Head of state: Tuiatua Tupua Tamasese Efi Prime minister: Tuila'epa Sailele Malielegaoi
Head of state : Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin
Population
194,320
29,179,952
Life Expectancy
72.660 years
74.040 years
Capital City
Kuala Lumpur
Largest city
Apia (population: 40,407)
Kuala Lumpur (population: 1,453,980)
Human Development Index
0.76
0.823
GDP per capita
$15,800 US
Literacy Rate
99.7%
88.7%
Corruption Perception Index
4.4
5.1
Percentage of Women in Parliament
8.2%
14.6%
Wealthiest Citizens
NA
Ananda Krishnan ($7.0bn US)
Unemployment Rate
3.100%
Death Penalty
Abolished
Legal
Political System
parliamentary democracy
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
31 August 1957 (from UK)
Religions
Congregationalist 34.8%, Roman Catholic 19.6%, Methodist 15%, Latter-Day Saints 12.7%, Assembly of God 6.6%, Seventh-Day Adventist 3.5%, Worship Centre 1.3%, other Christian 4.5%, other 1.9%, unspecified 0.1% (2001 census)
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
Samoan (Polynesian), English
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
electronic equipment, petroleum and liquefied natural gas, wood and wood products, palm oil, rubber, textiles, chemicals
External Debt
$87,810,000,000 US
Exchange Rate
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
2.030%
Beijing Olympics Medal Count
0
1
Location
Oceania, group of islands in the South Pacific Ocean, about half way between Hawaii and New Zealand
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
2,831 km sq
329,847 km sq
Coastline
403 km
4,675 km
Climate
tropical; rainy season (November to April), dry season (May to October)
tropical; annual southwest (April to October) and northeast (October to February) monsoons
