Historical Background
During the late 18th and 19th centuries, Great Britain established colonies and protectorates in the area of current Malaysia after the colonial rule of the Portuguese and Dutch since the 16th Century. These territories were occupied by Japan from 1942 to 1945 during the Second World War.
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 Sabah and Sarawak on the northern coast of Borneo joined the Federation.
Malaysia today is an independent nation and is 51 years old. It has successfully managed to diversify its economy from a dependence on mainly exports of raw materials to expansions in manufacturing, services and tourism.
Geography
Location Southeastern Asia, peninsula bordering Thailand and northern one-third of the island of Borneo, bordering Indonesia. Strategic location along Strait of Malacca and southern South China Sea.
Geographic Coordinates 2 30 N, 112 30 E
Area total: 329,750 sq km ( land: 328,550 sq km , water: 1,200 sq km)
Land Boundaries total: 2,669 km (border countries: Brunei 381 km, Indonesia 1,782 km, Thailand 506 km)
Coastline 4,675 km (Peninsular Malaysia 2,068 km, East Malaysia 2,607 km)
Climate Tropical; annual southwest (April to October) and northeast (October to February) monsoons
Elevation Extreme lowest point: Coastal areas 0 m, highest point: Gunung Kinabalu 4,100 m
Natural Resources tin, petroleum, timber, copper, iron ore, natural gas, bauxite
Land Use arable land: 5.46% , permanent crops: 17.54% , other: 77% (2005)
People
Population 24,821,286 (July 2007 est.)
Demographics (2007 est.)
- 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)
Median (2007 est.)
- total: 24.4 years
- male: 23.8 years
- female: 25 years
Population Growth Rate 1.759% (2007 est.)
Life Expectancy (2007 est.)
- total population: 72.76 years
- male: 70.05 years
- female: 75.65 years
Ethnic Groups Malay 50.4%, Chinese 23.7%, indigenous 11%, Indian 7.1%, others 7.8% (2004 est.)
Religion 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)
Languages spoken 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
Literacy Rate
- definition: age 15 and over can read and write
- total population: 88.7%
- male: 92%
- female: 85.4% (2000 census)
Government
Government Type Constitutional Monarchy
Capital Kuala Lumpur
Economy
Overview Malaysia, a middle-income country, has transformed itself since the 1970s from a producer of raw materials into an emerging multi-sector economy. The country is focusing to move the economy farther up the value-added production chain by attracting investments in high technology industries, medical technology, and pharmaceuticals. Nevertheless, exports - particularly of electronics - continue to drive the economy. As an oil and gas exporter, Malaysia has profited from higher world energy prices, although the rising cost of domestic gasoline and diesel fuel forced Kuala Lumpur to reduce government subsidies.
Malaysia "unpegged" the ringgit from the US dollar in 2005 and the currency appreciated 6% per year against the dollar in 2006-07. Healthy foreign exchange reserves and a small external debt greatly reduce the risk that Malaysia will experience a financial crisis over the near term similar to the one in 1997.
GDP (Real Growth Rate) 5.7% (2007 est.)
GDP per capita USD14,400 (2007 est.)
Labour Force 10.91 million (2007 est.)
Labour Force mix (2005 est.)
- agriculture: 13%
- industry: 36%
- services: 51%
Unemployment Rate 3.1% (2007 est.)
Agricultural Products
- Peninsular Malaysia - rubber, palm oil, cocoa, rice;
- Sabah - subsistence crops, rubber, timber, coconuts, rice;
- Sarawak - rubber, pepper, timber
Industries
- Peninsular Malaysia - rubber and oil palm processing and manufacturing, light manufacturing, electronics, tin mining and smelting, logging, timber processing;
- Sabah - logging, petroleum production;
- Sarawak - agriculture processing, petroleum production and refining, logging
Exchange rate to USD
- Malaysian Ringgit per US dollar – 3.46 (2007), 3.6683 (2006), 3.8 (2005), 3.8 (2004), 3.8 (2003)
Communications
General assessment Modern system; international service excellent
- Telephones (main lines) - 4.342 million (2006)
- Telephones (mobile cellular) - 19.464 million (2006)
- Internet Hosts - 337,674 (2007)
- Internet Users -11.292 million (2006)
For more general facts about Malaysia, go to www.statistics.gov.my (Department of Statistics)
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