Istana Negara, the National Palace in Segambut, is a sub-district of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia's capital city. The palace is the official residence of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, the ruling monarch of Malaysia. Image: kk nationsonline.org
Destination Malaysia, a Nationsonline country profile of the nation in Southeast Asia, formerly known as British Malaya and later as the Federation of Malaya.
Malaysia consists of two geographical regions separated by the South China Sea.
Peninsular Malaysia (or West Malaysia) on the Malay Peninsula borders Thailand in the north and Singapore in the south. Malaysian Borneo (or East Malaysia) is located on the northern part of the island of Borneo, a huge, rugged island in the Malay Archipelago (Greater Sunda Islands) and the third largest island in the world. East Malaysia borders Indonesia and surrounds the Sultanate of Brunei. Malaysia shares maritime borders with the Philippines and Vietnam.
The country's combined area of 329,847 km², making it slightly larger than Norway or somewhat larger than the U.S. state of New Mexico. The highest mountain is Mount Kinabalu (4,095 m) in Sabah state on the island of Borneo. Mt. Kinabalu and surrounding Kinabalu Park are a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Malaysia has a population of about 33 million people (in 2021). The largest city and national capital is Kuala Lumpur. Spoken languages are Malay (official), English, Tamil, and Chinese (Cantonese). Malaysia's official religion is Islam; about 60 % of the population are Muslim, 20% are Buddhist.
What is Malaysia known for?
The Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur. Image: kk. nationsonline.org
It is a divided country; Western Malaysia occupies the southern part of the Malay Peninsula and is bordered by the Strait of Malacca to the west, the South China Sea to the east, and the Johore Strait separates it from Singapore. East Malaysia (or Malaysian Borneo) is located in the northern part of the island of Borneo. It shares the island with Kalimantan, the Indonesian part of Borneo. Malaysian Borneo features coastlines on the South China Sea, the Sulu Sea and the Celebes Sea.
Malaysia's population is a mix of three major ethnic groups, each with its own heritage, culture and tradition. 60% of the population are Bumiputera, a term that describes the traditional inhabitants of the country and includes Malays, Orang Asli and other indigenous peoples. Minorities are Chinese, about 20%, and Indians (6%). Malaysia has more than 130 living languages; the official language is Bahasa Malaysia (Melayu).
What is Malaysia famous for?
The Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur, the 88-floor building is the 21st-century icon for Malaysia.
Mosques, the country is home to several Muslim places of worship that are prominent landmarks. Famous examples are the Masjid Jamek Mosque and the National Mosque of Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur, the Iron Mosque and the pink Putra Mosque in Putrajaya, the futuristic Cyberjaya Mosque in Selangor, and the state mosque of Selangor, the Blue Mosque in Shah Alam.
Popular Malaysian dishes like the omelet sandwich Roti john, Penang's Nasi kandar, Rendang from Sumatra, spicy Laksa soup, meat on a stick known as Satay and the classic rice noodle dish Char kway teow.
Malaysia Truly Asia (the advertising slogan was introduced worldwide in 1999).
Malaysia's wildlife is famous for big cats, such as tigers and leopards, the Malayan tapir and the endangered Borneo pygmy elephants and Borneo orangutans.
The Cameron Highlands in Pahang state is one of the oldest tourist spots in Malaysia.
The Langkawi archipelago, the Jewel of Kedah, is a popular tourist destination.
Mount Kinabalu on Borneo is the highest mountain in Malaysia.
The Taman Negara, a national park in Peninsular Malaysia and one of the oldest deciduous forests in the world, is estimated to be more than 130 million years old. Mount Tahan (at 2,187 m) is located within the Taman Negara National Forest and is the highest point in Peninsular Malaysia.
Malaysia | Federation of Malaysia | Persekutuan Malaysia
Malaysia is a multi-ethnic and multi-religious country in Southeast Asia and one
of the wealthiest and most developed countries, outranked in GNP only by Singapore
and oil-rich Brunei. The Federation of Malaya became an independent country on
31 August 1957.
On 16 September 1963, the federation was enlarged by the accession of Singapore, Sabah (formerly British North Borneo) and Sarawak. The name "Malaysia" was adopted from that date. Singapore left the federation on 9 August 1965.
Official Name: Persekutuan Malaysia
short form: Malaysia
int'l long form: Federation of Malaysia
Penang, Ipoh, Malacca, Johor Baru, Kuching, Kota Kinabalu, Alor Setar, Shah Alam.
Type: Federal parliamentary democracy with a constitutional monarch.
