Malaysia

Malaysia مليسيا
Flag Emblem
Motto: Bersekutu Bertambah Mutu (English: "Unity Is Strength")
Anthem: "Negaraku"
Capital (and largest city)	Kuala Lumpur1 3°08′N 101°42′E
Official languages	Malay
Government	Federal constitutional monarchy
- Paramount Ruler	Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin
- Prime Minister	Abdullah Ahmad Badawi
Independence
- from the UK (Malaya only)	August 31, 1957
- Federation (with Sabah, Sarawak and Singapore2)	September 16, 1963
Area
- Total	329,847 km² (67th) 127,355 sq mi
- Water (%)	0.3
Population
- Dec. 2006 estimate	26,920,000 (44th)
- 2000 census	23,953,136
- Density	82 /km² (109th) 211 /sq mi
GDP (PPP)	2006 estimate
- Total	$308.8 billion (pending)
- Per capita	$12,700 (pending)
HDI (2006)	0.805 (high) (61st)
Currency	Ringgit (RM) (MYR)
Time zone	MST (UTC+8)
- Summer (DST)	not observed (UTC+8)
Internet TLD	.my
Calling code	+60
1 Putrajaya is the primary seat of government. 2 Singapore became an independent country on 9 August 1965.

Malaysia is a federation of thirteen states in Southeast Asia. The country consists of two geographical regions divided by the South China Sea:

• Peninsular Malaysia (or West Malaysia) on the Malay Peninsula shares a land border on the north with Thailand and is connected by the Johor-Singapore Causeway and the Malaysia-Singapore Second Link to the south with Singapore. It consists of nine sultanates (Johor, Kedah, Kelantan, Negeri Sembilan, Pahang, Perak, Perlis, Selangor and Terengganu), two states headed by governors (Malacca and Penang), and two federal territories (Putrajaya and Kuala Lumpur).
• Malaysian Borneo (or East Malaysia) occupies the northern part of the island of Borneo, bordering Indonesia and surrounding the Sultanate of Brunei. It consists of the states of Sabah and Sarawak and the federal territory of Labuan.

The name "Malaysia" was adopted in 1963 when the Federation of Malaya (Malay: Persekutuan Tanah Melayu), Singapore, Sabah and Sarawak formed a 14-state federation. Singapore was expelled from the federation in 1965 and subsequently became an independent country.

Although politically dominated by the Malays, modern Malaysian society is heterogeneous, with substantial Chinese and Indian minorities. Malaysian politics have been noted for their allegedly communal nature; the three major component parties of the Barisan Nasional each restrict membership to those of one ethnic group. However, the only major intercommunal violence the country has seen since independence was the May 13 racial riots of 1969 that occurred in the wake of an election campaign that was dominated by racial issues.