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February 2010: In Malaysia, the majority enthic group, the Malays, are subject to Islamic law, and other enthic groups are not. The Malays are about 50 percent of the population. What happens to an offspring of a mixed Malay and another enthnicity is to this website unknown. Or what if the one of the three Malay women caned under Islamic law had claimed that they were not Muslim? Perhaps their punishment would have been harsher.
Southeastern Asia, bordering Thailand and Indonesia, plus one-third of the island of Borneo. Size equivalent to 574 by 574 kilometers or roughly 360 by 360 miles. Capital: Kuala Lumpur.
Independence from Britain in 1957. Constitutional monarchy. Bicameral legislature: upper house with 70 seats, 44 appointed by monarch, 26 appointed by state legislatures; lower house 219 seats with members elected by popular vote to 5 year-terms.
Factbook: "Piracy remains a problem in the Malacca Strait." (2005)
Figures unless otherwise stated are from the CIA Factbook.
Factbook, 2009: "Malaysia, a middle-income country, has transformed itself since the 1970s from a producer of raw materials into an emerging multi-sector economy...The central bank maintains healthy foreign exchange reserves and the regulatory regime has limited Malaysia's exposure to riskier financial instruments and the global financial crisis. Decreasing worldwide demand for consumer goods is expected to hurt economic growth in 2009 and beyond, however."
Factbook, 2008?: "Healthy foreign exchange reserves, low inflation, and a small external debt are all strengths that make it unlikely that Malaysia will experience a financial crisis similar to the one in 1997. The economy remains dependent on continued growth in the US, China, and Japan, top export destinations and key sources of foreign investment."
2009: $14,800 (ranks 77th)
2008: $15,400
2007: $15,000
2009: -2.8 %
2008: 4.6%
2007: 6.2%
Exports in cash value well exceed imports.
Exports electronic equipment, petroleum and liquefied natural gas, wood and wood products, palm oil, rubber, textiles, chemicals.
2005: 2.03%
Living in an urban area: 70% (2008)
July 2009: 25.71 million. Growth rate: 1.723% (ranks 77th)
July 2008: 25.27 million
July 2005: 23.95 million
Density for 2005: 73 persons per square kilometer.
The nation is urbanizing at an annual rate of 3 percent per yer. As of 2008, 70 percent of the population live in an urban area.
Infant mortality (deaths before the age of one year per 1,000 live births)
2009: 15.87
2008: 16.39
2005: 17.7
2009: 73.29 years
2008: 73.03
2005:
72.24
Living with HIV/AIDS, ages 15 to 49: 0.5 percent (2007 estimate).
Malay and other indigenous people 50.4 percent, Chinese 23.7 percent, Indian 7.1 percent, other or unknown 18.1 percent.
Muslims 60.4 percent, Buddhist 19.2, Christian 9.1, Hindu 6.3, Taoism and other Chinese religions 2.6 percent. Sikhs, Shamanists and others: 1.6 percent. None: 0.8 percent.
Muslims are under Sharia laws that do not apply to non-Muslims -- laws on adultry, for example.
Freedom of the press is threatened as a reporter, Fasli Ahmad, 31, for a privately owned broadcaster is question by police for a story that exposed environmental issues in the northern state of Kedah. (From the International Freedom of Expression Exchange, March 2005)
SOURCES:
http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/
http://www.ifex.org/http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/
Copyright © 2010 by Frank E. Smitha. All rights reserved.