Independence: 31. August 1957. (Malaya, which is now peninsular Malaysia, became
independent in 1957. In 1963 Malaya, Sabah, Sarawak, and Singapore formed Malaysia.
Singapore became an independent country in 1965).
Constitution: 31 August 1957,
amended 16 September 1963.
Location: Southeastern Asia, partly on the Malay Peninsula south of Thailand and on the northern one-third
of the island of Borneo, bordering Indonesia, Brunei, and the South China Sea,
south of Vietnam. Area: 330,000 km² (127,316 sq. mi.)
Terrain: Coastal plains and interior, jungle-covered mountains. The South China
Sea separates peninsular Malaysia from East Malaysia on Borneo.
Climate: Tropical, annual southwest (April to October) and northeast (October to
Peninsular Malaysia: rubber and palm oil processing and manufacturing, light manufacturing industry, electronics, tin mining and smelting, logging and processing
Sabah: logging, petroleum production.
Sarawak: agriculture processing, petroleum production and refining, logging.
Exports - commodities: semiconductors and electronic equipment, palm oil, petroleum and liquefied natural gas, wood and wood products, palm oil, rubber, textiles, chemicals, solar panels
The Perdana Putra in the Federal Territory of Putrajaya. The building is part of the Prime Minister's Department Complex. Image: Stefan Fussan
Malaysia is a federation of 13 states and three federal territories. The country's political system is a constitutional monarchy based on the British Westminster parliamentary system.
Nine of Malaysia's states, known as the Malay States, are constitutionally run by traditional Malay rulers of royal descent (sultans).
The representative head of state is the sultan (king); the sultan is chosen every five years from the ranks of the rulers of the nine Sultanates (according to the principle of rotation). The executive power of Malaysia is vested in the cabinet led by the prime minister, who is the head of government.
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Conference of Rulers (Majlis Raja-Raja)
Official website of the Council of Rulers of Malaysia, the council consists of the nine rulers of the Malay states, and the (ceremonial) governors, or Yang di-Pertua Negeri, of the other four states. One of the duties of the council is to elect the Yang di-Pertuan Agong (the Paramount Ruler) and his deputy every five years.
Official Website of the national assembly of Malaysia. The bicameral parliament consists of the lower house, the House of Representatives (Dewan Rakyat) and the upper house, the Senate (Dewan Negara).
Federal States of Malaysia
The principal administrative divisions of Malaysia are the 13 federal states (negeri-negeri) and three federal territories (wilayah-wilayah persekutuan).
The federal territories are Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia's capital.
Putrajaya, the planned city was founded in 1995 and is located about 25 km south of Kuala Lumpur; it serves as the new administrative center of the federation.
Labuan, the territory consists of the island of Pulau Labuan and six smaller islands off the coast of Borneo in East Malaysia.
The map shows the 13 States of Malaysia. Image: nationsonline.org
List of the federal states of Malaysia with links to the official state website.
The State of Johor (Johore) occupies the southern part of the south of the Malay Peninsula. The capital is Johor Bahru. The Johor–Singapore Causeway links the city of Johor Bahru across the Straits of Johor to Singapore.
The State of Kedah is located in the northwest of Peninsular Malaysia; it borders Thailand and includes the Langkawi Archipelago. The capital is Alor Setar. The royal capital is Anak Bukit.
The State of Kelantan is located in the north-eastern corner of Peninsular Malaysia; it borders Thailand in the north. The capital is Kota Bharu.
The historic city-state of Malaysia is located in the southwestern region of the Malay Peninsula, on the Strait of Malacca.
The Sultan Abdul Samad Building in Kuala Lumpur. The building originally housed the offices of the British colonial administration. Image: kk. nationsonline.org
The State of Negeri Sembilan is located on the Malay Peninsula's southwest coast. The capital is Seremban.
The State of Pahang is a sultanate and a federal state of Malaysia located in the center of the peninsula. The capital is Kuantan. Kuantan Port is a major maritime gateway to the east coast region of the peninsula.
Penang is located on the northwest coast of Western Malaysia and includes Penang Island. The state capital is George Town on the Island. Two bridges link Penang Island to the mainland.
The State of Perak is located on the west coast of the Malay Peninsula. The capital city is Ipoh.
The smallest state in Malaysia is Perlis. It shares an international border with Thailand. The capital is Kangar.
