warga

Warga is a term used in Indonesian and Malay to mean a person or the people as a whole. It is commonly applied to residents or members of a community, and it can also refer to citizens of a country in appropriate contexts.

In Indonesia, warga appears in both everyday language and formal usage. Common phrases include warga negara (citizen) and warga kota or warga desa (city or village residents). The term also features in civic structures such as Rukun Warga (RW), a neighborhood-level community organization that coordinates the residents within a district or locality. The word thus functions as a link between individuals and the social or political units to which they belong.

In Malay-speaking contexts, warga has a similar meaning and is found in phrases such as warganegara (citizen), warga emas (senior citizens), and warga asing (foreign residents). Beyond official language, warga is used to describe the population or community in a neutral, collective sense.

Etymology and usage notes: warga is a native term in Malay and Indonesian, generally used to denote a group of people connected by residence, citizenship, or community ties. While its precise historical origins are not always stated, the word remains a common building block for terms that identify people as a social unit.