Malaysia

Situated in the heart of South East Asia just north of the equator between latitudes 1 deg and 7 deg N and longitudes 100 deg and 119 deg E, is a country of extraordinary and fascinating wonders. It is basically divided into two landmasses – East and West Malaysia.

West Malaysia, which is a peninsula of 131,587 sq kilometer in land area, shares its northern boundary with Thailand and is separated from Singapore at its southern end by the Johore Straits. East Malaysia, with a landmass of 198,847 sq kilometers, is located in the mystical island of Borneo.

Malaysia is administratively divided into 13 states – 11 of which are in West Malaysia – with Kuala Lumpur as federal Capital. The states of Sarawak and Sabah make up East Malaysia. About 80% of Malaysia's 22 million unique multi-racial population dwell in West Malaysia. Sarawak has population of about 21 million while Sabah has about 2.4 million.

Bahasa Malaysia is the official language in this country, but English is widely used as a second language.

With a landmass that lays claim to being the world's 3rd largest island ( 743,812 sq km ), Borneo is surrounded by the Java Sea to south, the South China Sea to north and west, Sulu Sea and Celebes Sea to the East. The equator cuts approximately through the middle of the island, which is governed by three nations.

The two Malaysian states of Sarawak and Sabah occupy almost the entire northwest coast while the oil-rich kingdom of Brunei Darussalam is straddled near the northern coastline.

The remaining 2 / 3-land area is occupied by Kalimantan ( Indonesia ). Borneo can lay claim to have the oldest rainforest in the world.