Malaysia
Nick K. 7th Period
During the late 18th and 19th centuries, Great Britain established colonies in the area of current Malaysia.
The land of Towers
Geograpy/climate
People and Culture
People:
Malay 50.4%, Chinese 23.7%, indigenous 11%, Indian 7.1%, others 7.8% (2004 est.)
Culture
Muslim (or Islam - official) 60.4%, Buddhist 19.2%, Christian 9.1%, Hindu 6.3%, Confucianism, Taoism, other traditional Chinese religions 2.6%, other or unknown 1.5%, none 0.8% (2000 est.)
Population
29,179,952 (July 2012 est.)
Languages
Bahasa Malaysia (official), English, Chinese (Cantonese, Mandarin, Hokkien, Hakka, Hainan, Foochow), Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Panjabi, Thai
Government
Government type:
constitutional monarchy
Independence:
31 August 1957 (from the UK)
National holiday:
Independence Day 31 August (1957) (independence of Malaya); Malaysia Day 16 September (1963) (formation of Malaysia)
Economy
Malaysia, a middle-income country, has transformed itself since the 1970s from a producer of raw materials into an emerging multi-sector economy. Under current Prime Minister NAJIB, Malaysia is attempting to achieve high-income status by 2020 and to move farther up the value-added production chain by attracting investments in Islamic finance, high technology industries, biotechnology, and services
Growth rate:
4.4% (2012 est.)
Labor force:
12.84 million (2012 est.)
Labor force- by occupation:
agriculture: 13%
industry: 36%
services: 51% (2005 est.)