Malaysia has one of the largest ethnic Chinese communities in the world, making up about a quarter of the country’s population. Over the centuries, a distinct Chinese Malaysian culture has developed, which comes to the fore most during the annual Lunar New Year celebrations. 
The Malay Peninsula has had an ethnic Chinese community for at least six hundred years, and there are some 6.4 million Chinese Malaysians today. Due to intermarriage over the generations, many other Malaysians have some Chinese ancestry.
