The sidadi koroza or core cities are the four most major centres of Vramantu Kristang or Kristang civilisation in the twenty-first century, and four most major concentrations of Jenti Kristang or Kristang people in the twenty-first century. The Kristang people are indigenous to the first two core cities of Bara Sejarang or Melaka and Pedra Draku or Singapore, maintain a significant diaspora or emigre presence in the third core city of Praya Bela or Perth, and a significant contemporary and cosmopolitan presence in the fourth core city of Via Argila or Kuala Lumpur; in addition, within Melaka and Singapore, several particular suburbs and neighbourhoods, including Padri sa Chang, Praya Lane, Banda Hilir and Tranquerah in Melaka and Katong, Serangoon Gardens, Balestier, Frankel Ave, Kampung Galistan, Kampung Serani and Bugis St in Singapore have historic significance and connection to the Kristang community. Including Ilastra Nova or the worldwide Kristang diaspora as a fifth concentration of the Kristang people (see below), it is assumed that there are about 37,000 Kristang people worldwide today, of which about 2,000 to 3,000 are native or heritage speakers of the endangered Kristang language.
Each of the five Millennial and Generation Z Kabesa in the Ka-Kabesa leadership heptad is strongly associated with one of the four core cities of the Kristang people and/or the Kristang diaspora, and appears to be unconsciously, sub-consciously or consciously developing a stronger personal connection with that location that supports community reclamation as part of their own process of individuation.
Bara Sejarang / Melaka
Melaka, Malacca or Bara Sejarang (‘Harbour of Declaration’, ‘Historic Harbour’ or ‘Harbour of History’) in Kristang is the Sidadi Koroza Prumiru di Jenti Kristang or First Core City of the Kristang people, and includes the historic Kristang suburbs and neighbourhoods of Padri sa Chang, Praya Lane, Banda Hilir, Tranquerah and others. Melaka was the first city conquered by the invading Portuguese armada led by Afonso du Albuquerque in August 1511, and together with Singapore was the place where the Kristang people first originated as a distinct Creole-Indigenous ethnic group primarily descended from intermarriage between these invading Portuguese colonisers and local Malay residents in Malacca. The Kabesa in the Ka-Kabesa Obsidian quad and Ka-Kabesa leadership heptad associated with Bara Sejarang is Tuan Benji Ultramar Benjamin Harris, the future 14th Kabesa and current 0th Ka-Kabesa Indros.
Pedra Draku / Singapore
Singapore or Pedra Draku (‘Rock of Dragons’ or ‘Dragonsrock’) in Kristang is the Sidadi Koroza Sigundu di Jenti Kristang or Second Core City of the Kristang people, and includes the historic Kristang suburbs and neighbourhoods of Katong, Serangoon Gardens, Balestier, Frankel Ave, Kampung Galistan, Kampung Serani and Bugis St. Together with Melaka in the 16th century, Singapore was one of two places where the Kristang people first originated as a distinct Creole-Indigenous ethnic group primarily descended from intermarriage between these invading Portuguese colonisers and local Malay residents in Malacca, and has been the home of the Kabesa of the Kristang people since the emigration of the 3rd Kabesa Eliza Tessensohn to Singapore from Malacca with her son, the future 4th Kabesa John Edwin Richard Tessensohn, in 1870. The Kabesa associated with Pedra Draku in the Ka-Kabesa Obsidian quad and Ka-Kabesa leadership heptad is Tuan Jaazi Ultramar Jaasir Mahsom s/o Mazhardeen, the future 16th Kabesa and current 0th Ka-Kabesa Vadros.
Praya Bela / Borloo / Perth
Borloo, Perth or Praya Bela (‘Shore of Sails’ or ‘Coast of Sails’) in Kristang is the Sidadi Koroza Treseru di Jenti Kristang or Third Core City of the Kristang people, and has included a very sizeable population of Kristang people since the 1950s and even more so since the 1980s and following the events leading to and surrounding Operation Spectrum in Singapore; it is also anticipated to become home to a future additional wave of Kristang people in 2063. In Kristang, both the original Noongar name(s) for Perth, Borloo, Borlu or Belo, as well as the Kristang name Praya Bela, may be used to refer to the city. The Perth Kristang community was ignored and occluded by academia and the public until 2024, when current 13th Kabesa Tuan Raja Naga Ultramar Kevin Martens Wong Zhi Qiang formally identified Perth as the third core city of the Kristang with the general support of the entire Kristang eleidi starting from Thursday, 9 May 2024. The Kabesa associated with Praya Bela in the Ka-Kabesa Obsidian quad and Ka-Kabesa leadership heptad is thus Tuan Raja Naga Ultramar Kevin Martens Wong Zhi Qiang, the current 13th Kabesa and 0th Ka-Kabesa Ostros.
Via Argila / Kuala Lumpur
Kuala Lumpur or Via Argila (‘Way of Clay’ or ‘Roads of Clay’) in Kristang is the Sidadi Koroza Kwatandu di Jenti Kristang or Fourth Core City of the Kristang people, and has included a sizeable population of Kristang people since the late nineteenth and early twentieth century following a significant amount of Kristang emigration out of Malacca to Kuala Lumpur and Singapore, as well as other cities across Malaya. The increasing visibility, significance and importance of the Kristang community in Kuala Lumpur alongside that of the community in Perth, together with the significant number of Kristang enterprises (especially restaurants and eateries) that together underscore the vitality of Kristang culture, led to Kuala Lumpur being formally identified and acknowledged as the fourth core city of the Kristang community by 15th Kabesa Tuan Lautan Senja Ultramar Nathaniel Jareth Nonis on Friday, 2 May 2025 in full synchronous agreement with the rest of the Ka-Kabesa leadership heptad and the general support of the entire Kristang eleidi. The Kabesa associated with Via Argila in the Ka-Kabesa Obsidian quad and Ka-Kabesa leadership heptad is thus Tuan Lautan Senja Ultramar Nathaniel Jareth Nonis, the future 15th Kabesa and current 0th Ka-Kabesa Sintetos.
Ilastra Nova / New Archipelago / The Kristang Diaspora
The worldwide Kristang diaspora, known as Ilastra Nova (‘New Archipelago’) in Kristang, is the Sidadi Koroza Alabanda di Jenti Kristang or Diaspora or Fifth Core City of the Kristang people, with significant smaller historic or contemporary Kristang communities in the cities of Georgetown, Ipoh, Seremban, Taiping and elsewhere in Malaysia, London in the United Kingdom, Sydney and Brisbane in Australia, and elsewhere around the world; it also includes connections to our sister creole communities in Macau, Tugu, Bangkok, the Philippines, Timor-Leste and elsewhere in Southeast Asia and Australasia. The revitalisation of Kristang culture, identity and language led by Kodrah Kristang has ensured that the worldwide Kristang diaspora has become much more reconnected to and reinvigorated by what it means to be Kristang since 2016, and that public awareness about Kristang continues to expand in many places across the globe. Ilastra Nova finally also represents an actual anticipated fifth future city, Pedra Nova or New Island, which is expected to be founded somewhere in the southern hemisphere in late 2102 or early 2103. The Kabesa associated with Ilastra Nova and Pedra Nova in the Ka-Kabesa leadership heptad is thus the anticipated future founder of Pedra Nova, Tuan Kaki Langit Ultramar Kieran Andre Longue, the future 17th Kabesa and current Ka-Kabesa Argos.