Malaysia

• air pollution from industrial and vehicular emissions;
• water pollution from raw sewage;
• deforestation;
• smoke/haze from Indonesian forest fires

at birth:

1.07 male(s)/female

under 15 years:

1.06 male(s)/female

15-64 years:

1.007 male(s)/female

65 years and over:

0.789 male(s)/female

total population:

1.012 male(s)/female (2007 est.)

degree of risk:

high

food or waterborne diseases:

bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever

vectorborne diseases:

dengue fever and malaria are high risks in some locations (2007)

noun:

Malaysian(s)

adjective:

Malaysian

conventional long form:

none

conventional short form:

Malaysia

local long form:

none

local short form:

Malaysia

former:

Federation of Malaya

name:

Kuala Lumpur

geographic coordinates:

3 10 N, 101 42 E

time difference:

UTC+8 (13 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)

note: Putrajaya is referred to as administrative center not capital; Parliament meets in Kuala Lumpur

• 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

• based on English common law;
• judicial review of legislative acts in the Supreme Court at request of supreme head of the federation;
• Islamic law is applied to Muslims in matters of family law and religion;
• has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

chief of state:

Paramount Ruler Sultan MIZAN Zainal Abidin (since 13 December 2006)

head of government:

Prime Minister ABDULLAH bin Ahmad Badawi (since 31 October 2003); Deputy Prime Minister Mohamed NAJIB bin Abdul Razak (since 7 January 2004)

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;
• election last held on 3 November 2006 (next to be held in 2011);
• prime minister designated from among the members of the House of Representatives;
• following legislative elections, the leader of the party that wins a plurality of seats in the House of Representatives becomes prime minister

election results:

Sultan MIZAN Zainal Abidin elected paramount ruler

• Civil Courts include Federal Court, Court of Appeal, High Court of Malaya on peninsula Malaysia, and High Court of Sabah and Sarawak in states of Borneo (judges appointed by the paramount ruler on the advice of the prime minister);
• Sharia Courts include Sharia Appeal Court, Sharia High Court, and Sharia Subordinate Courts at state-level and deal with religious and family matters such as custody, divorce, and inheritance, only for Muslims;
• decisions of Sharia courts cannot be appealed to civil courts

• National Front (Barisan Nasional) or BN (ruling coalition) (consists of the following parties: Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia Party or PGRM [KOH Tsu Koon - acting]; Liberal Democratic Party (Parti Liberal Demokratik - Sabah) or LDP [LIEW Vui Keong]; Malaysian Chinese Association (Persatuan China Malaysia) or MCA [ONG Ka Ting]; Malaysian Indian Congress (Kongresi India Malaysia) or MIC [S. Samy VELLU]; Parti Bersatu Rakyat Sabah or PBRS [Joseph KURUP]; Parti Bersatu Sabah or PBS [Joseph PAIRIN Kitingan]; Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu or PBB [Patinggi Haji Abdul TAIB Mahmud]; Parti Rakyat Sarawak or PRS [James MASING]; Sabah Progressive Party (Parti Progresif Sabah) or SAPP [YONG Teck Lee]; Sarawak United People's Party (Parti Bersatu Rakyat Sarawak) or SUPP [George CHAN Hong Nam]; United Malays National Organization or UMNO [ABDULLAH bin Ahmad Badawi]; United Pasokmomogun Kadazandusun Murut Organization (Pertubuhan Pasko Momogun Kadazan Dusun Bersatu) or UPKO [Bernard DOMPOK]; People's Progressive Party (Parti Progresif Penduduk Malaysia) or PPP [M.Keyveas]; Sarawak Progressive Democratic Party or SPDP [William MAWANI]);
• opposition parties: Alternative Front (Barisan Alternatif) or BA (consists of PAS and PKR);
• Democratic Action Party (Parti Tindakan Demokratik) or DAP [KARPAL Singh];
• Islamic Party of Malaysia (Parti Islam se Malaysia) or PAS [Abdul HADI Awang];
• People's Justice Party (Parti Keadilan Rakyat) or PKR [WAN AZIZAH Wan Ismael];
• Sarawak National Party or SNAP [Edwin DUNDANG]

chief of mission:

Ambassador RAJMAH binti Hussain

chancery:

3516 International Court NW, Washington, DC 20008

telephone:

[1] (202) 572-9700

FAX:

[1] (202) 572-9882

consulate(s) general:

Los Angeles, New York

chief of mission:

Ambassador James KEITH

embassy:

376 Jalan Tun Razak, Kuala Lumpur 50440

mailing address:

US Embassy Kuala Lumpur, APO AP 96535-8152

telephone:

[60] (3) 2168-5000

FAX:

[60] (3) 2142-2207

• 14 equal horizontal stripes of red (top) alternating with white (bottom);
• there is a blue rectangle in the upper hoist-side corner bearing a yellow crescent and a yellow 14-pointed star;
• the crescent and the star are traditional symbols of Islam;
• the design was based on the flag of the US

agriculture:

13%

industry:

36%

services:

51% (2005 est.)

lowest 10%:

1.4%

highest 10%:

39.2% (2003 est.)

