| GEOGRAPHY | |
| Location: | 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 |
| Geographic coordinates: | 2 30 N, 112 30 E |
| Map references: | Southeast Asia |
| 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 |
| Terrain: | coastal plains rising to hills and mountains |
| Elevation extremes: | lowest point: Indian Ocean 0 m highest point: Gunung Kinabalu 4,100 m |
| Natural resources: | tin, petroleum, timber, copper, iron ore, natural gas, bauxite |
| PEOPLE | |
| Population: | 25,274,132 (July 2008 est.) |
| Median age: | 0-14 years: 31.8% (male 4,135,013/female 3,898,761) 15-64 years: 63.3% (male 8,026,755/female 7,965,332) 65 years and over: 4.9% (male 548,970/female 699,302) (2008 est.) |
| Birth rate: | 22.44 births/1,000 population (2008 est.) |
| Death rate | 5.02 deaths/1,000 population (2008 est.) |
| Nationality: | noun: Malaysian(s) adjective: Malaysian |
| Ethnic groups: | Malay 50.4%, Chinese 23.7%, Indigenous 11%, Indian 7.1%, others 7.8% (2004 est.) |
| Religions: | Muslim, Buddhist, Daoist, Hindu, Christian, Sikh; note – in addition, Shamanism is practiced in East Malaysia |
| Languages: | Bahasa Melayu (official), English, Chinese dialects (Cantonese, Mandarin, Hokkien, Hakka, Hainan, Foochow), Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Panjabi, Thai note: in addition, in East Malaysia several indigenous languages are spoken, the largest are Iban and Kadazan |
| GOVERNMENT | |
| Country name: | conventional long form: none conventional short form: Malaysia former: Federation of Malaysia |
| Government type: | constitutional monarchy |
| Capital: | Kuala Lumpur note: Putrajaya is referred to as administrative center not capital; Parliament meets in Kuala Lumpur |
| Administrative divisions: | 13 states (negeri-negeri, singular – negeri) Johor, Kedah, Kelantan, Melaka, Negeri Sembilan, Pahang, Perak, Perlis, Pulau Pinang, Sabah, Sarawak, Selangor, and Terengganu; and one federal territory (wilayah persekutuan) with three components, city of Kuala Lumpur, Labuan, and Putrajaya |
| Independence: | 31 August 1957 (from UK) |
| National holiday: | Independence Day/Malaysia Day, 31 August (1957) |
| Legal system: | based on English common law; judicial review of legislative acts in the Supreme Court at request of supreme head of the federation; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction |
| Flag description: | 14 equal horizontal stripes of red (top) alternating with white (bottom); there is a blue rectangle in the upper hoist-side corner bearing a yellow crescent and a yellow 14-pointed star; the crescent and the star are traditional symbols of Islam; the design was based on the flag of the US |
| ECONOMY | |
| GDP (purchasing power parity): | $361.2 billion (2007 est.) |
| GDP – real growth rate: | 6.3% (2007 est.) |
| GDP – per capita: | purchasing power parity $14,500 (2007 est.) |
| GDP – composition by sector: | agriculture: 9.9% industry: 45.3% services: 44.8% (2007 est.) |
| Budget: revenues: | revenues: $40.69 billion expenditures: $46.7 billion (2007 est.) |
| Public debt: | 41.6% of GDP (2007 est.) |
| Agriculture – 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 industry, electronics, tin mining and smelting, logging and processing timber; Sabah – logging, petroleum production; Sarawak – agriculture processing, petroleum production and refining, logging |
| Exports: | $176.4 billion f.o.b. (2007 est.) |
| Exports – commodities: | electronic equipment, petroleum and liquefied natural gas, wood and wood products, palm oil, rubber, textiles, chemicals |
| Exports – partners: | US 15.6%, Singapore 14.6%, Japan 9.1%, China 8.8%, Thailand 5%, Hong Kong 4.6% (2007) |
| Imports: | $139.1 billion f.o.b. (2007 est.) |
| Imports – commodities: | electronics, machinery, petroleum products, plastics, vehicles, iron and steel products, chemicals |
| Imports – partners: | Japan 13%, China 12.9%, Singapore 11.5%, US 10.8%, Taiwan 5.7%, Thailand 5.3%, South Korea 4.9%, Germany 4.6%, Indonesia 4.2% (2007) |
| Currency code: | MYR |
| Fiscal year: | calendar year |
| COMMUNICATIONS | |
| Telephone system: | general assessment: modern system; international service excellent domestic: good intercity service provided on Peninsular Malaysia mainly by microwave radio relay; adequate intercity microwave radio relay network between Sabah and Sarawak via Brunei; domestic satellite system with 2 earth stations; combined fixed-line and mobile cellular teledensity exceeds 110 per 100 persons international: country code – 60; landing point for several major international submarine cable networks that provide connectivity to Asia, Middle East, and Europe; satellite earth stations – 2 Intelsat (1 Indian Ocean, 1 Pacific Ocean) (2007) |
| Radio broadcast stations: | AM 35, FM 391, shortwave 15 (2001) |
| Internet country code: | .my |
| Internet users: | 15.868 million (2007) |
| TRANSPORTATION | |
| Railways: | total: 1,890 km standard gauge: 57 km 1.435-m gauge (57 km electrified) narrow gauge: 1,833 km 1.000-m gauge (150 km electrified) (2006) |
| Roadways: | total: 98,721 km paved: 80,280 km (including 1,821 km of expressways) unpaved: 18,441 km (2004) |
| Waterways: | 7,200 km note: Peninsular Malaysia 3,200 km, Sabah 1,500 km, Sarawak 2,500 km (2005) |
| Airports: | 116 (2007), 36 with paved runways |
| Ports and harbors: | Bintulu, Johor, Labuan, Lahad Datu, Lumut, Miri, George Town (Penang), Port Kelang, Tanjung Pelepas |
Source: CIA Factbook