Malaysia is a federation of 13 states and three federal territories in Southeast Asia. It consists of two regions separated by the South China Sea and is bordered by Brunei, Indonesia, and Thailand. Malaysia has a strategic location along the Strait of Malacca and the southern South China Sea. The government system is a constitutional monarchy; the chief of state is the king, and the head of government is the prime minister. Malaysia has a mixed economic system which includes a variety of private freedom, combined with centralized economic planning and government regulation. Malaysia is a member of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), and the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).

Malaysia’s capital is Kuala Lumpur and is 8 hour ahead of Greenwich Mean Time (GMT + 8), which is 2.5 hours ahead of Indian Standard Time. Its currency is Malaysian ringgit (MYR). Calling code for Malaysia is 60 and it follows 240 Volts Electrical system.

Languages

Bahasa Malaysia (official), English, Chinese (Cantonese, Mandarin, Hokkien, Hakka, Hainan, Foochow), Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Panjabi, Thai; note - Malaysia has 134 living languages - 112 indigenous languages and 22 non-indigenous languages; in East Malaysia, there are several indigenous languages; the most widely spoken are Iban and Kadazan

Ethnic Groups

Bumiputera 62.5% (Malays and indigenous peoples, including Orang Asli, Dayak, Anak Negeri), Chinese 20.6%, Indian 6.2%, other 0.9%, non-citizens 9.8%

Religions

Muslim (official) 61.3%, Buddhist 19.8%, Christian 9.2%, Hindu 6.3%, Confucianism, Taoism, other traditional Chinese religions 1.3%, other 0.4%, none 0.8%, unspecified .