• Peninsular Malaysia - rubber, palm oil, cocoa, rice;
• Sabah - subsistence crops, rubber, timber, coconuts, rice;
• Sarawak - rubber, pepper, timber

• Peninsular Malaysia - rubber and oil palm processing and manufacturing, light manufacturing, electronics, tin mining and smelting, logging, timber processing;
• Sabah - logging, petroleum production;
• Sarawak - agriculture processing, petroleum production and refining, logging

general assessment:

modern system; international service excellent

domestic:

• good intercity service provided on Peninsular Malaysia mainly by microwave radio relay;
• adequate intercity microwave radio relay network between Sabah and Sarawak via Brunei;
• domestic satellite system with 2 earth stations

international:

• country code - 60;
• submarine cables to India, Hong Kong, and Singapore;
• satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (1 Indian Ocean, 1 Pacific Ocean) (2001)

• condensate 282 km;
• gas 5,372 km;
• oil 1,715 km;
• oil/gas/water 19 km;
• refined products 114 km (2006)

total:

1,890 km

standard gauge:

57 km 1.435-m gauge (57 km electrified)

narrow gauge:

1,833 km 1.000-m gauge (150 km electrified) (2006)

total:

98,721 km

paved:

80,280 km (includes 1,821 km of expressways)

unpaved:

18,441 km (2004)

males age 18-49:

5,584,231

females age 18-49:

5,510,345 (2005 est.)

males age 18-49:

4,574,854

females age 18-49:

4,613,321 (2005 est.)

males age 18-49:

244,418

females age 18-49:

231,896 (2005 est.)

• Malaysia has asserted sovereignty over the Spratly Islands together with China, Philippines, Taiwan, Vietnam, and possibly Brunei;
• while the 2002 "Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea" has eased tensions over the Spratly Islands, it is not the legally binding "code of conduct" sought by some parties;
• Malaysia was not party to the March 2005 joint accord among the national oil companies of China, the Philippines, and Vietnam on conducting marine seismic activities in the Spratly Islands;
• disputes continue over deliveries of fresh water to Singapore, Singapore's land reclamation, bridge construction, and maritime boundaries in the Johor and Singapore Straits;
• in November 2007, the ICJ will hold public hearings in response to the Memorials and Countermemorials filed by the parties in 2003 and 2005 over sovereignty of Pedra Branca Island/Pulau Batu Puteh, Middle Rocks and South Ledge;
• ICJ awarded Ligitan and Sipadan islands, also claimed by Indonesia and Philippines, to Malaysia but left maritime boundary and sovereignty of Unarang rock in the hydrocarbon-rich Celebes Sea in dispute;
• separatist violence in Thailand's predominantly Muslim southern provinces prompts measures to close and monitor border with Malaysia to stem terrorist activities;
• Philippines retains a dormant claim to Malaysia's Sabah State in northern Borneo;
• Brunei and Malaysia are still considering international adjudication over their disputed offshore and deepwater seabeds, where hydrocarbon exploration was terminated in 2003;
• Malaysia's land boundary with Brunei around Limbang is in dispute;
• piracy remains a problem in the Malacca Strait

current situation:

• Malaysia is a destination and, to a lesser extent, a source and transit country for women and children trafficked for the purposes of sexual exploitation;
• foreign victims, mostly women and girls from Burma, Cambodia, China, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam, are trafficked to Malaysia for commercial sexual exploitation;
• economic migrants from countries in the region who work as domestic servants or laborers in the construction and agricultural sectors face exploitative conditions in Malaysia that meet the definition of involuntary servitude;
• some Malaysian women, primarily of Chinese ethnicity, are trafficked abroad for sexual exploitation

tier rating:

• Tier 3 - lack of satisfactory progress in combating trafficking in 2006;
• the government failed to prosecute traffickers arrested and detained under existing law and failed to provide adequate shelters and services to victims of trafficking

• drug trafficking prosecuted vigorously and carries severe penalties;
• heroin still primary drug of abuse, but synthetic drug demand remains strong;
• continued ecstasy and methamphetamine producer for domestic users and, to a lesser extent, the regional drug market