MalaysiaFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaSign into your Wajam account and discover what your friends have shared

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FacebookThis article is about the country. For the biogeographical region, seeMalesia."Federation of Malaysia" redirects here. It is not to be confused withFederation of Malaya.Malaysia

FlagCoat of arms

Motto:"Bersekutu Bertambah Mutu"[1]"Unity Is Strength"

Anthem:NegarakuMy Country

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Location ofMalaysia(green)inASEAN(dark grey) [Legend]

Capitaland largest cityKuala LumpurPutrajaya(administrative)308N10142E

Official languagesBahasa Malaysia(Previously useBahasa Melayu)[2]

Official scriptMalay (Latin) alphabet

Recognised languagesEnglish

Ethnicgroups([3]) 50.1%Malay 22.6%Chinese 11.8%Indigenous 6.7%Indian 8.8% other

ReligionIslam(official)

DemonymMalaysian[4]

GovernmentFederalparliamentaryconstitutional monarchy,Elective monarchy

-Yang di-Pertuan AgongTuanku Abdul Halim Mu'adzam Shah

-Prime ministerNajib Tun Razak(BN)

-Deputy prime ministerMuhyiddin Yassin(BN)

LegislatureParliament

-Upper houseDewan Negara

-Lower houseDewan Rakyat

Independencefrom theUnited Kingdom

-Independenceof theFederation of Malaya31 August 1957[5]

-Self-governmentofSingapore3 June 1959[6]

-Self-governmentofSarawak22 July 1963[7]

-Self-governmentofNorth Borneo31 August 1963[7]

-Federation ofMalaya, North Borneo,Sarawak,Singapore16 September 1963

-Expulsion of Singapore9 August 1965

Area

-Total329,847km2(67th)127,355sqmi

-Water(%)0.3

Population

-2015estimate30,667,000[8](42nd)

-2010census28,334,135[9]

-Density92/km2(116th)237/sqmi

GDP(PPP)2015estimate

-Total$800.169 billion[10](28th)

-Per capita$25,833.204[10](42nd)

GDP(nominal)2015estimate

-Total$375.633 billion[10](35th)

-Per capita$12,127.206[10](65th)

Gini(2009)46.2[11]high36th

HDI(2013)0.773[12]high62nd

CurrencyRinggit(RM) (MYR)

Time zoneMST(UTC+8)

-Summer(DST)not observed(UTC+8)

Date formatdd-mm-yyyy

Drives on theleft

Calling code+60

ISO 3166 codeMY

Internet TLD.my

Malaysia(i/mle/m-lay-zhori/mlesi/m-lay-see-) (Malaysian pronunciation:[mlejsi]) is afederalconstitutional monarchylocated inSoutheast Asia. It consists ofthirteen states and three federal territoriesand has a total landmass of 329,847 square kilometres (127,350sqmi) separated by theSouth China Seainto two similarly sized regions,Peninsular MalaysiaandEast Malaysia(Malaysian Borneo). Peninsular Malaysia shares a land and maritime border withThailandand maritime borders withSingapore,Vietnam, andIndonesia. East Malaysia shares land and maritime borders withBruneiandIndonesiaand a maritime border with thePhilippines. The capital city isKuala Lumpur, whilePutrajayais the seat of the federal government. By 2015, with a population of over 30 million, Malaysia became the43rd most populous countryin the world. The southernmost point of continentalEurasia,Tanjung Piai, is in Malaysia, located in thetropics. It is one of 17megadiverse countrieson earth, with large numbers ofendemic species.Malaysia has its origins in the Malay kingdoms present in the area which, from the 18th century, became subject to theBritish Empire. The first British territories were known as theStraits Settlements, whose establishment was followed by the Malay kingdoms becoming British protectorates. The territories on Peninsular Malaysia were first unified as theMalayan Unionin 1946. Malaya was restructured as theFederation of Malayain 1948, and achieved independence on 31 August 1957. Malaya united withNorth Borneo,Sarawak, andSingaporeon 16 September 1963. Less than two years later in 1965, Singapore was expelled from the federation.[13]The country ismulti-ethnicandmulti-cultural, which plays a large role in politics. TheconstitutiondeclaresIslamthestate religionwhile allowingfreedom of religionfor non-Muslims. The government system is closely modelled on theWestminster parliamentary systemand the legal system is based oncommon law. Thehead of stateis the king, known as theYang di-Pertuan Agong. He is anelected monarchchosen from the hereditaryrulersof the nineMalay statesevery five years. The head of government is theprime minister.[14]Since its independence, Malaysia has had one of the best economic records in Asia, with itsGDPgrowing at an average of 6.5% per annum for almost 50 years. The economy has traditionally been fuelled by its natural resources, but is expanding in the sectors of science, tourism, commerce andmedical tourism. Today, Malaysia has anewly industrialisedmarket economy, ranked third largest in Southeast Asia and29th largest in the world. It is a founding member of theAssociation of Southeast Asian Nations, theEast Asia Summitand theOrganisation of Islamic Cooperation, and a member ofAsia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, theCommonwealth of Nations, and theNon-Aligned Movement.[14]Contents[hide] 1Etymology 2History 3Government and politics 4Foreign relations and military 5Subdivisions 6Geography 7Biodiversity 7.1Conservation issues 8Economy 8.1Infrastructure 8.1.1Energy 8.1.2Transportation 9Demographics 9.1Religion 9.2Language 10Culture 10.1Fine arts 10.2Cuisine 10.3Media 10.4Holidays and festivals 10.5Sports 11See also 12References 13External links