MALAYSIAMore about Malaysia Information about travelling to MalaysiaMalaysia is located in 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 |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Facts about Malaysia
General info about Malaysia
During the late 18th and 19th centuries, Great Britain established colonies and protectorates in the area of current Malaysia; these were occupied by Japan from 1942 to 1945. In 1948, the British-ruled territories on the Malay Peninsula formed the Federation of Malaya, which became independent in 1957. Malaysia was formed in 1963 when the former British colonies of Singapore and the East Malaysian states of Sabah and Sarawak on the northern coast of Borneo joined the Federation. The first several years of the country's history were marred by a Communist insurgency, Indonesian confrontation with Malaysia, Philippine claims to Sabah, and Singapore's secession from the Federation in 1965. During the 22-year term of Prime Minister MAHATHIR bin Mohamad (1981-2003), Malaysia was successful in diversifying its economy from dependence on exports of raw materials to expansion in manufacturing, services, and tourism.
Disease threats degree of risk: high
food or waterborne diseases: bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid
Languages spoken Bahasa Malaysia (official), English, Chinese (Cantonese, Mandarin, Hokkien, Hakka, Hainan, Foochow), Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Panjabi, Thai
note: in East Malaysia there are several indigenous languages; most widely spoken are Iban and Kadazan What about drugs? drug trafficking prosecuted vigorously and carries severe penalties; heroin still primary drug of abuse, but synthetic drug demand remains strong; continued ecstasy and methamphetamine producer for domestic users and, to a lesser extent, the regional drug market Ethnic division Malay 50.4%, Chinese 23.7%, indigenous 11%, Indian 7.1%, others 7.8% (2004 est.) HIV/AIDS prevalence rate 0.4% (2003 est.) Climate tropical; annual southwest (April to October) and northeast (October to February) monsoons Resources tin, petroleum, timber, copper, iron ore, natural gas, bauxite Economy Malaysia, a middle-income country, has transformed itself since the 1970s from a producer of raw materials into an emerging multi-sector economy. Since coming to office in 2003, Prime Minister ABDULLAH has tried to move the economy farther up the value-added production chain by attracting investments in high technology industries, medical technology, and pharmaceuticals. The Government of Malaysia is continuing efforts to boost domestic demand to wean the economy off of its dependence on exports. Nevertheless, exports - particularly of electronics - remain a significant driver of the economy. As an oil and gas exporter, Malaysia has profited from higher world energy prices, although the rising cost of domestic gasoline and diesel fuel forced Kuala Lumpur to reduce government subsidies. Malaysia "unpegged" the ringgit from the US dollar in 2005 and the currency appreciated 6% per year against the dollar in 2006-08. Although this has helped to hold down the price of imports, inflationary pressures began to build in 2007 - in 2008 inflation stood at nearly 6%, year-over-year. Healthy foreign exchange reserves and a small external debt greatly reduce the risk that Malaysia will experience a financial crisis over the near term similar to the one in 1997. The government presented its five-year national development agenda in April 2006 through the Ninth Malaysia Plan, a comprehensive blueprint for the allocation of the national budget from 2006-10. ABDULLAH has unveiled a series of ambitious development schemes for several regions that have had trouble attracting business investment. Real GDP growth has averaged about 6% per year under ABDULLAH, but regions outside of Kuala Lumpur and the manufacturing hub Penang have not fared as well. Environment air pollution from industrial and vehicular emissions; water pollution from raw sewage; deforestation; smoke/haze from Indonesian forest fires Cities in Malaysiaalor gajah alor setar ayer itam ayer keroh ayer molek ayer tawar bandar maharani bandar penggaram banting batang berjuntai batu arang batu berendam batu gajah beaufort bedong bemban bentong beranang bidor bintulu bukit bakri bukit baru bukit mertajam bukit rambai buloh kasap butterworth chaah cukai donggongon gua musang gurun ipoh jenjarom jerantut jertih jitra johor bahru juru kampar kangar kapit kelapa sawit keningau kepala batas kerteh kinarut klang kluang kota bahru kota belud kota kinabalu kota tinggi kuah kuala kangsar kuala kedah kuala lipis kuala lumpur kuala perlis kuala pilah kuala selangor kuala sungai baru kuala terengganu kuang kuantan kuching kudat kulai kulim labis labuan lahad datu limbang lumut marang masjid tanah melaka mentakab mersing miri nibong tebal nilai paka pantai remis papar parit buntar parit raja pasir gudang pasir mas pekan pekan nenas pengkalan kundang perai peringat permatang kuching petaling jaya pontian kecil port dickson pulau sebang putatan ranau raub rawang sabak sandakan segamat sekudai semenyih semporna senai seremban serendah shah alam sibu simpang empat simpang rengam sri aman sungai besar sungai pelek sungai petani sungai udang taiping tampin tanah merah tangkak tanjong karang tanjong sepat tanjong tokong tapah tawau teluk intan temerloh tumpat ulu tiram yong peng |
|
Explore countries around the world |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
-Islands.png)
The Cheers Travel World / Malaysia travel