The Kristang (otherwise known as "Portuguese-Eurasians" or "Malacca Portuguese") are a creole ethnic group of people of mixed Portuguese and Malaccan descent based in Malaysia and Singapore. People of this ethnicity have, besides Portuguese, a strong Dutch heritage, as well as some British, Chinese and Indian heritage due to intermarriages, which is common among the Kristang. In addition to this due to the Portuguese Inquisition in the region a lot of the Jews of Malacca assimilated into the Kristang community. The creole group arose in Malacca (Malaysia) between the 16th and 17th centuries, when the city was a port and base of the Portuguese Empire. Some descendants speak a distinctive Kristang language or Malacca Portuguese, a creole based on Portuguese. Today the government classifies them as Portuguese Eurasians.