Malaysia

total:

9.02 cu km/yr (17%/21%/62%)

per capita:

356 cu m/yr (2000)

• 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:

1.01 male(s)/female

65 years and over:

0.78 male(s)/female

total population:

1.01 male(s)/female (2008 est.)

degree of risk:

high

food or waterborne diseases:

bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever

vectorborne diseases:

dengue fever and malaria

note: highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza has been identified in this country; it poses a negligible risk with extremely rare cases possible among US citizens who have close contact with birds (2008)

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

note: position of paramount ruler is primarily ceremonial; in practice, selection is based on principle of rotation among rulers of states

• 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

chief of mission:

Ambassador (vacant); Charge d'Affaires Ilango KARUPPANNAN

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 R. KEITH

embassy:

376 Jalan Tun Razak, 50400 Kuala Lumpur

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;
• combined fixed-line and mobile cellular teledensity exceeds 110 per 100 persons

international:

• country code - 60;
• landing point for several major international submarine cable networks that provide connectivity to Asia, Middle East, and Europe;
• satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (1 Indian Ocean, 1 Pacific Ocean) (2007)

• condensate 282 km;
• gas 5,273 km;
• oil 1,750 km;
• oil/gas/water 19 km;
• refined products 114 km (2007)

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)

• the International Maritime Bureau reports the territorial and offshore waters in the Strait of Malacca and South China Sea as high risk for piracy and armed robbery against ships;
• numerous commercial vessels have been attacked and hijacked both at anchor and while underway;
• hijacked vessels are often disguised and cargo diverted to ports in East Asia;
• crews have been murdered or cast adrift

males age 16-49:

6,440,338

females age 16-49:

6,280,826 (2008 est.)

males age 16-49:

5,374,006

females age 16-49:

5,316,865 (2008 est.)

male:

260,725

female:

247,309 (2008 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 agreed in September 2008 to resolve their offshore and deepwater seabed dispute, resume hydrocarbon exploration and renounce any territorial claims on land;
• 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 purpose of commercial sexual exploitation, and men, women, and children for forced labor;
• Malaysia is mainly a destination country for men, women, and children who migrate willingly from South and Southeast Asia to work, some of whom are subjected to conditions of involuntary servitude by Malaysian employers in the domestic, agricultural, construction, plantation, and industrial sectors;
• to a lesser extent, some Malaysian women, primarily of Chinese ethnicity, are trafficked abroad for commercial sexual exploitation

tier rating:

• Tier 2 Watch List - Malaysia improved from Tier 3 to the Tier 2 Watch List for 2008 when it enacted comprehensive anti-trafficking legislation in July 2007;
• however, it did not take action against exploitative employers or labor traffickers in 2007;
• the government has not ratified the 2000 UN TIP Protocol (2008)

• 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