View of the Central Business District of Kuching, Sarawak, from Fort Margherita. In the background Riverside Suites (center) and Riverside Majestic Hotel on the Sarawak River. Image: Sasha India
The State of Sabah occupies the northern part of the island of Borneo. The capital and largest city is Kota Kinabalu.
The State of Sarawak stretches along Borneo's northwest coast. The capital and largest city is Kuching.
The State of Selangor is located on the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia on the Strait of Malacca.
The capital is Shah Alam. The royal capital is Klang.
The State of Terengganu (Trengganu) is a sultanate located on the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia. The royal capital is Kuala Terengganu.
Parliament building in Kuala Lumpur. Image: Uwe Aranas
Freedom of Press Malaysia
When Malaysia first saw a transition of power through elections in May 2018, the environment for journalists became much more favorable, and the country rose dramatically in the RSF's Press Freedom Index. But all this has been reversed since the former governing coalition returned to power in March 2020. 
The same political coalition ruled Malaysia from independence in 1957 until 2018, holding on to power by manipulating electoral districts, appealing to ethnic nationalism, and suppressing criticism through restrictive speech laws and the persecution of opposition leaders. 
English language newspaper Daily Express
English-language newspaper in Sabah (East Malaysia) and the sister newspaper of the Overseas Chinese Daily News.
DayakDaily is a news portal based in Kuching, Sarawak.
Free Malaysia Today (FMT)
Independent, bilingual news online portal in English and Bahasa Malaysia, focusing on current Malaysian affairs.
Jabatan Muzium Malaysia
The Department of Museums Malaysia, JMM provides some information about Malaysia's museums
such as the Perak Museum in Taiping (Malaysia's oldest museum), the Malay World Ethnological Museum, the Museum of Aboriginal Arts and Crafts (Muzium Seni Kraf Orang Asli), the National Automobile Museum (Muzium Automobil Nasional) and the Labuan Marine Museum.
Official website of the National Museum of Malaysia.
Floating Mosque of Klang, the royal capital of Selangor. Image: Ahmad Rithauddin
Business & Economy of Malaysia
Religion meets commerce. Jamek Mosque, Kuala Lumpur's oldest mosque, at the confluence of Gombak (left) and Klang rivers, is surrounded by banks and insurance skyscrapers. To the right behind the mosque is the Masjid Jamek rapid transit station. Image: Marcin Konsek
Economy of Malaysia
Malaysia, a middle-income country, it has transformed itself since the 1970s from a mainly agricultural producer of raw materials into an emerging multi-sector economy. Malaysia is attempting to achieve high-income status by 2020 and move farther up the value-added production chain by attracting investment in Islamic finance, high technology industries, biotechnology, and services. Export goods, especially electronics, oil and gas, palm oil and rubber, are a major driver of the economy.
Media Prima is Malaysia's largest media and entertainment company. It operates four TV and four radio channels and publishes three national newspapers - New Straits Times, Berita Harian and Harian Metro.
Malayan Banking Berhad. Maybank is Malaysia's largest bank.
Permodalan Nasional Berhad
PNB is a government-linked investment group and one of the largest fund management companies in Malaysia.
State-owned multinational oil and gas company.
TNB is a multinational electricity company based in Kuala Lumpur.
Prasarana Malaysia Berhad owns and operates the country's urban rail services, including three LRT networks and the Kuala Lumpur Monorail, and will run the planned MRT line in Greater Kuala Lumpur.
The Sultan Abdul Halim Muadzam Shah Bridge crossing the Penang Strait. The bridge is also known as the Second Penang Bridge and is one of two bridges that link Penang Island to the mainland of Peninsular Malaysia. It is Malaysia's longest bridge, with a total length of 24 km (15 mi.). Image: Christopher Harriot
UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Malaysia
There are four UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Malaysia, two cultural and two natural sites. Additionally, six properties are listed in UNESCO's Tentative List (see the List of UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Malaysia).
The following links lead to a detailed description of the respective World Heritage Site at UNESCO.
Archaeological Heritage of the Lenggong Valley
The property includes four archaeological sites in two clusters spanning nearly 2 million years, one of the longest records of early man in a single location and the oldest outside the African continent. Situated in the lush Lenggong Valley in upper Perak, the property features open-air and cave sites, cave drawings, and Palaeolithic tool workshops, evidence of early technology. In many of the caves in the Lenggong area, there have been finds of jewelry, pottery, weapons and stone tools, evidence that early humans lived and hunted here. Gua Gunung Runtuh cave was the burial place of the Perak Man; the skeleton has been dated to around 11,000 years old. It is South-East Asia's oldest and most complete human skeleton.
