ESSENTIAL DATA FOR MALAYSIA

Location South-East Asia
Coordinates 2 30 N, 112 30 E
Area Total 329,750 sq km; land 328,550 sq km; water 1,200 sq km
Coastline 4,675 km (Peninsular Malaysia 2,068 km, East Malaysia 2,607
km)
Land use Available land: 3 per cent; permanent crops: 12 per cent;
permanent pastures: 0 per cent; forests and woodland: 68 per
cent; other: 17 per cent (1993 est.)
Irrigated land 2,941 sq km (1998 est.)
Population 25,000,000
Youth Population 10, 100,000 (45%)
Age structure 0-14 years: 33 per cent; 15-24 years: 20 per cent; 60 years and
over: 4 per cent (2000 est.)
Ethnics Malay, Chinese, Indian and other indigenous ethnic groups.
Religions Islam,(official religion) Buddhism, Daoism, Hinduism, Christianity, Sikhism
Languages Bahasa Malaysia (official), English, Chinese dialects (Cantonese,
Mandarin, Hokkien, Hakka, Hainan, Foochow), Tamil,
Telugu, Malalalam, Panjabi, Thai (several indigenous languages
- the largest of which are Iban and Kadazan - are spoken in
East Malaysia,)
Government Constitutional monarchy
Capital Kuala Lumpur
Administration 13 states and 3 federal territories
Note: the city of Kuala Lumpur is located within the federal
territory of Wilayah Persekutuan