Malaysia
Fast facts
- Capital
- Putrajaya (administrative) Kuala Lumpur (legislative)
- Largest city
- Kuala Lumpur
- Official language
- Malay (also in national language)
- Languages
- Malay alphabet
Facts from Wikipedia’s “Malaysia” page (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. The federal constitutional monarchy consists of thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two regions, Peninsular Malaysia and Borneo’s East Malaysia. Peninsular Malaysia shares a land and maritime border with Thailand and maritime borders with Singapore, Vietnam, and Indonesia. East Malaysia shares land and maritime borders with Brunei and Indonesia and a maritime border with the Philippines and Vietnam. Kuala Lumpur is the national capital, largest city and the seat of the legislative branch of the federal government. The nearby planned capital of Putrajaya was the administrative capital; which represents the seat of both the executive branch (Cabinet, federal ministries and agencies) and the judicial branch of the federal government. With a population of over 34 million, Malaysia is the world’s 43rd-most populous country. The southernmost point of continental Eurasia is in Tanjung Piai. In the tropics, Malaysia is one of 17 megadiverse countries, home to a number of endemic species.
The country is multi-ethnic and multi-cultural, with most people being Malay, but there are also Chinese and Indians. Its official language is Malay written in the Latin alphabet. English is a recognised language and also the official language in Sarawak state along with Malay. Tamil and Chinese is also often used. There are over 130 other languages spoken in Malaysia, with 94 in Malaysian Borneo and 40 on the peninsula. Islam is the official religion, but non-Malay citizens have the freedom to practice other religions.
History
Between China and India, Malaysia was an ancient trading place. When Europeans came to this area, Malacca was already an important trade port. Several Sultanates rose and fell during the time between the fall of Malacca and when Penang became a colony in 1786.
The states of Malaysia became a colony of the British Empire, starting with Penang in 1786. The peninsular part became independent on 31 August 1957 as the Federation of Malaya. In September 1963, Malaya, Singapore and the Borneo part joined to become Malaysia.
The creation of Malaysia, led to a conflict with Indonesia as well as conflicts against the Communists in Borneo and the Malay Peninsula, which escalated to the Sarawak Communist Insurgency and Second Malayan Emergency.
The Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation was an armed conflict that started in 1963. In April that year, a force that was trained by Indonesian authorities, crossed into Sarawak and attacked a police station in Tebedu (map).
In 1965, Singapore was expelled from the federation and declared independence.
During Mahathir Mohamad’s time as Malaysia’s Prime Minister from 1981 to 2003, the country grew a lot. He helped the economy grow fast by building industries and attracting foreign money. Mahathir also focused on making big buildings like the Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur. The 1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal in 2015 was a big corruption case that involved then-Prime Minister Najib Razak. It led to the first change in Malaysia’s ruling political party since independence in the 2018 general election.
Politics and Economy
Malaysia has 13 states, which are Johor, Kedah, Kelantan, Melaka, Negeri Sembilan, Pahang, Perak, Perlis, Penang, Sabah, Sarawak, Selangor and Terengganu, and three Federal Territories, Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya and Labuan. The number of points of the star on the flag represents the number of states Malaysia has, but it has 14 because Singapore was one of the states in Malaysia during its creation. The 14th point now represents the federal territories, called Wilayah Persekutuan. The head of state of Malaysia is known as the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, otherwise called the “King of Malaysia”. That title is currently held by Sultan Ibrahim Iskandar of Johor. Malaysia’s head of government is the Prime Minister. Its current prime minister is Anwar Ibrahim. It also has a parliament and a court system. It is a founding member of ASEAN.
Malaysia is considered an upper-middle income economy by the World Bank. Malaysia is known for its openness to trade with 40% of jobs in export activities. After the Asian Financial Crisis in 1997, the economy of Malaysia has continued to grow at an average rate of 5.4% since 2010. In 2017, the biggest economic sector is the services sector (53.6%), followed by the manufacturing sector (37.6%) with the agriculture sector (8.8%) being the smallest.
