Nepedia
Back to Discover
Fluent Reader
🗺️

Malaysia

geography Maturity 11-13 Vital Level 3 religion war conflict Next article →

This article covers sensitive topics: religion, war_conflict. Parents can manage visibility in Parental Controls.

Malaysia is a country located in Southeast Asia.

Malaysia (orthographic projection)
Malaysia (orthographic projection)

It is divided into two main regions by the South China Sea. One part is Peninsular Malaysia, which sits on the Indochinese Peninsula. The other part is East Malaysia, which is on the island of Borneo.

Malaysia relief location map
Malaysia relief location map

Peninsular Malaysia shares borders with Thailand and sits near Singapore and Vietnam. East Malaysia shares land borders with Brunei and Indonesia. This country is a tropical place with a very diverse environment. It is one of 17 megadiverse countries in the world.

A Rafflesia, the biggest flower in the world
A Rafflesia, the biggest flower in the world

The land is filled with many unique living things. You might see the Rafflesia, which is the biggest flower in the world.

MalayanTiger
MalayanTiger

The country is home to many species that are found nowhere else. Malaysia has a very large population of over 34 million people.

Malaysia population density 2010b
Malaysia population density 2010b

Most people live in a multiethnic and multicultural society. About half of the people are ethnically Malay. There are also many Chinese, Indian, and indigenous people living there.

Percentage distribution of Malaysian population by ethnic group, 2010
Percentage distribution of Malaysian population by ethnic group, 2010

People use Malaysian Malay as their official language. English is also used as a second language by many.

The history of the land goes back a very long time. Evidence shows humans lived there 40,000 years ago.

Malacca Sultanate en
Malacca Sultanate en

Long ago, the area was home to many Malay kingdoms. In the 15th century, the Malacca Sultanate became a powerful center. This kingdom helped spread Islam throughout the region. Later, different groups like the Portuguese and the Dutch arrived.

The British Empire also had a large influence for a long time. During World War II, the Empire of Japan occupied the area for three years.

Malaysia became an independent nation on 31 August 1957. At first, it was called the Federation of Malaya.

Istana Negara tepi
Istana Negara tepi

On 16 September 1963, it joined with North Borneo, Sarawak, and Singapore. This new group was called Malaysia. Singapore later left to become its own independent country in 1965. Today, the government uses a system called a constitutional monarchy. The head of state is an elected monarch chosen from nine rulers. This happens every five years.

Perdana Putra
Perdana Putra

The head of government is known as the prime minister.

Modern Malaysia has a very busy and changing economy. It used to rely mostly on farming and natural goods. Now, the economy is driven by manufacturing and services.

GDP per capita development of Malaysia
GDP per capita development of Malaysia

The country has two important capital cities. Kuala Lumpur is the largest city and the national capital. Putrajaya is the administrative capital where the government works.

Putrajaya Malaysia Ministry-of-Education-03
Putrajaya Malaysia Ministry-of-Education-03

Malaysia is also a founding member of many groups like ASEAN. It is a peaceful country that is very connected to its neighbors.

Location Malaysia ASEAN
Location Malaysia ASEAN
423 words

Where will your curiosity go next?

Keep exploring at your chosen reading level.

🖼️ Images & Media (26)
File:Malaysia (orthographic projection).svg
Malaysia (orthographic projection).svg
File:Location Malaysia ASEAN.svg
Location Malaysia ASEAN.svg
Negaraku instrumental.ogg
File:Malacca Sultanate en.svg
Malacca Sultanate en.svg
File:AMH-6472-KB Battle for Malacca between the VOC fleet and the Portuguese, 1606.jpg
AMH-6472-KB Battle for Malacca between...
File:Police_in_Malayan_Emergency.jpg
Police_in_Malayan_Emergency.jpg
File:Istana Negara tepi.jpg
Istana Negara tepi.jpg
File:Perdana Putra.jpg
Perdana Putra.jpg
File:Perdana Putra building 2005.jpg
Perdana Putra building 2005.jpg
File:2025 Donald Trump, Prime Minister of Malaysia Seri Anwar Ibrahim, Prime Minister of Cambodia Hun Manet and Prime Minister of Thailand Anutin Charnvirakul before signing the Kuala Lumpur Accord on October 25 at the ASEAN Summit.jpg
2025 Donald Trump, Prime Minister of...
File:Su30mkm flying at lima two (cropped).jpg
Su30mkm flying at lima two (cropped).jpg
File:Malaysia relief location map.jpg
Malaysia relief location map.jpg

+ 14 more

More to explore

✨ What else?

Related topics you might enjoy

🔬 Go deeper

More advanced topics to explore

🪜 Step back

Simpler topics to build understanding

What is Nepedia?

A free, ad-free encyclopedia for children. Every article is written at five reading levels, so the same page works for a five-year-old and a fifteen-year-old — use the level switcher above to see this one change. No account needed to read.