Background During the late 18th and 19th centuries, Great Britain established colonies and protectorates in the area of current Malaysia; these were occupied by Japan from 1942 to 1945. In 1948, the British-ruled territories on the Malay Peninsula formed the Federation of Malaya, which became independent in 1957. Malaysia was formed in 1963 when the former British colonies of Singapore and the East Malaysian states of Sabah and Sarawak on the northern coast of Borneo joined the Federation. The first several years of the country's history were marred by Indonesian efforts to control Malaysia, Philippine claims to Sabah, and Singapore's secession from the Federation in 1965. During the 22-year term of Prime Minister MAHATHIR bin Mohamad (1981-2003), Malaysia was successful in diversifying its economy from dependence on exports of raw materials, to expansion in manufacturing, services, and tourism. The People | Population | 24,821,286 (July 2007 est.) | | Age structure | 0-14 years: 32.2% (male 4,118,086/female 3,884,403)
15-64 years: 62.9% (male 7,838,166/female 7,785,833)
65 years and over: 4.8% (male 526,967/female 667,831) (2007 est.) | | Life expectancy at birth | total population: 72.76 years
male: 70.05 years
female: 75.65 years (2007 est.) | Population growth rate | 1.759% (2007 est.) | | Ethnic groups | Malay 50.4%, Chinese 23.7%, indigenous 11%, Indian 7.1%, others 7.8% (2004 est.) | | Religions | 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) | | Population below poverty line | 5.1% (2002 est.) | | People living with HIV/AIDS | 52,000 (2003 est.) | | HIV/AIDS - deaths | 2,000 (2003 est.) | | Mobile phones in use | 19.545 million (2005) | | Internet users | 11.292 million (2006) |
Data (Background & The People) provided by The World Factbook |