Malaysia
Basic Facts
Basic Facts
Official name
Federation of Malaysia
Capital Kuala Lumpur
Area
329,758 square kilometres
127,320 square miles
Administrative divisions (population)
Johor 2,554,100 (1997 Estimate)
Kedah 1,530,100 (1997 Estimate)
Kelantan
1,447,000 (1997 Estimate)
Labuan
70,400 (1997 Estimate)
Negeri Melaka
582,000 (1997 Estimate)
Pahang
1,239,000 (1997 Estimate)
Perak
2,094,800 (1997 Estimate)
Perlis
217,400 (1997 Estimate)
Pinang
1,222,100 (1997 Estimate)
Selangor 2,999,800 (1997 Estimate)
Sembilan 810,500 (1997 Estimate)
State of Sabah
2,593,400 (1997 Estimate)
State of Sarawak
1,954,300 (1997 Estimate)
Terengganu
975,800 (1997 Estimate)
Wilayah Persekutuan
1,231,500 (1997 Estimate)
Largest cities (population)
Kuala Lumpur
1,145,342 (1996)
Ipoh
382,853 (1996)
Johor Baharu
328,436 (1996)
Petaling Jaya
254,350 (1997 Estimate)
Kelang
243,355 (1997 Estimate)
Kuala Terengganu
228,119 (1996)
George Town
219,603 (1996)
Kota Baharu
219,582 (1996)
Kuantan
199,484 (1996)
Taiping
183,261 (1996)
Seremban
182,869 (1996)
People
Population
21,820,143 (2000 Estimate)
Population growth
Population growth rate
2.04 per cent (2000 Estimate)
Population density
66 persons per square kilometre Estimate
171 persons per square mile Estimate
Urbanization
Per cent urban 56 per cent (1998 Estimate)
Per cent rural 44 per cent (1998 Estimate)
Life expectancy
Total 71 years (2000 Estimate)
Female 74.2 years (2000 Estimate)
Male 67.9 years (2000 Estimate)
Infant mortality rate
21 deaths per 1,000 live births (2000 Estimate)
Literacy rate
Total 87.5 per cent (2000)
Female
83.6 per cent (2000)
Male
91.5 per cent (2000)
Ethnic divisions
Malay and other
indigenous peoples 59 per cent
Chinese
26 per cent
Indian
7 per cent
Other or none
8 per cent
Languages
West Malaysia:
Bahasa Malaysia (official), Chinese dialects, Tamil, other indigenous languages, English
State of Sabah:
English, Bahasa Malaysia, numerous indigenous languages, Chinese (Mandarin and Hakka dialects predominate)
State of Sarawak:
English, Bahasa Malaysia, Mandarin, numerous indigenous languages
Religions
West Malaysia:
Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu
State of Sabah:
Muslim 38 per cent
Christian 17 per cent
Indigenous beliefs and other
45 per cent
State of Sarawak:
Indigenous beliefs
35 per cent
Buddhist and Confucianist
24 per cent
Muslim
20 per cent
Christian
16 per cent
Other or none
5 per cent
Government
Type of government
Federal constitutional monarchy
Independence
31 August 1957 (from the United Kingdom)
Constitution
31 August 1957; amended 16 September 1963
Voting rights
Universal at age 21
Membership of international organizations
APEC, ASEAN, Cairns Group, Colombo Plan, Commonwealth, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICFTU, ICPO/Interpol, IFRCS, IMF, INTELSAT, ISO, NAM, UN, UN, UN, UN, UN, UN, UN, UN, UN, UN, UN, UNESCO, WHO, WToO, WTO
Economy
Gross domestic product
(GDP) (US$)
72,489 million (1998)
GDP per capita
(US$) 3,270 (1998)
GDP by economic sector
GDP, agriculture
13.2 per cent (1998)
GDP, industry
43.6 per cent (1998)
GDP, services
43.3 per cent (1998)
National budget
(US$)
Total revenue
23,116 million (1997)
Total expenditure
19,722 million (1997)
Monetary unit*
1 ringgit Malaysia (RM), consisting of 100 sen
Exports
Electronic equipment, petroleum and petroleum products, palm oil, wood and wood products, rubber, textiles
Imports
Machinery and equipment, chemicals, food, petroleum products
Major trading partners for exports
United States, Singapore, Japan, Hong Kong, United Kingdom, Thailand, Germany
Major trading partners for imports
Japan, United States, Singapore, Taiwan, Germany, United Kingdom, South Korea
Industries
Rubber and palm oil processing and manufacturing, logging and processing timber, light manufacturing, electronics, tin mining and smelting, petroleum production and refining, agricultural processing
Agriculture
Natural rubber, palm oil, rice, timber, coconut, pepper
Natural resources
Tin, petroleum, timber, copper, iron ore, natural gas, bauxite
Sources:
Basic Facts and People sections
Area data are from the individual country statistical bureaus. Population, population growth rate, infant mortality, and life expectancy data are from the United States Census Bureau, International Programs Center; International database, 2000; (www.census.gov). Population density data are from the individual country statistical bureaus, and the United States Census Bureau, International Programs Center; International database, 2000; (www.census.gov). Largest cities population data and administrative divisions data are from the individual country statistical bureaus. Literacy rate data are from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) database, 2000; (www.unesco.org). Urban and rural population data are from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations (UN), FAOSTAT database, 2000; (www.fao.org). Ethnic divisions and religion data are largely from the latest Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) World Factbook, as well as various country censuses and reports. Language data are largely from the Ethnologue, Languages of the World, SIL International; (www.sil.org).
Government section
Government, independence, constitution, and voting rights data are largely from various government Web sites, the latest Europa World Yearbook, and the latest Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) World Factbook.
Economy section
Gross domestic product (GDP), GDP per capita, GDP by economic sector, and national budget data are from the World Bank database, 2000; (www.worldbank.org). Monetary unit, exports and imports, natural resources, agriculture, and industries information is from the latest Europa World Yearbook, and various International Monetary Fund (IMF) publications.
All this information has been taken through indirect resources.
Note: Due to rounding, totals may not add up to 100 per cent.
<<back<<
Australia
Baltic States Canada Central
Asia Greek Cyprus Ireland
Malaysia Russia Singapore
South Africa Switzerland
Thailand
Turkey Turkish
Cyprus UK Ukraine
USA Contact
Us Encyclopedia Home
