Malaysia 
Facts
Population:
22,229,040 (July 2001 est.)
Age structure:
0-14 years:
34.5% (male 3,943,324; female 3,724,634)
15-64 years:
61.35% (male 6,828,670; female 6,808,623)
65 years and over:
4.15% (male 404,042; female 519,747) (2001 est.)
Population growth rate:
1.96% (2001 est.)
Birth rate:
24.75 births/1,000 population (2001 est.)
Death rate:
5.2 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.)
Net migration rate:
0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.)
note:
does not reflect net flow of an unknown number of illegal immigrants from other countries in the region
Sex ratio:
at birth:
1.07 male(s)/female
under 15 years:
1.06 male(s)/female
15-64 years:
1 male(s)/female
65 years and over:
0.78 male(s)/female
total population:
1.01 male(s)/female (2001 est.)
Infant mortality rate:
20.31 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
total population:
71.11 years
male:
68.48 years
female:
73.92 years (2001 est.)
Total fertility rate:
3.24 children born/woman (2001 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:
0.42% (1999 est.)
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:
49,000 (1999 est.)
HIV/AIDS - deaths:
1,900 (1999 est.)
Nationality:
noun:
Malaysian(s)
adjective:
Malaysian
Ethnic groups:
Malay and other indigenous 58%, Chinese 27%, Indian 8%, others 7% (2000)
Religions:
Islam, Buddhism, Daoism, Hinduism, Christianity, Sikhism; note - in addition, Shamanism is practiced in East Malaysia
Languages:
Bahasa Melayu (official), English, Chinese dialects (Cantonese, Mandarin, Hokkien, Hakka, Hainan, Foochow), Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Panjabi, Thai; note - in addition, in East Malaysia several indigenous languages are spoken, the largest of which are Iban and Kadazan
Literacy:
definition:
age 15 and over can read and write
total population:
83.5%
male:
89.1%
female:
78.1% (1995 est.)
GDP:
purchasing power parity - $223.7 billion (2000 est.)
GDP - real growth rate:
8.6% (2000 est.)
GDP - per capita:
purchasing power parity - $10,300 (2000 est.)
GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture:
14%
industry:
44%
services:
42% (2000)
Population below poverty line:
6.8% (1997 est.)
Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%:
1.4%
highest 10%:
20.4% (1997 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
1.7% (2000)
Labor force:
9.6 million (2000 est.)
Labor force - by occupation:
local trade and tourism 28%, manufacturing 27%, agriculture, forestry, and fisheries 16%, services 10%, government 10%, construction 9% (2000 est.)
Unemployment rate:
2.8% (2000 est.)
Budget:
revenues:
$16.4 billion
expenditures:
$17.8 billion, including capital expenditures of $43 billion (2000 est.)
Industries:
Peninsular Malaysia - rubber and oil palm processing and manufacturing, light manufacturing industry, electronics, tin mining and smelting, logging and processing timber; Sabah - logging, petroleum production; Sarawak - agriculture processing, petroleum production and refining, logging
Industrial production growth rate:
12.1% (2000 est.)
Electricity - production:
59.044 billion kWh (1999)
Electricity - production by source:
fossil fuel:
91.61%
hydro:
8.39%
nuclear:
0%
other:
0% (1999)
Electricity - consumption:
54.872 billion kWh (1999)
Electricity - exports:
50 million kWh (1999)
Electricity - imports:
11 million kWh (1999)
Agriculture - products:
Peninsular Malaysia - rubber, palm oil, cocoa, rice; Sabah - subsistence crops, rubber, timber, coconuts, rice; Sarawak - rubber, pepper; timber
Exports:
$97.9 billion (2000 est.)
Exports - commodities:
electronic equipment, petroleum and liquefied natural gas, chemicals, palm oil, wood and wood products, rubber, textiles
Exports - partners:
US 21%, Singapore 18%, Japan 13%, Hong Kong 5%, Netherlands 4%, Taiwan 4%, Thailand 3% (2000 est.)
Imports:
$82.6 billion (2000 est.)
Imports - commodities:
machinery and transport equipment, chemicals, food, fuel and lubricants
Imports - partners:
Japan 21%, US 17%, Singapore 14%, Taiwan 6%, South Korea 5%, Thailand 4%, China 4% (2000 est.)
Debt - external:
$41.8 billion (2000 est.)
Currency:
ringgit (MYR)
Currency code:
MYR
Exchange rates:
ringgits per US dollar - 3.8000 (January 2001), 3.8000 (2000), 3.8000 (1999), 3.9244 (1998), 2.8133 (1997), 2.5159 (1996)
Fiscal year:
calendar year
Statistics: CIA World Factbook.
Press
1 2 
Displaying 1 to 7 of 11 items.
(Independent), Kuala Lumpur
http://www.bharian.com.my
(State-controlled news agency), Kuala Lumpur
http://www.bernama.com
(Independent, English-language), Kuala Lumpur
http://www.btimes.com.my/
Harakah
(Opposition), Kuala Lumpur
(Online newspaper), Kuala Lumpur
http://www.malaysiakini.com/I
(Conservative, English-language), Kuala Lumpur
http://www.nstpi.com.my
Sin Chew Jit Poh
Antananarivo
Malaysia in the News
1 2 3 4
Displaying 1 to 4 of 14 items.
Based on examples of media mania about Islam, one may have the impression that the future of American relations with the Muslim world depends on the outcome of the 2008 elections.
Ioannis Gatsiounis, reporting from Kuala Lumpur, looks at Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad's
M. Bakri Musa--writing for Malaysiakini.com, Kuala Lumpur's only independent Web site--reflects on former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad's legacy.
Anil Netto writes about poverty in Malaysian rural cities for the international news agency Inter Press Service.
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