Information about Malaysia
The Federation of Malaysia is a country in the southeast of Asia. It consists of two separate parts divided by the South China Sea: West Malaysia on the Malay Peninsula, bordered to the north by Thailand and enclosing Singapore to the south; and East Malaysia, the northern part of the island of Borneo, bordered to the south by Indonesia and enclosing Brunei to the north. National motto: Bersekutu Bertambah Mutu (Malay: Unity provides Strength) Official language Malay History Capital Kuala Lumpur¹ King Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin The Malay Peninsula developed as a Dato' Seri Dr. major Southeast Asian commercial Prime minister Mahathir bin centre, as trade between China and Mohamad India and beyond flourished through Area Ranked 64th the busy Straits of Malacca. Islam Ê- Total 329,750 km² arrived in the 14th century, followed Ê- % water 0.3% by European traders in the 16th century, after which the Portuguese, Population Ranked 46th Dutch and British successively Ê- Total 21,793,293 dominated the Straits. Ê- Density 69/km² The British crown colony of the Independence From the United Straits Settlements was established in Ê- Date Kingdom August 31, 1957 1826 and Britain gradually increased Currency Ringgit its control over the rest of the peninsula. Following a Japanese Time zone UTC +8 occupation during World War II popular National anthem Negara Ku support for independence grew, coupled with a communist insurgency. Internet TLD .MY Independence was achieved for the Calling Code 60 peninsula in 1957 under the name of (1) The federal administration is in the Federation of Malaya, which did the process of moving to newly-built not include the port of Singapore. Putrajaya A new federation under the name of Malaysia was formed on September 16, 1963 through a merging of Malaya, Singapore, and the East Malaysian states of Sabah and Sarawak on the northern coast of Borneo. The early years were marred by Indonesian efforts to control Malaysia, Philippine claims to Sabah, and Singapore's eventual secession in 1965. Politics The federation of Malaysia is a constitutional monarchy, nominally headed by the Paramount Ruler or Yang di-Pertuan Agong, customarily referred to as the king. Kings are elected for 5-year terms from among the nine sultans of the peninsular Malaysian states. Executive power is vested in the cabinet led by the prime minister; the Malaysian constitution stipulates that the prime minister must be a member of the lower house of parliament who, in the opinion of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, commands a majority in parliament. The cabinet is chosen from among members of both houses of parliament and is responsible to that body. The bicameral parliament consists of the Senate (Dewan Negara) and the House of Representatives (Dewan Rakyat). All 69 senate members sit for 6-year terms; 26 are elected by the 13 state assemblies, and 43 are appointed by the king. Representatives of the House are elected from single-member districts by universal adult suffrage. The 193 members of the House of Representatives are elected to maximum terms of 5 years. Legislative power is divided between federal and state legislatures. States Malaysia is divided into 13 states (negeri-negeri) and 3 federal territories (wilayah-wilayah persekutuan), marked by a *: West Malaysia * Johor * Kedah * Kelantan * Kuala Lumpur * * Labuan * * Malacca * Negeri Sembilan * Pahang * Perak * Perlis * Penang * Putrajaya * * Selangor * Terengganu East Malaysia * Sabah * Sarawak Geography The two distinct parts of Malaysia, separated from each other by the South China Sea, share a largely similar landscape in that both West- and East Malaysia feature coastal plains rising to often densely forested hills and mountains, the highest of which is Mount Kinabalu at 4,093 m on the island of Borneo. The local climate is tropical and characterised by the annual southwest (April to October) and northeast (October to February) monsoons. Putrajaya is a newly created administrative capital for the federal government of Malaysia, aimed in part to ease growing congestion within Malaysia's largest city, Kuala Lumpur. The prime minister's office moved in 1999 and the move is expected to be complete in 2005. Kuala Lumpur remains the seat of parliament, as well as the commercial and financial capital of the country. Other major cities include Malacca, Ipoh, Klang, and Johor Bahru. Economy Malaysia, a middle income country, transformed itself from 1971 through the late 1990s from a producer of raw materials into an emerging multi-sector economy. Growth is almost exclusively driven by exports - particularly of electronics - and, as a result Malaysia was hard hit by the global economic downturn and the slump in the Information Technology (IT) sector in 2001. GDP in 2001 grew only 0.3% due to an estimated 11% contraction in exports, but a substantial fiscal stimulus package has mitigated the worst of the recession and the economy is expected to grow by 2% to 3% in the immediate future. Kuala Lumpur's stable macroeconomic environment, in which both inflation and unemployment stand at 3% or less, coupled with its healthy foreign exchange reserves and relatively small external debt make it unlikely that Malaysia will experience a crisis similar to the Asian financial crisis of 1997, but its long-term prospects are somewhat