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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 Indonesian efforts to control 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: 329,750 sq km
land: 328,550 sq km
water: 1,200 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
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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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24,821,286 (July 2007 est.)
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Age structure:
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0-14 years: 32.2% (male 4,118,086/female 3,884,403)
15-64 years: 62.9% (male 7,838,166/female 7,785,833)
65 years and over: 4.8% (male 526,967/female 667,831) (2007 est.)
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Median age:
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total: 24.4 years
male: 23.8 years
female: 25 years (2007 est.)
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Population growth rate:
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1.759% (2007 est.)
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Birth rate:
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22.65 births/1,000 population (2007 est.)
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Death rate:
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5.05 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.)
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Net migration rate:
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0 migrant(s)/1,000 population
note: does not reflect net flow of an unknown number of illegal immigrants from other countries in the region (2007 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: 1.007 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.789 male(s)/female
total population: 1.012 male(s)/female (2007 est.)
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Infant mortality rate:
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total: 16.62 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 19.26 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 13.8 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.)
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Life expectancy at birth:
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total population: 72.76 years
male: 70.05 years
female: 75.65 years (2007 est.)
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Total fertility rate:
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3.01 children born/woman (2007 est.)
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HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:
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0.4% (2003 est.)
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HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:
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52,000 (2003 est.)
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HIV/AIDS - deaths:
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2,000 (2003 est.)
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Major infectious diseases:
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degree of risk: high
food or waterborne diseases: bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever
vectorborne diseases: dengue fever and malaria are high risks in some locations (2007)
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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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This page was last updated on 24 January, 2008
- The Central Intelligence Agency's World Factbook - |
