Other large cities: Kelang,
683,200; Johor Bharu, 682,100
Monetary unit: Ringgit
Languages: Bahasa Melayu (Malay, official), English,
Chinese dialects (Cantonese, Mandarin, Hokkien, Hakka, Hainan,
Foochow), Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Panjabi, Thai; several
indigenous languages (including Iban, Kadazan) in East Malaysia
Ethnicity/race: Malay 50.4%, Chinese 23.7%, Indigenous 11%,
Indian 7.1%, others 7.8% (2004 est.)
Economic summary:GDP/PPP (2005
est.): $248.7 billion; per capita $10,400. Real growth rate:
5.2%. Inflation: 2.9%. Unemployment: 3.6%. Arable
land: 5%. Agriculture: Peninsular Malaysia—rubber,
palm oil, cocoa, rice; Sabah—subsistence crops, rubber,
timber, coconuts, rice; Sarawak—rubber, pepper, timber.
Labor force: 10.67 million; agriculture 14.5%, industry 36%,
services 49.5% (2000 est.). Industries: Peninsular
Malaysia—rubber and oil-palm processing and manufacturing,
light manufacturing industry, electronics, tin mining and smelting,
logging, timber processing; Sabah—logging, petroleum
production; Sarawak—agriculture processing, petroleum
production and refining, logging. Natural resources: tin,
petroleum, timber, copper, iron ore, natural gas, bauxite.
Exports: $147.1 billion f.o.b. (2005 est.): electronic
equipment, petroleum and liquefied natural gas, wood and wood
products, palm oil, rubber, textiles, chemicals. Imports:
$118.7 billion f.o.b. (2005 est.): electronics, machinery,
petroleum products, plastics, vehicles, iron and steel products,
chemicals. Major trading partners: U.S., Singapore, Japan,
China, Hong Kong, Thailand, Taiwan, South Korea, Germany, Indonesia
(2004).
Member of Commonwealth of Nations
Communications: Telephones: main lines
in use: 4.6 million (2000); mobile cellular: 5 million (2000).
Radio broadcast stations: AM 35, FM 391, shortwave 15 (2001).
Radios: 10.9 million (1999). Television broadcast
stations: 1 (plus 15 high-power repeaters) (2001).
Televisions: 10.8 million (1999). Internet Service
Providers (ISPs): 7 (2000). Internet users: 5.7 million
(2002).
Transportation: Railways: total: 2,418
km (2002). Highways: total: 65,877 km; paved: 49,935 km
(including 1,192 km of expressways); unpaved: 15,942 km (1999).
Waterways: 7,296 km (Peninsular Malaysia 3,209 km, Sabah
1,569 km, Sarawak 2,518 km). Ports and harbors: Bintulu, Kota
Kinabalu, Kuantan, Kuching, Kudat, Labuan, Lahad Datu, Lumut, Miri,
Pasir Gudang, Penang, Port Dickson, Port Kelang, Sandakan, Sibu,
Tanjung Berhala, Tanjung Kidurong, Tawau. Airports: 114
(2002).
International disputes:involved in
complex dispute over Spratly Islands with China, Philippines,
Taiwan, Vietnam and possibly Brunei; claimants in November 2002
signed the “Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South
China Sea,” a mechanism to ease tension but which fell short
of a legally binding “code of conduct”; disputes over
deliveries of fresh water to Singapore, Singapore's land reclamation
on Johor, maritime boundaries, and Singapore-occupied Pedra Branca
Island/Pulau Batu Putih persist—parties agree to ICJ
arbitration on island dispute within three years; ICJ awarded
Ligitan and Sipadan islands off the coast of Sabah, also claimed by
Indonesia and Philippines, to Malaysia; a small section of the
Malaysia-Thailand boundary in the Kolok River remains in
dispute.
Malaysia is on the Malay Peninsula in southeast Asia. The nation also
includes Sabah and Sarawak on the island of Borneo to the east. Its area
slightly exceeds that of New Mexico.
Most of Malaysia is covered by forest, with a mountain range running
the length of the peninsula. Extensive forests provide ebony, sandalwood,
teak, and other woods.
