Malaysia Location:
Physical. Malaysia is located in Southeastern Asia. It is a peninsula and the northern one-third of the island of Borneo. It borders Indonesia and the South China Sea, south of Vietnam. Altogether, Malaysia covers an area slightly larger than New Mexico. The climate there is tropical with yearly monsoons in the southwest (April to October) and the northeast (October to February). The terrain is predominately comprised of coastal plains that rise into hills and mountains. Natural resources include tin, petroleum, copper, iron ore, natural gas, bauxite and timber.
Malaysia Geography:
Geography
Area: 329,750 sq km
Capital: Kuala Lumpur (1,479,000)
Environmental concerns: air pollution, water pollution, deforestation, smoke/haze from Indonesian forest fires
Geographical features: coastal plains rising to hills and mountains
Climate: tropical with annual monsoon in the southwest (April to October) and in the northeast (October to February)
Malaysia People:
People. Almost 24.4 million people live in Malaysia. Behasu Melayu is the official language while English, Chinese dialects, Tamil, and indigenous languages are spoken as well. Ethnically, the Malay and other indigenous groups compose 50% of the population, along with Chinese (24%), Indian (7%), and indigenous groups (11%). The religions practiced in Malaysia include Buddhism, Hinduism, Daoism, Islam, Sikhism, Christianity and traditional beliefs.
24,386,000 (July 2006 est.) Malay (50%), Chinese (24%), Indigenous (11%), Indian (7%), others (8%) (2004 est.)
Annual growth rate: 1.78% (2006 est.)
Major languages are Bahasa Melayu (official), English, Chinese (Cantonese, Mandarin, Hokkien, Hakka, Hainan, Foochow), Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Panjabi, Thai and in East Malaysia there are several indigenous languages—most widely spoken are Iban and Kadazan
Religions: Muslim, Buddhist, Daoist, Hindu, Christian, Sikh; Shamanism is practiced in East Malaysia
Malaysia Government:
Government. Malaysia's capital, Kuala Lumpur, is located midway along the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia. Malaysia has 13 administrative states. Putrajaya is a planned city that acts as a federal government administration center. Malaysia won its independence from the United Kingdom on August 31, 1957. Its constitution was adopted on the same date and later amended in September 1963. Malaysia is a constitutional monarchy, with the paramount ruler and deputy paramount ruler elected by hereditary rulers for five-year terms. The prime minister is the leader of the party with a plurality of seats in the House of Representatives.
Malaysia is a constitutional monarchy.
The chief of state is Paramount Ruler Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin ibni Almarhum Tuanku Syed Putra Jamalullail, the Raja of Perlis (since 12 December 2001). The head of the government is Prime Minister Abdullah bin Ahmad Badawi (since 31 October 2003).
Universal suffrage 21 years of age
Malaysia Communication:
Communication and transportation
4,446,300 (2004) main telephone lines in use
10.04 million (2005) Internet users
71,814 km of roadways
1,890 km (207 km electrified) railroads
117 (2005) airports
3.948 million motor vehicles (2004)
Malaysia Economy:
Economy. Malaysia, a middle-income country, transformed itself from 1971 through the late 1990s from a producer of raw materials into an emerging multi-sector economy. Growth is almost exclusively driven by exports and, as a result Malaysia was hard hit by the global economic downturn in 2001, although fiscal effects were mitigated through aid packages. Although Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and the Iraq War led to caution in business, 2004 saw better than 7% growth followed by 5% in 2005. Benefit from the profits from oil and gas exports (due to higher world-wide energy prices) has been somewhat reduced by the cost of government subsidies for domestic gasoline and diesel fuel. The country's GDP is currently comprised of: agriculture (7%), industry (33%), and services (60%). Healthy foreign exchange reserves, low inflation, and a small external debt add to Malaysian economic stability. The economy remains dependent on continued growth in its top export countries—US, China, and Japan.
Currency: ringgit
Per capita GDP: $12,100 (2005 est.)
GDP: $290.2 billion (2005 est.)
GDP growth rate: 5.3% (2005 est.)
Inflation rate: 2.9% (2005 est.)
Labor force: agriculture (15%), industry (36%) services (50%)
Malaysia More Information:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/malaysia | 
