Profile

A centralized constitutional monarchy present in South East Asia is Malaysia. It comprises of thirteen states and three federal territories. The country is spread over an area of 329,847 square kilometers or 127,350 sq miles. The South China Sea splits Malaysia into two areas Malaysian Borneo and peninsular Malaysia. Malaysia shares land borders with Brunei, Thailand and Indonesia. The Maritime border prevails with countries like Philippines, Singapore and Vietnam,

Intaially the country was called as”Malay”in the year 1957 after gaining independence from the British colonization.At that time it was only made up of Malaypeninsula and Singapore . Later after a lapse of few years Sabah and Sarawak made up their mind to join Malaya and finaly Malysia was formed in the year 1963. On the other hand iSingapore left the federation in the year 1965.

The area of Malaysia is somewhat greater than New Mexico. Forests occupy a major portion of Malaysia. Mountain ranges border the entire peninsula length. The wide spread dense forests offer teak, ebony, sandalwood and additional woods.Malaysia has a tropical climate. The countries occupy the forty third rank in most thickly populated category. Malaysia is the 66th biggest country in terms of land area.

Capital :                            :             Kuala Lumpur

Independence:                             31st August 1957

The seat of federal power:         Putrajaya.

Population :                                  more than 27.5 million. People

Language :                                   Bahasu Melayu, Chinese, English and Tamil

Religions:                                     Islam (60.4%), Buddhists(19.2%).Christianity(9.1%) and Hinduism(6.3%)

Currency:                                      Malaysia Ringgits(MYR), the smallest unit is Sen.

Literacy rate:                                93.5%

Time:                                            UTC+8.00:00

History

Nearly 40,000 years ago, there were traces of human inhabitation. The Negritos were the first one to occupy the Malayan peninsula. Later from India and China, settlers and traders began to arrive in Malaysia in the 1st century CE. In the 2nd and 3rd century these began to set up trading towns and ports.

During this period the Hinduism and Buddhism were the major religions greatly followed by the Malay Peninsula people. Sanskrit inscriptions found a place in Malaysia in the early fourth or fifth centuries. During the seventh and thirtieth century period, a major portion of Malay Peninsula was under the rule of Sri Vijaya Empire. Later the Srivijaya dynasty was overthrowned by the Majapahit Empire based in Java. The Mahapahit Kings held a major portion of Malay  Archipelago and Peninsular Malaysia under their sway.

A prince of the erstwhile SriVijaya Empire Parameshwara founded the Malacca sultanate which is regarded as the primary autonomous state in Malaysia. Parameshara later embraced Islam and because of him the conversion of Malays to Islam gained momentum.

The Portuguese were the first foreigner to conquer Malacca in 1511. Later they were overthrown by the Dutch. The Dutch in turn were outsmarted by the British. The British gained entry into Malay with the lease of Penang Island by the Kedah sultan to the British East India Company. The British East India Company also brought later Singapore under it direct sway. Subsequent to the 1824 Anglo-Dutch treaty, the British gained full control of Malacca.

Governance

Malaysia is under the rule of a federal constitutional elective monarchy. The Yang di-Paruan Agong is the head of state. He is usually called as the King. The Yang di-Parun is elected out of the nine Malay state traditional rulers. The four titular governors will not take part in the King’s selection.

An elected king can rule for a period of five years. The nine traditional rulers rotate the king’s throne among themselves through an informal agreement. After Independence, Malaysia is ruled by a multiparty coalition system called as the Barisan Nasional.

The Cabinet is vested with executive power. The Malaysian prime minister heads the cabinet. The prime minister must be a member in the parliament’s lower house as stipulated by the country’s Constitution.

Mr.Mohd Najib bin Abdul Razak is the present prime minister of Malaysia.