Background:
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| During the late 18th and 19th centuries, Great Britain established colonies and protectorates in the area of current Malaysia; these were occupied by Japan from 1942 to 1945. In 1948, the British-ruled territories on the Malay Peninsula formed the Federation of Malaya, which became independent in 1957. Malaysia was formed in 1963 when the former British colonies of Singapore and the East Malaysian states of Sabah and Sarawak on the northern coast of Borneo joined the Federation. The first several years of the country's history were marred by a Communist insurgency, Indonesian confrontation with Malaysia, Philippine claims to Sabah, and Singapore's secession from the Federation in 1965. During the 22-year term of Prime Minister MAHATHIR bin Mohamad (1981-2003), Malaysia was successful in diversifying its economy from dependence on exports of raw materials to expansion in manufacturing, services, and tourism. |
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Location:
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| Southeastern Asia, peninsula bordering Thailand and northern one-third of the island of Borneo, bordering Indonesia, Brunei, and the South China Sea, south of Vietnam
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Geographic coordinates:
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2 30 N, 112 30 E
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Map references:
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Area:
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total: 329,847 sq km
country comparison to the world: 73
land:
328,657 sq km
water:
1,190 sq km
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Area - comparative:
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slightly larger than New Mexico
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Land boundaries:
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total: 2,669 km
border countries:
Brunei 381 km, Indonesia 1,782 km, Thailand 506 km
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Coastline:
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4,675 km (Peninsular Malaysia 2,068 km, East Malaysia 2,607 km)
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Maritime claims:
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territorial sea: 12 nm
exclusive economic zone:
200 nm
continental shelf:
200 m depth or to the depth of exploitation; specified boundary in the South China Sea
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Climate:
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tropical; annual southwest (April to October) and northeast (October to February) monsoons
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Terrain:
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coastal plains rising to hills and mountains
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Elevation extremes:
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lowest point: Indian Ocean 0 m
highest point:
Gunung Kinabalu 4,100 m
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Natural resources:
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tin, petroleum, timber, copper, iron ore, natural gas, bauxite
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Land use:
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arable land: 5.46%
permanent crops:
17.54%
other:
77% (2005)
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Irrigated land:
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3,650 sq km (2003)
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Total renewable water resources:
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580 cu km (1999)
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Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural):
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total: 9.02 cu km/yr (17%/21%/62%)
per capita:
356 cu m/yr (2000)
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Natural hazards:
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flooding; landslides; forest fires
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Environment - current issues:
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air pollution from industrial and vehicular emissions; water pollution from raw sewage; deforestation; smoke/haze from Indonesian forest fires
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Environment - international agreements:
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party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Life Conservation, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified:
none of the selected agreements
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Geography - note:
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strategic location along Strait of Malacca and southern South China Sea |
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Population:
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| 25,715,819 (July 2009 est.)
country comparison to the world: 47
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Age structure:
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0-14 years: 31.4% (male 4,153,621/female 3,914,962)
15-64 years:
63.6% (male 8,210,373/female 8,143,043)
65 years and over:
5% (male 569,245/female 724,575) (2009 est.)
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Median age:
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total: 24.9 years
male:
24.3 years
female:
25.6 years (2009 est.)
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Population growth rate:
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1.723% (2009 est.)
country comparison to the world: 78
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Birth rate:
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22.24 births/1,000 population (2009 est.)
country comparison to the world: 84
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Death rate:
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5.02 deaths/1,000 population (July 2009 est.)
country comparison to the world: 190
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Net migration rate:
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NA
note:
does not reflect net flow of an unknown number of illegal immigrants from other countries in the region (2009 est.)
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Urbanization:
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urban population: 70% of total population (2008)
rate of urbanization:
3% annual rate of change (2005-10 est.)
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Sex ratio:
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at birth: 1.07 male(s)/female
under 15 years:
1.06 male(s)/female
15-64 years:
1.01 male(s)/female
65 years and over:
0.79 male(s)/female
total population:
1.01 male(s)/female (2009 est.)
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Infant mortality rate:
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total: 15.87 deaths/1,000 live births
country comparison to the world: 124
male:
18.32 deaths/1,000 live births
female:
13.24 deaths/1,000 live births (2009 est.)
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Life expectancy at birth:
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total population: 73.29 years
country comparison to the world: 108
male:
70.56 years
female:
76.21 years (2009 est.)
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Total fertility rate:
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2.95 children born/woman (2009 est.)
country comparison to the world: 74
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HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:
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0.5% (2007 est.)
country comparison to the world: 78
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HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:
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80,000 (2007 est.)
country comparison to the world: 50
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HIV/AIDS - deaths:
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3,900 (2007 est.)
country comparison to the world: 52
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Major infectious diseases:
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degree of risk: high
food or waterborne diseases:
bacterial diarrhea
vectorborne diseases:
dengue fever and malaria
note:
highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza has been identified in this country; it poses a negligible risk with extremely rare cases possible among US citizens who have close contact with birds
(2009)
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Nationality:
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noun: Malaysian(s)
adjective:
Malaysian
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Ethnic groups:
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Malay 50.4%, Chinese 23.7%, indigenous 11%, Indian 7.1%, others 7.8% (2004 est.)
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Religions:
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Muslim 60.4%, Buddhist 19.2%, Christian 9.1%, Hindu 6.3%, Confucianism, Taoism, other traditional Chinese religions 2.6%, other or unknown 1.5%, none 0.8% (2000 census)
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Languages:
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Bahasa Malaysia (official), English, Chinese (Cantonese, Mandarin, Hokkien, Hakka, Hainan, Foochow), Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Panjabi, Thai
note:
in East Malaysia there are several indigenous languages; most widely spoken are Iban and Kadazan
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Literacy:
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definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population:
88.7%
male:
92%
female:
85.4% (2000 census)
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School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education):
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total: 13 years
male:
12 years
female:
13 years (2005)
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Education expenditures:
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6.2% of GDP (2004)
country comparison to the world: 37
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