Facts and Figures
Full name:
Malaysia
Nationality
noun: Malaysian(s)
adjective: Malaysian
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Area total: 329,750 sq km water: 1,200 sq km land: 328,550 sq km
Population: 23,953,136 (July 2005 est.)
Ethnic groups
Malay and other indigenous 58%
Chinese 24% Indian 8% others 10% (2000)
Capital: Kuala Lumpur
note: Putrajaya is referred to as administrative center not capital; Parliament meets in Kuala Lumpur (1 300 000)
Largest Cities
Impoh – 570,000
Klang – 560,000 Melaka -370,000 George town – 180,000
Official Language
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
Religion
Muslim
Buddhist Daoist Hindu Christian Sikh; note – in addition, Shamanism is practiced in East Malaysia
Political system: Constitutional monarchy
note: nominally headed by paramount ruler and a bicameral Parliament consisting of a nonelected upper house and an elected lower house; all Peninsular Malaysian states have hereditary rulers except Melaka and Pulau Pinang (Penang); those two states along with Sabah and Sarawak in East Malaysia have governors appointed by government; powers of state governments are limited by federal constitution; under terms of federation, Sabah and Sarawak retain certain constitutional prerogatives (e.g., right to maintain their own immigration controls); Sabah – holds 20 seats in House of Representatives and will hold 25 seats after the next election; Sarawak holds 28 seats in House of Representatives
GDP: purchasing power parity – $229.3 billion (2004 est.)
GDP per head: purchasing power parity – $9,700 (2004 est.)
Annual growth: 7.1% (2004 est.)
GDP – composition by sector
agriculture: 7.2%
industry: 33.6% services: 59.1% (2004 est.)
Inflation: 1.3% (2004 est.)