Government
Constitutional monarchy.
History
The ancestors of the people that now inhabit the Malaysian peninsula
first migrated to the area between 2500 and 1500 B.C. Those living in the coastal regions had early
contact with Chinese and Indians; seafaring traders from India brought
with them Hinduism, which was blended with the local animist beliefs. As
Muslims conquered India, they spread the religion of Islam to Malaysia. In
the 15th century A.D., Islam acquired a firm
hold on the region when the Hindu ruler of the powerful city-state of
Malacca, Parameswara Dewa Shah, converted to Islam.
British and Dutch interest in the region grew in the 1800s, with the
British East India Company establishment of a trading settlement on the
island of Singapore. Trade soared, with Singapore's population growing
from only 5,000 in 1820 to nearly 100,000 in just 50 years. In the 1880s,
Britain formally established protectorates in Malaysia. At about the same
time, rubber trees were introduced from Brazil. With the mass production
of automobiles, rubber became a valuable export, and laborers were brought
in from India to work the rubber plantations.
Following the Japanese occupation of Malaysia during World War II, a
growing nationalist movement prompted the British to establish the
semiautonomous Federation of Malaya in 1948. But Communist guerrillas took
to the jungles to begin a war of national liberation against the British,
who declared a state of emergency to quell the insurgency, which lasted
until 1960.
The independent state of Malaysia came into existence on Sept. 16,
1963, as a federation of Malaya, Singapore, Sabah (North Borneo), and
Sarawak. In 1965, Singapore withdrew from the federation to become a
separate nation. Since 1966, the 11 states of former Malaya have been
known as West Malaysia, and Sabah and Sarawak as East Malaysia.
By the late 1960s Malaysia was torn by communal rioting directed
against Chinese and Indians, who controlled a disproportionate share of
the country's wealth. Beginning in 1968, the government moved to achieve
greater economic balance through a national economic policy.
In the 1980s, Dr. Mohamad Mahathir succeeded Datuk Hussein as prime
minister. Mahathir instituted economic reforms that would transform
Malaysia into one of the so-called Asian Tigers. Throughout the 1990s,
Mahathir embarked on a massive project to build a new capital from scratch
in an attempt to bypass congested Kuala Lumpur.
Beginning in 1997 and continuing through the next year, Malaysia
suffered from the Asian currency crisis. Instead of following the economic
prescriptions of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank, the prime
minister opted for fixed exchange rates and capital controls. In late
1999, Malaysia was on the road to economic recovery, and it appeared
Mahathir's measures were working.
Mahathir sacked his heir apparent, Anwar Ibrahim, from his posts as
deputy prime minister and finance minister in Sept. 1998, after a
disagreement over how to deal with the country's economic problems. In
defiance, Anwar launched a reform movement attacking the government. The
prime minister then jailed Anwar, who was beaten and convicted on
trumped-up charges of corruption and sodomy. In 2004, a year after
Mahathir left office, Malaysia's high court overturned Anwar's conviction,
releasing the former deputy prime minister, who had served six years in
prison.
In Oct. 2003, Mahathir retired after 22 years in office. His rule led
to his country's enormous economic growth but was also characterized by
repression and human rights abuses. Malaysia's new prime minister,
Abdullah Badawi, has a more statesmanlike reputation, and in his first
year in office he made headway on reducing corruption and instituting
reforms. In March 2004, the ruling National Front coalition won an
astonishing 90% of parliamentary seats, and Abdullah was reelected on his
own merits.
The governing coalition under Prime Minister Badawi suffered a stunning
defeat in March 2008's parliamentary elections. Opposition parties
quadrupled their representation in Parliament, and Badawi's coalition,
although it won 136 of 222 seats in Parliament, lost its two-thirds
majority, which is necessary to amend the Constitution, and control of
five state assemblies. It was the worst showing for the National Front
coalition in four decades. Shortly after the election, Badawi trimmed his
cabinet, removing several ministers who had been accused of corruption,
and appointed a prominent lawyer to oversee judicial reform.
