| Area |
329,847 sq km (127,355 sq miles). |
| Population |
24,530,000 (2002). |
| Capital |
Kuala Lumpur- population 1,410,000 (2002). |
| Climate |
Tropical without extremely high temperatures. Days are very warm, while nights are fairly cool. The main rainy season in the east runs between November and February, while August is the wettest period on the west coast. East Malaysia has heavy rain (November to February) in Sabah and in Sarawak. However, it is difficult to generalise about the country's climate, as rainfall differs on the east and west coasts according to the prevailing monsoon winds (northeast or southwest).
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| Language |
Bahasa Malaysia is the national and official language, but English is widely spoken. Other languages such as Chinese (Cantonese and Hokkien), Iban and Tamil, are spoken by minorities. |
| Religion |
Roman Catholic 84 per cent; the rest are made up mostly of Muslims, other Christian denominations, Buddhist and Taoists. |
| Time |
GMT + 8
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| Highlights |
Malaysia is home to the 'Green Heart', which is the world's oldest rainforest with abundance of incredible flora and fauna. The archipelago also boasts to have some of the largest underground caves where some are considered to be archaeological sites, and with underground rivers. These islands have some of the world's most fascinating and cosmopolitan cultures, with the population made up of Malay, Chinese and Indian people providing three distinctive cuisines. However, because of the many cultural influences that are part of Malaysia's history, Thai, Indonesian, Korean and Japanese food can all be found.
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| Country Facts |
Malaysia is split into two geographic regions; The Malay Peninsular and neighbouring islands (well over 100) that run south from the Thai border make up 40% of the country, while 400 miles to the east, the states of Sabah and Sarawak on the northern half of Borneo make up the other 60% of Malaysia. A forested mountain range runs from north to south on the Malay peninsular, with mangrove swamps and mud flats on the west coast and sandy beaches and jungle on the east coast. Sarawak and Sabah have similar geography and vegetation to that of the peninsular. |