Fast Facts About Malaysia

Country

Comprises Peninsular Malaysia of 11 states in the west, and Sabah & Sarawak are located in Borneo.

Capital

Kuala Lumpur

Geographical Location

Located between 2' and 7' north of the Equator. Peninsular Malaysia is seperated from Sabah & Sarawak by South China Sea. Up north of the Peninsular is Thailand, and down south neighbour with Singapore. Sabah & Sarawak are bordered by Indoenesia as well as Brunei.

Area and Population

Approximately 329, 758 sq km with near 25 million of population

Language

Official language is Malay (Bahasa Melayu). However, other languages like English and Mandarin are widely used by the locals. Some common dialect like Cantonese and Hokkien are commonly used too.

Race

Majority Malays. Chinese comes in second and third are the Indians. Natives are also found in the country.

Religion
Malaysia is a free religion country. Islamic is the official religion but other religions are practised freely.


Climate
Tropical climate with warm weather all year round. Don't expect four seasons. Do expect constacnt heat in the country with monsoon rain visit at the end of the year. Temperatures ranges from 21C to 32C. Annual rainfall varies from 2,000mm to 2,500mm.


Time
Eight hours ahead of GMT and 16 hours ahead of US Pacific Standard Time.


Currency
Ringgit Malaysia (RM) is the official currency in the country. It is paged RM3.65 to USD1.00. The RM comes in denominations of RM1, RM2, RM5, RM10, RM50 and RM100. Coins are knows as sen. These include 1 sen, 5 sen, 10 sen, 20 sen and 50 sen. Major foreign currency could be changed at the money changers or banks.


Entry Requirements
Visitors to Malaysia must possess a valid passport of travel document with a minimum validity of six months beyond the period of stay. Most nationalities do not require visas for social or business visits.