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 Malaysia: Facts
General:
During the late 18th and 19th centuries, Great Britain established colonies and protectorates in the area of current Malaysia; these were occupied by Japan from 1942 to 1945. In 1948, the British-ruled territories on the Malay Peninsula formed the Federation of Malaya, which became independent in 1957. Malaysia was formed in 1963 when the former British colonies of Singapore and the East Malaysian states of Sabah and Sarawak on the northern coast of Borneo joined the Federation. The first several years of the country's history were marred by Indonesian efforts to control Malaysia, Philippine claims to Sabah, and Singapore's secession from the Federation in 1965.
Capital:
Kuala Lumpur
Note: Putrajaya is referred to as
administrative center not capital; Parliament meets in
Kuala Lumpur
Area:
- Total: 329,750 sq km
- Land: 328,550 sq km
- Water: 1,200 sq km
Climate:
- Tropical; annual southwest (April to October) and northeast (October to February) monsoons.
Population:
- 23,953,136 (July 2005 est.)
Religions:
- Muslim, Buddhist, Daoist, Hindu, Christian, Sikh; note - in addition, Shamanism is practiced in East Malaysia .
Languages:
- Bahasa Melayu (official), English, Chinese dialects (Cantonese, Mandarin, Hokkien, Hakka, Hainan, Foochow), Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Panjabi, Thai
Note: in addition, in East Malaysia several indigenous languages are spoken, the largest are Iban and Kadazan
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