for the next few days starting with getting to know the country as a whole.
Malaysia - a federal country separated by South China Sea into two regions: Peninsular Malaysia and a portion of the Borneo Island. It consists of thirteen states and three Federal Territories, eleven of which form the Peninsular Malaysia, two others form Sabah and Sarawak in the island of Borneo and the three Federal Territories are the capital city - Kuala Lumpur
, the seat of federal government in Putrajaya
and the island of Labuan situated closely to Sabah. Perlis, Kedah, Selangor, Johor, Pahang, Perak, Negeri Sembilan, Terengganu and Kelantan are the states having herediatry Rulers while Melaka, Penang, Sabah and Sarawak are the states without Rulers but are headed by the respective Yang di-Pertua Negeri, an appointed head for a designated period.Malaysia is the 43rd most populated country with a population of 28 million and the 66th largest country with a total land area of 329, 961 square kilometers. It shares land borders with Thailand to the north and Indonesia and Brunei to the east and maritime boundaries with Vietnam, Singapore and the Philippines. The weather is mostly dry between May to September and gets torrential rain between October to February. The capital city is Kuala Lumpur while Putrajaya is the new government administrative centre. Its official language is Bahasa Malaysia and a muticultural country with major ethnic groups from Malay, Chinese, Indian, Iban and Kadazan. Its official religion is Islam and the country's currency is known as Ringgit Malaysian (RM).
Malaysia's head of state is the Yang di - Pertuan Agong, an elected monarch chosen from amongst the hereditary rulers of the nine Malay states. The head of the government is the Prime Minister. The country practices parliamentary democracy with a general election held in every five year. It is the King who will elect a Prime Minister who will then nominate members to the federal government. The government system is closely modelled on the Westminster parliamentary system.
In 1963, Malaya united with Sabah, Sarawak, and Singapore to form modern Malaysia but Singapore was expelled from the federation and became an independent city state in 1965.
Malaysia is the largest producer of palm oil in the world. The country is also one of the major producers of natural rubber, pepper, cocoa and timber. The economy of the country has traditionally been fueled by its natural resources but is also now expanding in the sectors of science, tourism, commerce and medical tourism. Two thirds of Malaysia is forested, where in the forest you will find the largest flower in the world known as Rafflesia
. The Strait of Malacca, lying between Sumatra and Peninsular Malaysia is arguably the most important shipping lane in the world. The longest highway of the country is the North-South Expressway, which extends over 800km between the Thai border and Singapore. The oil and gas industry in Malaysia is currently dominated by state owned Petronas
.Being a big country comprising of several states, most of which have their own places of interest to explore, Malaysia is definitely an interesting and exciting country to travel in the Southeast Asian region!
