathakali Intangible Cultural Heritage.^[18]