clouded by the lack of reforms in the corporate sector, particularly those dealing with competitiveness and high corporate debt. Demographics Malaysia's population comprises many ethnic groups, with the politically dominant Malays comprising a plurality. By constitutional definition, all Malays are Muslim. About a quarter of the population is Chinese, who have historically played an important role in trade and business. Malaysians of Indian descent comprise about 7% of the population and include Hindus, Muslims, Buddhists, and Christians. About 85% of the Indian community is Tamil. Non-Malay indigenous groups make up more than half of the state of Sarawak's population and about 66% of Sabah's population. They are divided into dozens of ethnic groups, but they share some general patterns of living and culture. Until the 20th century, most practiced traditional beliefs, but many have become Christian or Muslim. Other Malaysians also include those of, inter alia, European and Middle Eastern descent. Population distribution is uneven, with some 15 million residents concentrated in the lowlands of the Malay Peninsula. The bumiputra policy was adopted in the 1970s in an attempt to address racial and economic inequality in the country. After 2000, the government started reconsidering parts of this policy. Culture Malaysia is a multicultural society, with Malays, Chinese and Indians living side by side. The Malays are the largest community. They are Muslims, speak Bahasa Malaysia and are largely responsible for the political fortunes of the country. The Chinese comprise about a third of the population. They are mostly Buddhists and Taoists, speak Hokkein, Hakka and Cantonese, and are dominant in the business community. The Indians account for about 10% of the population. They are mainly Hindu Tamils from southern India, speaking Tamil, Malayalam, and some Hindi, and live mainly in the larger towns on the west coast of the peninsula. There is also a sizeable Sikh community. Eurasians and indigenous tribes make up the remaining population. Bahasa Malaysia is the official language but when members of these different communities talk to each other, they generally speak either English or Bahasa Malaysia - the more highly educated will tend to speak English to each other. The largest indigenous tribe in terms of numbers is the Iban of Sarawak, who number 395,000. They are largely longhouse dwellers and live along the Rejang and Baram rivers. The Bidayuh (107,000) are concentrated on Sarawak's Skrang River. The Orang Asli (80,000) live in small scattered groups in Peninsular Malaysia. Traditionally nomadic agriculturalists, many have been absorbed into modern Malaysia. Malaysian traditional music is heavily influenced by Chinese and Islamic forms. The music is based largely around the gendang (drum), but includes percussion instruments (some made of shells), flutes, trumpets and gongs. The country has a strong tradition of dance and dance dramas, some of Thai, Indian and Portuguese origin. Other artistic forms include wayang kulit (shadow-puppets), silat (a stylised martial art) and crafts such as batik, weaving and silver and brasswork. Cuisine It's not easy to find authentic Malay food in Malaysian restaurants, though you can take your pick of Chinese, Nyonya (a local variation on Chinese and Malay food - Chinese ingredients, local spices), Indian, Indonesian or (sometimes) Western cuisines. Satays (meat kebabs in spicy peanut sauce) are a Malaysian creation and they're found everywhere. Perhaps the unofficial national dish of Malaysia is nasi lemak, literally coconut rice, which comes as a platter with curry chicken, cucumber, small dried anchovies and hard boiled egg, among others. For breakfasts, there is roti canai (also known as roti chennai), which is layered Indian bread served with curry chicken gravy, or dosai, which are thin Indian crepes originating from southern India. Some other notable dishes include fried soybean curd in peanut sauce, sour tamarind fish curry, fiery curry prawns and spiced curried meat in coconut marinade. Muslim Indian dishes have developed a distinctly Malaysian style. The variety of wonderful tropical fruits and fruit juices available is huge, and strange sweet concoctions include cendol (sugar syrup, coconut milk and green noodles) and ais kacang (beans and jellies topped with shaved ice, syrups and condensed milk). An unusual mix can be found with rojak, which is a fruit salad with a topping of thick dark prawn paste. There are also localised Chinese cusine that are found in parts of Malaysia. Examples are Hokkien fried mee, a dish of thick yellow noodles fried in thick black bean sauce and crispy pig fat and pork, prawn noodles, a meal of thin yellow noodles served in a soup made from boiled prawns, chilli and fried onions with slices of steamed pork and prawns, steam chicken served with broken rice balls, bak kut teh usually served in claypots with pork ribs, sea cucumber, green mushroom and taufu pok (made of bean curd), asam laksa (also known as penang laksa) a bowl of thick white rice noodles served in a soup made of fish meat, asam, pineapple and cucumber in slices. The best Hokkien fried mee is found in Kuala Lumpur. The best chicken rice with rice ball and bak kut teh served with sea cucumber are found in Malacca. The best asam laksa is found in Penang.
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