| 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: | 33.5 million (July 2021 est.) |
| Age structure: | 0-14 years: 26.8% (male 4,504,562/female 4,246,681)
15-24 years: 16.63% (male 2,760,244/female 2,670,186) 25-54 years: 40.86% (male 6,737,826/female 6,604,776) 55-64 years: 8.81% (male 1,458,038/female 1,418,280) 65 years and over: 6.9% (male 1,066,627/female 1,184,863) (2020 est.) |
| Birth rate: | 14.72 births/1,000 population (2021 est.) |
| Death rate | 5.66 deaths/1,000 population (2021 est.) |
| Nationality: | noun: Malaysian(s) adjective: Malaysian |
| Ethnic groups: | Bumiputera 62.5% (Malays and indigenous peoples), Chinese 20.6%, Indian 6.2%, other 0.9%, non-citizens 9.8% (2019 est.) |
| Religions: | Muslim, Buddhist,Hindu, Christian, Daoist, 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): | $855.6 billion note: data are in 2017 dollars (2020 est.) |
| GDP – real growth rate: | 4.31% (2019 est.) |
| GDP – per capita: | $26,400 note: data are in 2017 dollars (2020 est.) |
| GDP – composition by sector: | agriculture: 8.8% (2017 est.) industry: 37.6% (2017 est.) services: 53.6% (2017 est.) |
| Budget: | revenues: 51.25 billion (2017 est.) expenditures: 60.63 billion (2017 est.) |
| Public debt: | 54.1% of GDP (2017 est.) |
| Agriculture – products: | oil palm fruit, rice, poultry, eggs, vegetables, rubber, coconuts, bananas, pineapples, pork |
| Industries: | Peninsular Malaysia – rubber and oil palm processing and manufacturing, petroleum and natural gas, light manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, medical technology, electronics and semiconductors, timber processing;Sabah – logging, petroleum and natural gas production;Sarawak – agriculture processing, petroleum and natural gas production, logging |
| Exports: | $207.37 billion note: data are in current year dollars (2020 est.) |
| Exports – commodities: | integrated circuits, refined petroleum, natural gas, semiconductors, palm oil (2019) |
| Exports – partners: | Singapore 13%, China 13%, United States 11%, Hong Kong 6%, Japan 6%, Thailand 5% (2019) |
| Imports: | $185.59 billion note: data are in current year dollars (2020 est.) |
| Imports – commodities: | integrated circuits, refined petroleum, crude petroleum, broadcasting equipment, coal (2019) |
| Imports – partners: | China 24%, Singapore 14%, Japan 6%, United States 6%, Taiwan 5%, Thailand 5% (2019) |
| Currency code: | MYR |
| Fiscal year: | calendar year |
| COMMUNICATIONS | |
| Telephone system: | general assessment:one of the most advanced telecom networks in the developing world; strong commitment to developing a technological society; Malaysia is promoting itself as an information tech hub in the Asian region; closing the urban rural divide; 4G and 5G networks with strong competition, mobile dominance over fixed-broadband; government development of five-year fiber and connectivity plan; some of Malaysia’s key exports are integrated circuits and broadcasting equipment to North America and China; importer of integrated circuits from Singapore and China (2021)
domestic: fixed-line 20 per 100 and mobile-cellular teledensity exceeds 140 per 100 persons; domestic satellite system with 2 earth stations (2019) international: country code – 60; landing points for BBG, FEA, SAFE, SeaMeWe-3 & 4 & 5, AAE-1, JASUKA, BDM, Dumai-Melaka Cable System, BRCS, ACE, AAG, East-West Submarine Cable System, SEAX-1, SKR1M, APCN-2, APG, BtoBe, BaSICS, and Labuan-Brunei Submarine and MCT submarine cables providing connectivity to Asia, the Middle East, Southeast Asia, Australia and Europe; satellite earth stations – 2 Intelsat (1 Indian Ocean, 1 Pacific Ocean); launch of Kacific-1 satellite in 2019 (2019) |
| Broadcast media: | state-owned TV broadcaster operates 2 TV networks with relays throughout the country, and the leading private commercial media group operates 4 TV stations with numerous relays throughout the country; satellite TV subscription service is available; state-owned radio broadcaster operates multiple national networks, as well as regional and local stations; many private commercial radio broadcasters and some subscription satellite radio services are available; about 55 radio stations overall (2019) |
| Internet country code: | .my |
| Internet users: | total: 25,829,444 percent of population: 81.2% (July 2018 est.) |
| TRANSPORTATION | |
| Railways: | total: 1,851 km (2014) standard gauge: 59 km 1.435-m gauge (59 km electrified) (2014) narrow gauge: 1,792 km 1.000-m gauge (339 km electrified) (2014) |
| Roadways: | total: 144,403 km (excludes local roads) (2010) paved: 116,169 km (includes 1,821 km of expressways) (2010) unpaved: 28,234 km (2010) |
| Waterways: | 7,200 km (Peninsular Malaysia 3,200 km; Sabah 1,500 km; Sarawak 2,500 km) (2011) |
| Airports: | total: 114 (2013) – 39 with paved runways |
| Ports and terminals: | major seaport(s): Bintulu, Johor Bahru, George Town (Penang), Port Kelang (Port Klang), Tanjung Pelepas
container port(s) (TEUs): Port Kelang (Port Klang) (13,580,717), Tanjung Pelepas (9,100,000) (2019) LNG terminal(s) (export): Bintulu (Sarawak) LNG terminal(s) (import): Sungei Udang |
Source: CIA Factbook