Bumiputera or
Bumiputra (
Jawi: بوميڤوترا) is a
Malaysian term to describe the
Malay race and other
indigenous peoples of
Southeast Asia, and used particularly in Malaysia. The term comes from the
Sanskrit word
bhumiputra (भूमिपुत्र), which can be translated literally as "son of the land" or "son of the soil" (
bhumi= earth or land,
putra=son).