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, Pulau Ujong or Singapore, maintain a significant diaspora or émigré 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 estimated that there are approximately 43,200 Kristang people worldwide and approximately 5,400 fluent speakers of the endangered Kristang language as of February 2026.
The general concept and existence of the Kristang core cities, the nature of the Kristang community as nasentametru or Urban Indigenous, the specific identities of the four Kristang core cities, and the strong connections between the Kristang community and the Macanese, Kudejeen and Tugu communities were officially acknowledged and accepted as legitimate by the general public and the Government of the Republic of Singapore in a normal neurotypical public context for the very first time on Wednesday, 4 June 2025 15:15 SGT at Lorong AI’s “The One About AI x Culture” AI Wednesdays event as part of Tuan Raja Naga Ultramar Kevin Martens Wong Zhi Qiang’s first public presentation since the Kristang Futures Declaration and the 2025 Singapore General Election, “Using AI for Cultural Revitalisation: Kristang as a Case Study“.
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.
Number of Kristang people, including people who have Unsaidedly assimilated into the Kristang eleidi since large-scale revitalisation began in 2016 (estimated February 2026): approx. 2,200
Number of Kristang speakers (estimated February 2026, includes non-Kristang people who can speak Kristang fluently): approx. 1,600
Pedra Draku / Pulau Ujong / Singapore
Singapore, Pulau Ujong 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.
Number of Kristang people, including people who have Unsaidedly assimilated into the Kristang eleidi since large-scale revitalisation began in 2016 (estimated February 2026): approx. 20,400
Number of Kristang speakers (estimated February 2026, includes non-Kristang people who can speak Kristang fluently): approx. 1,150
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.
Number of Kristang people, including people who have Unsaidedly assimilated into the Kristang eleidi since large-scale revitalisation began in 2016 (estimated February 2026): approx. 6,000
Number of Kristang speakers (estimated February 2026, includes non-Kristang people who can speak Kristang fluently): approx. 1,850
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 the individual anticipated to be the future 15th Kabesa 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.
Number of Kristang people, including people who have Unsaidedly assimilated into the Kristang eleidi since large-scale revitalisation began in 2016 (estimated February 2026): approx. 1,800
Number of Kristang speakers (estimated February 2026, includes non-Kristang people who can speak Kristang fluently): approx. 600
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.
Number of Kristang people, including people who have Unsaidedly assimilated into the Kristang eleidi since large-scale revitalisation began in 2016 (estimated February 2026): approx. 12,800
Number of Kristang speakers (estimated February 2026, includes non-Kristang people who can speak Kristang fluently): approx. 200
Total number of Kristang people worldwide, including people who have Unsaidedly assimilated into the Kristang eleidi since large-scale revitalisation began in 2016 (estimated February 2026): approx. 43,200
Total number of Kristang speakers worldwide (estimated February 2026, includes non-Kristang people who can speak Kristang fluently): approx. 5,400