Land area: 126,853 sq mi (328,549 sq km); total area: 127,316 sq mi (329,750 sq km)
Population (2008 est.): 25,259,428 (growth rate: 1.7%); birth rate: 22.4/1000; infant mortality rate: 16.0/1000; life expectancy: 73.0; density per sq km: 76
Capital and largest city (2003 est.): Kuala Lumpur, 3,688,200 (metro. area), 1,403,400
Other large cities: Kelang, 683,200; Johor Bharu, 682,100
Monetary unit: Ringgit
Current government officials
Languages: Bahasa Melayu (Malay, official), English, Chinese dialects (Cantonese, Mandarin, Hokkien, Hakka, Hainan, Foochow), Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Panjabi, Thai; several indigenous languages (including Iban, Kadazan) in East Malaysia
Ethnicity/race: Malay 50.4%, Chinese 23.7%, Indigenous 11%, Indian 7.1%, others 7.8% (2004 est.)
Religions: Muslim, Buddhist, Daoist, Hindu, Christian, Sikh; Shamanism (East Malaysia)
National Holiday: Independence Day/Malaysia Day, August 31
Literacy rate: 89% (2003 est.)
Economic summary: GDP/PPP (2007 est.): $357.4 billion; per capita $13,300. Real growth rate: 6.3%. Inflation: 2.1%. Unemployment: 3.2%. Arable land: 5%. Agriculture: Peninsular Malaysia—rubber, palm oil, cocoa, rice; Sabah—subsistence crops, rubber, timber, coconuts, rice; Sarawak—rubber, pepper, timber. Labor force: 10.67 million; agriculture 14.5%, industry 36%, services 49.5% (2000 est.). Industries: Peninsular Malaysia—rubber and oil-palm processing and manufacturing, light manufacturing industry, electronics, tin mining and smelting, logging, timber processing; Sabah—logging, petroleum production; Sarawak—agriculture processing, petroleum production and refining, logging. Natural resources: tin, petroleum, timber, copper, iron ore, natural gas, bauxite. Exports: $147.1 billion f.o.b. (2005 est.): electronic equipment, petroleum and liquefied natural gas, wood and wood products, palm oil, rubber, textiles, chemicals. Imports: $118.7 billion f.o.b. (2005 est.): electronics, machinery, petroleum products, plastics, vehicles, iron and steel products, chemicals. Major trading partners: U.S., Singapore, Japan, China, Hong Kong, Thailand, Taiwan, South Korea, Germany, Indonesia (2004).
