OFFICIAL NAME::
Malaysia
GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATION::
The country of Malaysia consists of the Peninsular Malaysia, which is part of mainland Southeast Asia, and the states of Sabah & Sarawak (east Malaysia) on the northern edges of the island of Borneo.
AREA::
330,252 km².
PRINCIPAL NATURAL RESOURCES::
Petroleum, tin, timber, copper, iron ore, natural gas, bauxite.
POPULATION::
32,493,335 ( as of August 2019 )
DENSITY::
95.76 inhabitants/ km².
POPULATION GROUPS::
50.1% of the population are Malay, 22.6% are Chinese, 11.8% are indigenous Bumiputra groups other than the Malays, 6.7% are Indian, and other groups account for 0.7%. Non-citizens account for 8.2% of Malaysia’s resident population.
CITY POPULATIONS::
Capital: Kuala Lumpur (7,200,000)
Main cities: George Town of Penang (520,000); Ipoh (765,000); Johor Bahru (1,500,000), Malacca City (500,000); Kota Kinabalu (452,058).
RELIGIONS::
Islam – 61.3%; Buddhism – 19.8%; Christianity – 9.2%; Hindu – 6.3%; Confucianism, Taoism & other tradition Chinese religion – 1.3%; other religion – 0.4%.
LANGUAGE::
Malay (the official language); other main languages: Chinese (Min Nan, Hakka, Mandarin and Min Dong), English, Tamil, Iban (in Sarawak), Banjar (in Sabah).
There are 140 languages spoken in Malaysia (peninsular Malaysia 40, Sabah 54, Sarak 46).
ENTRY REQUIREMENTS::
Every person entering Malaysia must possess a valid national Passport or internationally recognised Travel Document valid for travelling to Malaysia. Any person not in possession of a Passport or Travel Document which is recognised by the Malaysian Government must obtain a Document in lieu of Passport. For more information: http://www.imi.gov.my/index.php/en/entry-requirements-into-malaysia.html
ADMINISTRATIVE DIVISION::
13 States, 146 Districts, 3 Federal Territory, 1 Federal State.