Cities
The following is a list of places in Malaysia. They are in order by the date they were given city status.
- George Town (1 January 1957)
- Kuala Lumpur (1 February 1972)
- Ipoh (27 May 1988)
- Kuching (1 August 1988)
- Johor Bahru (1 January 1994)
- Kota Kinabalu (2 February 2000)
- Shah Alam (10 October 2000)
- Melaka City (15 April 2003)
- Alor Setar (21 December 2003)
- Miri (20 May 2005)
- Petaling Jaya (20 June 2006)
- Kuala Terengganu (1 January 2008)
- Iskandar Puteri (22 November 2017)
- Seberang Perai (16 September 2019)
- Seremban (20 January 2020)
- Subang Jaya (20 October 2020)
- Pasir Gudang (22 November 2020)
- Kuantan (21 February 2021)
- Sandakan (22 February 2022)
Religion
Malaysia is a multi-religious society, and Islam is the largest population of believers. Most of the Malay people in Malaysia embrace Islam naturally as their religion. Besides Islam, Malaysia has other religions such as Christianity, Hinduism and Buddhism.
Culture
Malaysia is a multi-ethnic, multi-cultural and multilingual society, consisting of 58% Malays and other indigenous tribes, 22% Chinese, 6% Indians. The Malays, which form the largest community, are all Muslims since one has to be Muslim to be legally Malay under Malaysian law. The Malays play a dominant role politically and are included in a grouping identified as Bumiputera.
Food and drink
Many cultures from within the country and from surrounding areas have influenced the cuisine. Much of the influence comes from the Malay, Chinese, Indian, Thai, Javanese, and Sumatran cultures, largely because the country was part of the ancient spice route.
Food from one culture is sometimes also cooked using ways taken from another culture, for example, shrimp paste (belacan) and sambal are commonly used by Chinese restaurants for cooking. This means that although much of Malaysian food can be traced back to a certain culture, they have their own identity. Rice is popular in many dishes. Chili is commonly found in local cuisine, although this does not necessarily make them spicy. Examples of Malaysian food are laksa, which is a spicy noodle dish common in Malaysia and teh tarik, which is a popular drink.
Sports
Malaysia’s national sports center is the Bukit Jalil Sports Complex. Nicol David (squash) and Lee Chong Wei (badminton) are notable athletes from Malaysia. Malaysia won 12 gold medals in the Commonwealth Games 2010 in India, and broke their Commonwealth Games target.
Transport
Malaysia’s road network covers 98,721 kilometres (61,342 mi) and includes 1,821 kilometres (1,132 mi) of expressways. The longest highway of the country, the North-South Expressway, extends over 800 kilometres (497 mi) between the Thai border and Singapore. The road systems in Sabah and Sarawak are less developed and of lower quality in comparison to that of Peninsular Malaysia. Malaysia has 118 airports, of which 38 are paved. The official airline of Malaysia is Malaysia Airlines, providing international and domestic air service alongside two other carriers. The railway system is state-run, and covers a total of 1,849 kilometres (1,149 mi). There are also Light Rail Transit in Kuala Lumpur.
Written for younger readers
Malaysia, in simpler words
This version comes from Wikijunior, a set of books written for children aged 8 to 11. It is shorter and uses plainer language than the article above.
From Wikijunior: Asia
Malaysia has a long and rich history that goes back thousands of years. The first people to live there were tribes who lived in the rainforests and along the coast. These tribes, called the Orang Asli which is “original people” in Malay , have been in Malaysia for many generations. They have their own special cultures, languages, and traditions. Some groups of Orang Asli are the Semai, Temuan, Semelai, and Jakun. They were really good at hunting, gathering food, and using natural medicine.
From the 15th to the 20th century, parts of Malaysia were colonized by foreign powers, especially the Portuguese, Dutch, and British. The Portuguese were the first Europeans to arrive in Malaysia in the late 15th century. They set up trading posts in Malacca and other parts of the region. The Dutch came in the 17th century and controlled the spice trade for about 150 years until the British arrived in the 19th century. The British established the Straits Settlements, including Penang, Malacca, and Singapore, and the British North Borneo Company, which controlled Sabah and Sarawak. The British also introduced a system of administration and law that is still used in Malaysia today.
