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Located in Southeast Asia, Malaysia is a federal constitutional monarchy divided into two major parts; Peninsular Malaysia to the west and East Malaysia to the east. The country sprawls over an area of 329,847 square km. Malaysia is the only country to have land on both mainland Asia and the Malay Archipelago.
Peninsular Malaysia is also known as West Malaysia and is located to the south of Thailand. Malaysia lies to the north of Singapore and to the east of Sumatra, an Indonesian island. East Malaysia shares its borders with Brunei and Indonesia. The Crocker Range in Sabah divides the country into half and is home to the highest mountain, Mount Kinabalu, in Malaysia.
Around 58.2% of Malaysia is covered by tropical rainforest that are mainly made of dipterocarp, swamps, and mangroves. Owing to the karst landscape that is caused by water eroding limestone, Malaysia has caves like Mulu Caves. South China Sea is the largest water body that surrounds Malaysia.
Life in Malaysia started around 40,000 years ago, with the settlement of Negritos. Early Malaysian history was dominated by Hindu and Buddhist culture that reached its peak in Srivijaya civilisation (7th to 13th century). The rise of the Muslim state in Malaysia began in the 10th century.
The colonial era in the country was marked by the invasion of Portuguese in 1511. The Portuguese were followed by the Dutch in 1641, who ruled till 1824. Britishers dominated Malaysia from 1874 till 1946 and during World War II, the Japanese invaded Malaysia.
The independence revolt started in Malaysia when Allied Forces conquered Malaya. The Malayan Union was formed in 1946 but was replaced by the Federation of Malaya in 1948. In 1957, Malaysia gained independence and Kuala Lumpur was declared its capital city.
Around 27,565,821 people inhabit the country of Malaysia, out of which 50.4% of the population is Malay. 23.7% of the population is Chinese, 11% population belong to indigenous groups and 7.1 % are Indians.
Islam is the official religion of the state, which is followed by 60.4% of the population. Other religions like Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Confucianism and Taoism are followed by the rest of the population. Bahasa Malaysia, is the official language of Malaysia, however, English is also widely spoken.
The best time to visit Malaysia is during the months from May to September. It is better to avoid the west coast from October to May and the east coast and Sabah & Sarawak from November to January.
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