Melaka and George Town, Historic Cities of the Straits of Malacca
Melaka (Malacca) and George Town, the historic cities on the Strait of Malacca, developed during 500 years of trade and cultural exchange between East and West on the Strait of Malacca. Influences from Asia and Europe gave the towns a specific multicultural heritage. With its government buildings, churches, squares and fortifications, Malacca shows the beginnings of this history, which has its origins in the Malay Sultanate of the 15th century and the Portuguese and Dutch periods from the early 16th century. In contrast, George Town, with its residential and commercial buildings, represents the British era from the late 18th century.
Gunung Mulu National Park
Gunung Mulu National Park, on the island of Borneo in the state of Sarawak, is the best-studied tropical karst area in the world. The park is important for its high biodiversity and its karst features; it contains seventeen vegetation zones, where about 3,500 species of vascular plants are found.
The snow-free Mount Kinabalu, the highest peak (4,094 m) in both Borneo and Malaysia. Image: Cccefalon
Department of Environment
Official site of the Malaysian Department of Environment, Ministry of Natural
Resources & Environment.
Weld Quay in the Port of Penang, George Town in the 1910s. Image: Kleingrothe, Carl Josef (1864-1925)
History of Malaysia
"Malaysia" is a concept created in the second half of the 20th century. The British Empire, which ruled Malaya from 1826 to 1957, wanted a clean exit from its possessions in Southeast Asia and to ensure that its former colonies did not turn to communism. To achieve this, Britain developed the idea of a "Federation of Malaysia" in which their former territories on the Malay Peninsula, Singapore, North Borneo (Eastern Sabah), Brunei and Sarawak would form a single political entity.
So the British convinced local leaders in Sabah, Sarawak, and Brunei of the big idea, and they (half-heartedly) agreed to the creation of the new state of Malaysia.
On 16 September 1963, the Federation of Malaysia was launched in a tense, turbulent and threatening atmosphere. The new state's two neighbors, Indonesia and the Philippines, opposed its creation and consequently withheld recognition. 
The region of the Malay Peninsula was part of various early Siamese, Khmer, Chams and Malay kingdoms which became part of the historic Indosphere, the cultural influence zone of Greater India. Indian influence in the region dates back to at least the 3rd century BC.
As early as the 1st century BC, the peninsula's ports and trading centers had trade relations with China and India.
By the 6th and 7th centuries, a sophisticated trading system had developed on the Malay Peninsula.
Western coastal settlements of Borneo had become trading ports in the first millennium AD. Popular merchandise were gold, camphor, tortoise shells, hornbill ivory, rhinoceros horn, crane crest, beeswax, lakawood and spices.
Islam came to the Malay Archipelago through the Arab and Indian traders in the 13th century, ending the age of Hinduism and Buddhism.
The Nunuk Ragang (the red Banyan tree) Heritage Building in Sabah resembles the trunk of the legendary giant banyan tree. The site is traditionally considered as the location of the original home of the ancestors of the Kadazan-Dusun natives who inhabit most of northern Borneo. Image: CEphoto
The Indigenous People of Malaysia
In the multi-ethnic country, several terms describe members of the various population groups in Malaysia. These terms are often used interchangeably.
Three major ethnic groups make up the population of Malaysia: Malays, Chinese, and Indians.
The most diverse group are the Malays, also known as Bumiputera (or 'son of the soil').
Malaysia's constitution defines a Malay (not the Bumiputera) as a person who professes the religion of Islam, habitually speaks Malay, conforms to Malay customs and is the child of a Malaysian parent.
This regulation excludes people who practice a religion other than Islam, such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Christianity, and Animism.
The Indigenous Peoples of Peninsular Malaysia
The Orang Asli are
indigenous peoples and the oldest inhabitants of Peninsular Malaysia.
They consist of several ethnic groups:
The Semang or Negritos, who mostly live as hunter-gatherers,
The Senoi, who cultivate rice and millet in the highlands, and
The Jakun (or aboriginal Malays) farm in the lowlands and trade as forest gatherers.
Wikipedia article about the Orang Asli, the "Original People," a collective term used in Malaysia for various indigenous peoples in the interior of the Malay Peninsula.
The Indigenous Peoples of Sarawak and Sabah
The indigenous peoples of Sarawak include Ibans, Bidayuh, Orang Ulu, Melanaus, Penans and Malays.
The indigenous peoples of Sabah include Kadazan-Dusuns, Bajaus, Murut, Bruneian Malays and Suluks.