Malaysia shares land borders with Thailand, Indonesia, and Brunei, and also has maritime boundaries with Singapore, Vietnam, and the Philippines. The capital city is Kuala Lumpur, while Putrajaya is the seat of the federal government. The population as of 2009 stood at over 28 million.
Malaysia has its origins in the Malay Kingdoms present in the area which, from the 18th century, became subject to the British Empire. The first British territories were known as the Straits Settlements. Peninsular Malaysia, then known as Malaya, was first unified under the commonwealth in 1946, before becoming the Federation of Malaya in 1948. In 1963, Malaya united with Sabah, Sarawak, and Singapore to form modern Malaysia. In 1965, Singapore was expelled from the federation, and became an independent city state.
Since its independence, Malaysia has had one of the best economic records in Asia, with GDP growing an average 6.5% for the first 50 years of independence. The economy of the country has, traditionally, been fuelled by its natural resources, but is now also expanding in the sectors of science, tourism, commerce and medical tourism.
Malaysia's head of state is the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, conventionally referred to as "the Head" or "the Agong". The Agong is an elected monarch chosen from amongst the hereditary rulers of the nine Malay states. The head of government is the Prime Minister. The government system is closely modelled on the Westminster parliamentary system and the legal system is based on English Common Law.
Malaysia is multi-ethnic and multi-cultural, factors that influence its culture and play a large role in Malaysian politics. Malaysia can claim the southernmost point of continental Eurasia at Tanjung Piai, is located near the equator and has a tropical climate. It has a biodiverse range of flora and fauna, and is considered one of the 17 megadiverse countries.
It is a founding member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and the Organisation of the Islamic Conference, and a member of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, the Commonwealth of Nations, and the Non-Aligned Movement.
Evidence of human habitation in Malaysia dates back 40,000 years. The first inhabitants of the Malay Peninsula were most probably Negritos. The Malay Peninsula was known to ancient Indians as Suvarnadvipa or the "Golden Peninsula", and was shown on Ptolemy's map as the "Golden Khersonese". Traders and settlers from India and China arrived as early as the first century of the common era, establishing trading ports and towns in the area in the 2nd and 3rd centuries CE. Both had a strong influence on the local culture.
In the early centuries of the first millennium, the people of the Malay Peninsula adopted the Indian religions of Hinduism and Buddhism. The Sanskrit writing system was used as early as the 4th century. Between the 7th and the 13th century, much of Peninsular Malaysia was under the Srivijaya empire, which was centered in Palembang on the island of Sumatra. After the fall of Srivijaya, the Java-based Majapahit empire had influence over most of Peninsular Malaysia and the Malay Archipelago.
In the early 15th century, Parameswara, a prince of the former Srivijayan empire, established a dynasty and founded what would become the Malacca Sultanate, commonly considered the first independent state in the peninsula. Parameswara became a Muslim, and due to the fact that Malacca was under a Muslim Prince, the conversion of Malays to Islam accelerated in the 15th century. Malacca was an important commercial centre during this time, attracting trade from around the region.
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