ABOUT MALAYSIA

Located near the equator in Southeast Asia and separated into two regions - Peninsular Malaysia and Malaysia Borneo - by the South China Sea, Malaysia borders Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore, Brunei and the Philippines. 

Malaysia has a tropical climate due to its proximity to the equator and a population that stands at over 26 million.  The majority of this population is Malay (some of Arab descent) though there are sizable Chinese and Indian communities in the country as well.  Islam is the largest as well as the official religion of the federation. The Malay language is the official language. The Malay language was originally written in Pallava from India, the earliest known inscriptions in Malay were found in southern Sumatra and on the island of Bangka.

Malaysia is a federation that consists of thirteen states and three federal territories in Southeast Asia with a total landmass of 329,847 square kilometres (127,355 sq mi). It did not exist as a unified state until 1963.  Prior to that, a set of colonies established by the United Kingdom from the late 18th century and the western half of modern Malaysia were composed of several separate kingdoms.  This group of colonies was known as British Malaysia until its dissolution in 1946 when it was reorganized as the Malayan Union.  Due to widespread opposition, it was reorganized again as the Federation of Malaya in 1948 and later gained independence on August 31 157.  On September 16, 1963, Singapore, Sarawak, British North Borneo and the Federation of Malaya joined together to form Malaysia.  Less than two years later though Singapore seceded from the federation and became an independent republic on August 9 1965.  The early years of the new union were marred by an armed conflict with Indonesia and the expulsion of Singapore.

Most of the businesses and Parliament are located in the capital city of Kuala Lumpur (KL) but the federal administrative centre is now in Putrajaya, a planned city located south of KL.  Malaysia is a federal constitutional elective monarchy and the system of government is closely modeled after the Westminster Parliamentary system.  The federal head of state is the Yangdi-Pertuan Agong (conventionally referred to as 'the King' or 'the Agong') who is elected to a five year term among the nine hereditary Sultans of the Malay states; the other four states which have titular Governors, do not participate in the selection.  Executive power is vested in the cabinet which is led by the Prime Minister, who must be a member of the lower house of Parliament.  The Prime Minister must also, in the opinion of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, command a majority in parliament.

The Southeast Asian nation experienced an economic boom and underwent rapid development during the late 20th century.