Malaysia-Singapore: Nyonya women wearing sarong kebaya dress typical of the Peranakan Straits Chinese community, c. 1950

Peranakan Chinese and Baba-Nyonya are terms used for the descendants of late 15th and 16th-century Chinese immigrants to the Malay-Indonesian archipelago of Nusantara during the Colonial era. Members of this community in Malaysia identify themselves as 'Nyonya-Baba' or 'Baba-Nyonya'. Nyonya is the term for the females and Baba for males. It applies especially to the ethnic Chinese populations of the British Straits Settlements of Malaya and the Dutch-controlled island of Java and other locations, who adopted partially or in full Malay-Indonesian customs to become partially assimilated into the local communities. While the term Peranakan is most commonly used among the ethnic Chinese for those of Chinese descent also known as Straits Chinese (____; named after the Straits Settlements), it may also be applied to the Baba-Yaya community in Phuket and other provinces of southern Thailand. (Photo by: Pictures From History/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)