Country's Full Name: Malaysia

Brief History: The ancestors of present inhabitants are believed to have migrated from India and China bringing in their culture. The Hindu beliefs came to an end after powerful king Parameswara Deva Shah became a Muslim. The influence of British and Dutch trade increased after they started trading in the nineteenth century. British formed a protectorate in the Malay Peninsula deeply involved in the trade of rubber. With a brief Japanese occupation (1942-1945) in the Second World War Malaysia became independent on August 31, 1957 from British rule. Singapore, Sabah (North Borneo), and Sarawak joined in the federation. Singapore later withdrew in 1966 to become an independent nation. Malay dominion in present lies in Western Malaysia of Malay Peninsula and the eastern region of Sabah and Sarawak in East Borneo.

What is the country known for: Petronas towers (452 m/1486 ft) or the twin-towers is the integral part of Malaysian architecture. Located in Kuala Lumpur, it was once world's highest sky-scrapper until the other sky-scrappers (Sears Tower Chicago and Taipei 101 Taiwan) over-powered its might.

Visit Taman Negara, Malaysia's natural rainforest which houses world's oldest flora and fauna.

The country has common culture mixed up with Chinese, Indian, Malay and Thai decent.

Main Industries:
Peninsular Malaysia - rubber and oil palm processing and manufacturing, light manufacturing, electronics, tin mining and smelting, logging, timber processing; Sabah - logging, petroleum production; Sarawak - agriculture processing, petroleum production and refining, logging
Agricultural products: Peninsular Malaysia - rubber, palm oil, cocoa, rice; Sabah - subsistence crops, rubber, timber, coconuts, rice; Sarawak - rubber, pepper, timber

Main Trading Partners:
Export partners (2006): US 18.8%, Singapore 15.4%, Japan 8.9%, China 7.2%, Thailand 5.3%, Hong Kong 4.9%. Commodities - electronic equipment, petroleum and liquefied natural gas, wood and wood products, palm oil, rubber, textiles, chemicals Trade - $158 billion f.o.b.

Import Partners (2006): Japan 13.3%, US 12.6%, China 12.2%, Singapore 11.7%, Thailand 5.5%, Taiwan 5.5%, South Korea 5.4%, Germany 4.4%. Commodities - electronics, machinery, petroleum products, plastics, vehicles, iron and steel products, chemicals. Trade - $127.3 billion f.o.b.

Major Cities: Kula Lumpur population 3,688,200 (metro), 1,403,400 (proper city); Kelang population 683,200; Johor Bhanu population 682,100.

Location: Main constituent of Malay Peninsula and the island of Borneo, the country is in south-east Asia.

2 30 N, 112 30 E

Size:
Total area: 127, 317 sq mi/329, 750 sq km
Land: 126,853 sq mi/328,550 sq km
Water: 464 sq mi/1,200 sq km

It is slightly larger than New Mexico.

Time Zone: UTC/GMT 8 hours

Type of Government: Malaysia is a constitutional monarchy, the king remains the functionary head of state. The hereditary rulers of nine states meet to elect their head for five-year-term. The bicameral parliament consists of non-elected upper house and elected lower house. Melaka and Pulao Penang in West Malaysia; Sabah and Sarawak in East Malaysia are headed by governors appointed by the government.

Chief of state - Paramount Ruler Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin (since 13 December 2006)
Prime Minister - Abdullah bin Ahmad Badawi (since 31 October 2003);
Deputy Prime Minister Mohamed NAJIB bin Abdul Razak (since 7 January 2004)

National Holidays:

2010
1 Jan New Year's Day.
1 Feb *Federal Territory Day.
14 Feb Chinese New Year.
26 Feb Mawlid al-Nabi (Birth of Prophet Muhammad).
28 Apr Wesak Day (Birth of Buddha).
1 May Labour Day.
5 Jun King's Birthday.
31 Aug Merdeka Day (National Day).
10 Sep Hari Raya Puasa (End of Ramadan).
5 Nov **Deepavali.
16 Nov - 17 Nov Hari Raya Qurban (Feast of the Sacrifice).
7 Dec Awal Muharram (Islamic New Year).
25 Dec Christmas.

2011
1 Jan New Year's Day.
1 Feb *Federal Territory Day.
15 Feb Mawlid al-Nabi (Birth of Prophet Muhammad).
2 Mar Chinese New Year.
1 May Labour Day.
9 May Wesak Day (Birth of Buddha).
4 Jun King's Birthday.
31 Aug Hari Raya Puasa (End of Ramadan).
31 Aug Merdeka Day (National Day).
26 Oct **Deepavali.
6 Nov - 7 Nov Hari Raya Qurban (Feast of the Sacrifice).
26 Nov Awal Muharram (Islamic New Year).
25 Dec Christmas.

*Putrajaya, Kuala Lumpur and Labuan only.
**Except Labuan and Sarawak.

Population:
July 2007 estimate: 24,821,286

0-14 years: 32.2% (male 4,118,086/female 3,884,403)
15-64 years: 62.9% (male 7,838,166/female 7,785,833)
65 years and over: 4.8% (male 526,967/female 667,831)

Median age: 24.4 years (male 23.8 years/female 25 years)

Life expectancy: 72.76 years (male 70.05 years/female 75.65 years)

Religion: Muslim 60.4%, Buddhist 19.2%, Christian 9.1%, Hindu 6.3%, Confucianism, Taoism, other traditional Chinese religions 2.6%, other or unknown 1.5%, none 0.8%
Ethnic groups: Malay 50.4%, Chinese 23.7%, indigenous 11%, Indian 7.1%, others 7.8%

Language: Bahasa Malaysia (official), English, Chinese (Cantonese, Mandarin, Hokkien, Hakka, Hainan, Foochow), Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Punjabi, Thai

In East Malaysia there are several indigenous languages; most widely spoken are Iban and Kadazan

Local Customs:
Dress modestly while in Malaysia. Shoulders need to be covered and don't wear short dresses. Topless sunbathing is strictly not allowed.
Respect to the elders is required as part of tradition.

While visiting your host's house or a place of worship remove the footwear outside.

While entertaining Hindu, Muslims and Buddhists keep in mind their religious sentiments. Muslims never eat Pork, Hindus will never eat beef as cow is worshipped and many Buddhists will never eat meat of any kind.

Best Time to go: Avoid the local school children's rush in their holidays from November-December and mid-May to June. Most of the hotels and holiday resorts are booked in the peak season after Ramadan to January. You won't get best deals from the hotels. The rainy seasons should be kept off to visit, which is normally between May to September in the east coast and October-November in the west coast.


Currency: September 2007
1 US Dollar = 3.48226 Malaysian Ringgit
1 Malaysian Ringgit (MYR) = 0.28717 US Dollar (USD)
1 British Pound = 7.02031 Malaysian Ringgit
1 Malaysian Ringgit (MYR) = 0.14244 British Pound (GBP)
1 Euro = 4.83080 Malaysian Ringgit
1 Malaysian Ringgit (MYR) = 0.20701 Euro (EUR)

Customs Regulations: Wine, spirits or malt liquor not exceeding 1 liter.
225 grams of tobacco or 50 cigars or 200 cigarettes.

Tipping: Hotels and restaurants include 10% service charge, tipping is not encouraged in Malaysia. Leave some loose change in the restaurant if you have liked the service. A tip of M $5 to the hotel porter and waiter will be enough to get good service. Other than food and beverages, nobody else expects tip. It all depends upon you to pay the gratuity or not.