Malaysia was established on September 16, 1963,bringing together Malaya (now Peninsular Malaysia), Singapore, Sarawak, and Sabah. However, in August 1965, Singapore left the federation and became an independent country. Today, Malaysia is a member of the Commonwealth, a group of countries that were once British colonies.
Since independence, Malaysia has made great strides in developing its economy and infrastructure. It is now a thriving and modern country with a strong tourism industry, a growing service sector, and a diverse manufacturing base. Malaysia is also a major exporter of products such as electronics, palm oil, and rubber.
The capital city of Malaysia is Kuala Lumpur and the international time used is UTC+8.
Malaysia is a country of Southeast Asia, which lies just north of the Equator. It is composed of two non-contiguous regions: Peninsular Malaysia, also called West Malaysia (Malaysia Barat), which is located on the Asia mainland of Malay Peninsula, and East Malaysia (Malaysia Timur), which is on the island of Borneo. There are total of 16 states of Malaysia The West and East Malaysia are separated by South China Sea.
On Peninsular Malaysia, it is bordered by Thailand on the north and Singapore in south and bordering with Indonesia (Riau Island) on the west, which are separated by Straits of Malacca. Malaysian Borneo (or East Malaysia) located on the northern part of the island of Borneo in the South China Sea, bordering Indonesia and the state Sarawak is surrounding the Sultanate of Brunei . The country shares also maritime borders with the Philippines , Indonesia and Vietnam .
The currency of Malaysia is in Ringgit Malaysia (MYR or RM) and the smaller denomination is the sen. 100 sen is equal to RM1.
The currency bank notes denomination is as followed: RM1, RM5, RM10, RM20, RM50, RM100 and the coins denomination is as followed: 5, 10, 20, 50 sen.
Malaysia consists of diverse of people living together with three major ethnicities: Malay, Chinese and Indian.
As of the 2020 census, 32.45 million lived in Malaysia. 69.4% of the population are Malay, 23.2% are Chinese, 6.7% are Indian and 0.7% are of other minor ethnicities.
The official language spoken in Malaysia is the Malay language (Bahasa Melayu). Aside from Malay, English is also very commonly spoken in Malaysian. Aside from English, Chinese dialects such as Mandarin and Hokkien are also spoken in the country, primarily by those of Chinese ethnic origin. Tamil is also another popular language spoken in the country, primarily spoken by people from India.
Islam, Malaysia’s official religion, is practiced by by about 63.5% of the population. Islam is one of the most important factors distinguishing a Malay from a non-Malay, and, by law, all Malays are Muslim.
- George Town – the heritage street consists of the some popular hawker (street food) and murals drawing in the area.
- Melaka – famous historical landmarks such as A Farmosa Fort and Christ Church
- Gunung Mulu National Park – famed for its impressive karst formations. The park is home to one of the world’s longest cave systems.
- Batu Caves – one of the largest Hindu temples in Southeast Asia, having being used continually as a religious site since 1878.
- Petronas Towers (Petronas Twin Towers) – 88-storey twin skyscrapers that characterise the outlook of Kuala Lumpur.
- Kenyir Lake – the largest man-made lake in Southeast Asia.
- Tioman – the largest island on Malaysia’s East Coast.
- Kapas Island – a famous scuba diving location.
- Jungle Highway – a highway connecting Kelantan and Perak via Gerik.
- Mount Kinabalu – Malaysia’s highest mountain.
Where this page comes from
The article above is adapted from “Malaysia” on Simple English Wikipedia, by its contributors. We removed reference markers, navigation boxes and tables, expanded measurement templates into readable numbers, and kept the prose otherwise intact. The simpler version is adapted from Wikijunior on Wikibooks.
Both sources are published under CC BY-SA 4.0, so this page is published under the same licence. You may share and adapt it, including commercially, as long as you credit the original and keep the same licence.
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