KEY FACTS

Joined Commonwealth: 1957
Population: 29,240,000 (2012)
GDP p.c. growth: 3.6% p.a. 1990–2012
UN HDI 2012: world ranking 64
Official language: Malay
Time: GMT plus 8hr
Currency: Ringgit or Malaysian dollar (M$)

Geography

Area: 329,758 sq km
Coastline: 4,680 km
Capital: Kuala Lumpur

Lying north of the equator in central South-East Asia, above Singapore and south of Thailand, Peninsular Malaysia is separated by about 540 km of the South China Sea from the Malaysian states of Sabah and Sarawak, which share the island of Borneo with Indonesia and Brunei Darussalam. Malaysian islands include Labuan, Penang and the Langkawi Islands. The Federation of Malaysia comprises three federal territories (Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya and Labuan) and 13 states (Sabah, Sarawak and the 11 states of Peninsular Malaysia). The peninsular states are the nine sultanates of Johor, Kedah, Kelantan, Negeri Sembilan, Pahang, Perak, Perlis, Selangor and Terengganu, plus Melaka and Penang.

Main towns/conurbations:

Kuala Lumpur (capital, pop. 1.48m in 2010), Subang Jaya (Selangor, contiguous with Kuala Lumpur, 1.55m), Kelang (Selangor, 1.11m), Johor Baharu (Johor, 916,400),Ampang Jaya (Selangor, 804,900), Ipoh (Perak, 704,600), Shah Alam (Selangor, 671,300), Kuching (Sarawak, 658,500), Petaling Jaya (Selangor, 638,500), Kota Kinabalu (Sabah, 604,100), Batu Sembilan Cheras (Selangor, 601,500), Sandakan (Sabah, 501,200), Kajang–Sungai Chua (Selangor, 448,200), Seremban (Negeri Semb (280,500), Kota Baharu (Kelantan, 272,600), Bukit Mertajam (Penang, 228,000), Alor Setar (Kedah, 212,600), Taiping (Perak, 212,600), Melaka (Melaka, 201,400) and George Town (Penang, 157,700).

Society

KEY FACTS 2012

Population per sq km: 89
Life expectancy: 75 years

Population:

29,240,000 (2012); 80 per cent of people live in Peninsular Malaysia, 73 per cent in urban areas and nine per cent in urban agglomerations of more than one million people; growth 2.2 per cent p.a. 1990–2012; birth rate 18 per 1,000 people (37 in 1970); life expectancy 75 years (61 in 1970). The society is multiracial with an estimated 53 per cent Malays, 25 per cent Chinese, 11 per cent indigenous peoples and ten per cent Indians. In Sarawak, the main indigenous peoples – collectively known in that state as the Dayaks – are the Iban, Bidayuh and Orang Ulu; and in Sabah, the Kadazan Dusan, Bajau, Melanaus and Murut. Other ethnic groups in Malaysia include Europeans and Eurasians.

Language:

The national language is Malay (Bahasa Malaysia), but English is widely spoken. Other languages include various Chinese dialects, Tamil and indigenous languages such as Iban and Kadazan.

Education:

Public spending on education was five per cent of GDP in 2010. There are six years of compulsory education starting at the age of six. Primary school comprises six years and secondary seven, with cycles of three and four years. Some 99 per cent of pupils complete primary school (2009). The school year starts in January and comprises two terms. The tertiary sector comprises 20 public universities, 22 polytechnics, 37 community colleges, and many private universities and colleges, located throughout the country (2013). The longest-established universities are the University of Malaya (Kuala Lumpur, 1905) and Universiti Teknologi Malaysia in Skudai (Johor, 1904 as the Technical School, becoming a university in 1972). Open and distance education is provided by the Open University Malaysia, which was established as a private university by a consortium of 11 public universities in 2000. The female–male ratio for gross enrolment in tertiary education is 1.30:1 (2010). Literacy among people aged 15–24 is 98 per cent (2010). Malaysia hosted the 17th Conference of Commonwealth Education Ministers in Kuala Lumpur in June 2009, which marked 50 years since the first conference was held in Oxford in the UK in 1959. Commonwealth Education Ministers meet every three years to discuss issues of mutual concern and interest.