Located in the southeast region of the Asian continents we have a country referred to as Malaysia. Consisting of two parts, East and West Malaysia, forty percent of land mass is found in West Malaysia. Located between Thailand in the north and Singapore in the south, is what is called Peninsular Malaysia. While, sixty percent is East Malaysia, known as Borneo which consists of two provinces Sabah and Sarawak however, this land mass is shared with Indonesia and Brunei and is surrounded by the islands of the Philippines. Peninsular Malaysia is located slightly above the equator while Borneo is just below it. The capital city being Kuala Lumpur, which resides in the western part of Peninsular Malaysia, is relatively twenty-five miles off the coast.
Covered by dense rainforest, the coastal plains rise gently into the hills and mountains. The highest point of Malaysia, Mt. Kinabalu which is close to 13,451 feet and is located in the World Heritage Site at Kinabalu Park in the State of Sabah. This mountain has the tallest peak between the Himalayas and the New Guinea. Mt. Kinabalu represents one of the world’s youngest batholiths; an old magma chamber extending deep in the Earth’s crust. History has it that the KadasanDusun people, native to Sabah, “believed that the mountain is the sacred resting ground of the spirits of their ancestors.” Along the peninsula, carved out along the coast, are numerous limestone caves. Dating back between seventeen and forty million years ago, located in State of Sarawak in East Malaysia, the Mulu Cave is the largest network of caves in the world. Gunung Mulu is a 7800 feet high sandstone pinnacle containing the Sarawak Chamber which is the largest cave chamber in the world. Malaysia has numerous rivers that flow from the mountains, however, Pahang, Rajang and Sugut being the most numerous of them all. Bera Lake and Tasik Chini are to natural lakes while, Kenyir Lake is the world's largest artificial lake covering over 100 square miles.
Population
Malaysia’s population has had a gradual increase through history. Starting at 8.16 million in the 1960s, which increased to 13.83 million in 1980. It took a massive jump in 1994 with 20.21 million and in 2011 at 28.86 million. As of 2018, Malaysia current population is about 32.04 million people. Malaysia was made the forty-second most populated country in the world consisting of people with variant races and religions. Although only 50.4% of the population is native Malay while the rest are a mixture of Muslim, Bumiputera and other ethnic groups. In Malaysia, there are close to 511,865 births taking place and 145,648 deaths. The state does not allow dual nationality, therefore, both parents must be of the Malaysian nationality for their child to have their nationality.
Government
Federal Constitutional Monarchy this is a type of government is very similar to the Westminster Parliamentary System, while the jurisdictions of the country are based on the common law. A Constitutional Monarchy is a system of government where a monarch share power with a constitutionally arranged government. There is a ceremonial head of state referred to as the Yang di-Pertuan Agong also known as the paramount ruler. Such representation is given to one who is elected from nine hereditary state rulers for a five-year term. However, the title could be referred to having two positions, a de facto head of state or a purely ceremonial leader.
Comprising of thirteen states and three federal territories, each state has been given the ability to have their own constitution written, legislative assembly, and executive council; who has to account for the legislative assembly. Federal territories on the other hand, include Kuala Lumpur, has an administrative capital of Putrajaya located of the coast of East Malaysia. Although, they hold the similar status to states, what differentiates the two is that they do not have separate legislatures.
The justice system in Malaysia is separated into two High Courts, one located in Peninsular Malaysia, regarded as the High Court of Malaya, and the second in East Malaysia, regarded to as the High Court of Sarawak and Sabah. The system works with appeals from the High Courts given first to the Court of Appeals who looks over them and determines if it is to be appealed to the highest court in Malaysia, the Federal Court or a Special Court which is set in place to handles cases that involve indiscrepancies with the paramount ruler or heads of states.
Since Malaysia became independent from the United Kingdom in 1957, the United Malays National Organization has ruled the constitutional monarchy of Malaysia. Its economic freedom score is 74.5, this means it has the freedom to prosper within the country without intervention from any government or economic authority. Allowing for Malaysia to be the twenty-second freest country in the 2018 index. This is due to the diversification from an initially agriculture and commodity based to one of manufacturing and services. Because of this Malaysia has been given the title of the leading exporter of electrical appliances, electronic parts and components.
Having such an open opinion on trade and investment has been the key to creation of employment and growth of the economy. Close to forty percent of jobs are linked to export activities in the country. In 1997, an Asian financial crisis rose because of a pattern of currency devaluations that began that summer. This lead to a stock market crash, reduction in import revenues and government upheaval. However, when this came to an end, Malaysia economy has been having a steady growth of 5.4 percent since 2010.