Location: Southeastern Asia, peninsula bordering Thailand and northern one-third of the island of Borneo, bordering Indonesia, Brunei, and the South China Sea, south of Vietnam 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 Terrain: coastal plains rising to hills and mountains Capital: Kuala Lumpur note: Putrajaya is referred to as administrative center not capital; Parliament meets in Kuala Lumpur Administrative divisions: 13 states (negeri-negeri, singular - negeri) Johor, Kedah, Kelantan, Melaka, Negeri Sembilan, Pahang, Perak, Perlis, Pulau Pinang, Sabah, Sarawak, Selangor, and Terengganu; and one federal territory (wilayah persekutuan) with three components, city of Kuala Lumpur, Labuan, and Putrajaya Population: 23,953,136 (2005 est.) Nationality: noun: Malaysian(s) adjective: Malaysian Ethnic groups: Malay 50.4%, Chinese 23.7%, Indigenous 11%, Indian 7.1%, others 7.8% (2004 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 ethnic languages are spoken, the largest are Iban and Kadazan Literacy: 88.7%

Currency (code): ringgit (MYR) GDP: $248 billion (2005 est.) GDP per capita: $10,400 (2005 est.) Exports - commodities: electronic equipment, petroleum and liquefied natural gas, wood and wood products, palm oil, rubber, textiles, chemicals Exports - partners: US , Singapore , Japan , China , Hong Kong , Thailand Imports - commodities: electronics, machinery, petroleum products, plastics, vehicles, iron and steel products, chemicals Imports - partners: Japan, US, Singapore, China, Thailand, Taiwan, South Korea, Germany, Indonesia Agriculture - products: Peninsular Malaysia-rubber, palm oil, cocoa, rice; Sabah-subsistence crops, timber, coconuts rice; Sarawak-rubber, peper, timber Industries: Peninsular Malaysia-rubber and oil palm processing and manufacting timber; Sabah-logging, petroleum production and refining logging

Government type: constitutional monarchy Executive branch: • chief of state: Paramount Ruler Tuanku SYED SIRAJUDDIN ibni Almarhum Tuanku Syed Putra Jamalullail, the Raja of Perlis (since December 2001) • head of government: Prime Minister ABDULLAH bin Ahmad Badawi (since October 2003 • cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the prime minister from among the members of Parliament with consent of the paramount ruler • elections: paramount ruler elected by and from the hereditary rulers of nine of the states for five-year terms National Holiday: 31 August (1957) ACD Member: ACD Member since 2002 Prime Mover (PM) on Working Group: E-Commerce, Infrastructure Fund, E-Education Co-Prime Mover on Working Group: None Malaysia government official web site : www.gov.my Source: The World Fact Book 2005 (www.cia.gov)