Malaysia - Geography
Here, let us take a look at the Geography of Malaysia. Strategic location along Strait of Malacca and southern South China Sea. Mother's mean age at first birth is (), whereas, the Maternal mortality ratio is 21 deaths/100,000 live births (2020 est.)
Geographical data of Malaysia
| Location | Southeastern Asia, peninsula bordering Thailand and northern one-third of the island of Borneo, bordering Indonesia, Brunei, and the South China Sea, south of Vietnam |
|---|---|
| Geographic coordinates | 2 30 N, 112 30 E |
| Map references | Southeast Asia |
| Tarrain | coastal plains rising to hills and mountains |
| Natural Resources | tin, petroleum, timber, copper, iron ore, natural gas, bauxite |
| Natural Hazards | flooding; landslides; forest fires |
| Irrigated Land | 4,420 sq km (2022) |
| Major rivers (by length in km) | |
| Major aquifers | |
| Land Boundaries | 2,742 km |
| Border Countries | Brunei 266 km; Indonesia 1,881 km; Thailand 595 km |
| Coastline | 4,675 km (Peninsular Malaysia 2,068 km, East Malaysia 2,607 km) |
| Climate | tropical; annual southwest (April to October) and northeast (October to February) monsoons |
| Area | |
| Total Area | |
| Land Area | 328,657 sq km |
| Water Area | 1,190 sq km |
| comparative Area | slightly larger than New Mexico |
| Maritime Claims | |
| Territorial sea | 12 nm |
| Exclusive economic zone | 200 nm |
| Continental shelf | 200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation; specified boundary in the South China Sea |
| Elevations | |
| Highest point | Gunung Kinabalu 4,095 m |
| Lowest point | Indian Ocean 0 m |
| Mean elevation | 419 m |
| Land Use | |
| Agricultural land | 26.1% (2022 est.) |
| Agricultural land: arable land | arable land: 2.5% (2022 est.) |
| Agricultural land: permanent crops | permanent crops: 22.7% (2022 est.) |
| Agricultural land: permanent pasture | permanent pasture: 0.9% (2022 est.) |
| Forest | 57.9% (2022 est.) |
| Other | 16% (2022 est.) |
Population Distribution
A highly uneven distribution with over 80% of the population residing on the Malay Peninsula
People and Society
In Malaysia, the different Ethnic groups are such that we have: Bumiputera 63.8% (Malay 52.8% and indigenous peoples, including Orang Asli, Dayak, Anak Negeri, 11%), Chinese 20.6%, Indian 6%, other 0.6%, non-citizens 9% (2023 est.)
| Population | |
|---|---|
| Pop growth rate | 0.99% (2024 est.) |
| Birth rate | 14.2 births/1,000 population (2024 est.) |
| Death rate | 5.8 deaths/1,000 population (2024 est.) |
| Health expenditure | 4.4% of GDP (2021) |
| Physicians Density | |
| Hospital bed Density | 1.9 beds/1,000 population (2017) |
| Total fertility rate | 1.73 children born/woman (2024 est.) |
| Gross reproduction rate | 0.84 (2024 est.) |
| Contraceptive prevalence rate | 52.2% (2014) |
| Est married women (ages 15-49) | 59.3% (2023 est.) |
| Literacy | age 15 and over can read and write |
| Education expenditures | 3.9% of GDP (2020 est.) |
| Net Migration rate | 1.5 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2024 est.) |
| Nationality | Malaysian | Malaysian(s) |
| Languages | |
| Religions | Muslim (official) 63.5%, Buddhist 18.7%, Christian 9.1%, Hindu 6.1%, other (Confucianism, Taoism, other traditional Chinese religions) 0.9%, none/unspecified 1.8% (2020 est.) |
| Age Structure | |
| 0-14 years | 22.2% (male 3,947,914/female 3,730,319) |
| 15-64 years | 69.4% (male 12,308,938/female 11,666,947) |
| 65 years and over | 8.4% (2024 est.) (male 1,409,360/female 1,501,332) |
| Dependency Ratios | |
| Total dependency ratio | 43.3 |
| Youth dependency ratio | 32.9 |
| Elderly dependency ratio | 10.4 |
| Potential support ratio | 9.6 (2021 est.) |
| Median Age | |
| Total | 31.8 years (2024 est.) |
| Male | 31.7 years |
| Female | 31.9 years |
| Urbanization | |
| Urban population | 78.7% of total population (2023) |
| Rate of urbanization | 1.87% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.) |
| Major urban areas (Pop) | 8.622 million KUALA LUMPUR (capital), 1.086 million Johor Bahru, 857,000 Ipoh (2023). |
| Sex Ratio | |
| At birth | 1.07 male(s)/female |
| 0-14 years | 1.06 male(s)/female |
| 15-64 years | 1.06 male(s)/female |
| 65 years and over | 0.94 male(s)/female |
| Total population | 1.05 male(s)/female (2024 est.) |
| Infant Motality | |
| Total | 6.4 deaths/1,000 live births (2024 est.) |
| Male | 6.8 deaths/1,000 live births |
| Female | 6 deaths/1,000 live births |
| Life Expectancy at birth | |
| Total population | 76.6 years (2024 est.) |
| Male | 75 years |
| Female | 78.4 years |
| Drinking Water Sources | |
| Improved: urban | urban: 99.4% of population |
| Improved: rural | rural: 90.7% of population |
| Improved: total | total: 97.5% of population |
| Unimproved: urban | urban: 0.6% of population |
| Unimproved: rural | rural: 9.3% of population |
| Unimproved: total | total: 2.5% of population (2020 est.) |
| Sanitation facility acess | |
| Improved: urban | urban: 99% of population |
| Improved: rural | rural: NA |
| Improved: total | total: NA |
| Unimproved: urban | urban: 0.1% of population |
| Unimproved: rural | rural: NA |
| Unimproved: total | total: (2020 est.) NA |
| Alcohol consumption per capita | |
| Total | 0.64 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.) |
| Beer | 0.48 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.) |
| Wine | 0.04 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.) |
| Spirits | 0.11 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.) |
| Other alcohols | 0.01 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.) |
| Tobacco use | |
| Total | 22.5% (2020 est.) |
| Male | 43.8% (2020 est.) |
| Female | 1.1% (2020 est.) |
Demographic profile
All Important Facts about Malaysia
Want to know more about Malaysia? Check all different factbooks for Malaysia below.
