Queen: Margrethe II Prime Minister: Helle Thorning-Schmidt
Head of state : Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin
Population
5,543,453
29,179,952
Life Expectancy
78.780 years
74.040 years
Capital City
Copenhagen
Kuala Lumpur
Largest city
Copenhagen (population: 1,153,620)
Kuala Lumpur (population: 1,453,980)
Human Development Index
0.952
0.823
GDP per capita
$37,600 US
$15,800 US
Literacy Rate
99%
88.7%
Corruption Perception Index
9.3
5.1
Percentage of Women in Parliament
38%
14.6%
Wealthiest Citizens
Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen ($2.1bn US)
Ananda Krishnan ($7.0bn US)
Unemployment Rate
6.000%
3.100%
Death Penalty
Abolished
Legal
Political System
constitutional monarchy
constitutional monarchy note: nominally headed by paramount ruler (commonly referred to as the King) and a bicameral Parliament consisting of a nonelected upper house and an elected lower house; all Peninsular Malaysian states have hereditary rulers (commonly referred to as sultans) except Melaka and Pulau Pinang (Penang); those two states along with Sabah and Sarawak in East Malaysia have governors appointed by government; powers of state governments are limited by federal constitution; under terms of federation, Sabah and Sarawak retain certain constitutional prerogatives (e.g., right to maintain their own immigration controls)
Independence date
first organized as a unified state in 10th century; in 1849 became a constitutional monarchy
31 August 1957 (from UK)
Religions
Evangelical Lutheran 95%, other Christian (includes Protestant and Roman Catholic) 3%, Muslim 2%
Muslim 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 census)
Languages
Danish, Faroese, Greenlandic (an Inuit dialect), German (small minority) note: English is the predominant second language
Bahasa Malaysia (official), English, Chinese (Cantonese, Mandarin, Hokkien, Hakka, Hainan, Foochow), Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Panjabi, Thai note: in East Malaysia there are several indigenous languages; most widely spoken are Iban and Kadazan
Exports
machinery and instruments, meat and meat products, dairy products, fish, pharmaceuticals, furniture, windmills
electronic equipment, petroleum and liquefied natural gas, wood and wood products, palm oil, rubber, textiles, chemicals
External Debt
$626,900,000,000 $
$87,810,000,000 US
Exchange Rate
Danish kroner (DKK) per US dollar - 5.0236 (2008 est.), 5.4797 (2007), 5.9468 (2006), 5.9969 (2005), 5.9911 (2004)
ringgits (MYR) per US dollar - 3.33 (2008 est.), 3.46 (2007), 3.6683 (2006), 3.8 (2005), 3.8 (2004)
Military Budget as percentage of GDP
1.300%
2.030%
Beijing Olympics Medal Count
7
1
Location
Northern Europe, bordering the Baltic Sea and the North Sea, on a peninsula north of Germany (Jutland); also includes two major islands (Sjaelland and Fyn)
Southeastern Asia, peninsula bordering Thailand and northern one-third of the island of Borneo, bordering Indonesia, Brunei, and the South China Sea, south of Vietnam
Area
43,094 km sq
329,847 km sq
Coastline
7,314 km
4,675 km
Climate
temperate; humid and overcast; mild, windy winters and cool summers
tropical; annual southwest (April to October) and northeast (October to February) monsoons
