Malaysia is a country located at Southeast Asia, with an equatorial climate and also a culturally diverse nation. It is also separated into two regions, the Peninsular (West) Malaysia and the Borneo East Malaysia region. The Peninsular shares its borders with Thailand up north and Singapore down south of it. The East Malaysia region is separated by the South China Sea and shares its border with Brunei and Indonesia. There are a total of 13 states and 3 Federal Territories (Kuala Lumpur (KL), Putrajaya and Labuan), where KL is the Capital City of the country and Putrajaya is the nation's administrative centre. The time zone is UTC +8. ​ The national population is currently over 34 million (as of 2023), it consists of 3 main races - Malay (60%), Chinese (20%) and Indians (5%), and also the local indigenous people known as Bumiputera (15%) - percentage as approximation figure. Malaysia officially recognize Islam as the religion of the country, however, it allows the practice of other religions to non Malay / Muslim citizens. As such, there are various religious practices and festivals held throughout the country yearly to celebrate the culturally diverse country. Language wise, Bahasa Malaysia is the nation's official language, but majority are also able to communicate in English. Other popular languages spoken are Mandarin among the Chinese, and Tamil among the Indians. ​ Malaysia practices parliamentary democracy with constitutional monarchy. The Yang di-Pertuan Agong (YDPA) is the Supreme Head of the country, which one will be elected once every 5 year term basis from the 9 Kings of the states in Malaysia. The YDPA's role has been largely ceremonial since changes to the constitution in 1994, picking ministers and members of the upper house, as well as being the Head of Religion (Islam) within the country. The country's law are governed by the Federal Constitution and the parliament system, which is headed by the Prime Minister of Malaysia. ​​ Malaysia has a total approximate 330, 000 km square land. The local climate is equatorial and characterized by the annual southwest (April to October) and northeast (October to February) monsoons. The temperature is moderated by the presence of the surrounding oceans. Averagely in Kuala Lumpur, temperature is between 26°C to 34°C. Humidity is usually high, and the average annual rainfall is 250 cm (98 in). There are little to no natural disasters occurring within the country besides landslides and floods usually, as the country is not located in any tectonic lines zone. ​​ Malaysia's economic ranking is the world's 36th-largest economy by nominal GDP and the 31st-largest by Purchasing Power Parity. In 2017, the large service sector contributed to 53.6% of total GDP, the industrial sector 37.6%, and the small agricultural sector roughly 8.8%. Malaysia has a low official unemployment rate of 3.9%. Its foreign exchange reserves are the world's 24th-largest. It has a labour force of about 15 million, which is the world's 34th-largest. ​ Malaysia is an exporter of natural and agricultural resources, and petroleum is a major export. Malaysia has once been the largest producer of tin, rubber and palm oil in the world. Manufacturing has a large influence in the country's economy, although Malaysia's economic structure has been moving away from it. Malaysia remains one of the world's largest producers of palm oil today (2024). In 2020, Malaysia exported high-tech products worth USD92.1 billion, the second-highest in ASEAN, after Singapore. ​​ The country's infrastructure is well developed, with highways connecting to airports and seaports. Fresh water is easily sourced by tap, electricity is managed by Tenaga Nasional Bhd in the Peninsular, whereas the Borneo East Malaysia has another two operators, Sarawak Energy and Sabah Electricity respectively. Telecommunications wise, the country is operating with largely 4G connectivity with developing infrastructure to adopt 5G nationwide. ​ Tourism is the third-largest contributor to Malaysia's GDP, after the manufacturing and commodities sectors. In 2019, the sector contributed about 15.9 per cent to the total GDP. According to the World Tourism Organization, Malaysia was the fourteenth-most visited country in the world, and the fourth-most visited country in Asia in 2019, with over 26.1 million visits. Malaysia was ranked 38th in the Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report 2019. Its international tourism receipts in 2019 amounted to USD19.8 billion. ​Malaysia's healthcare system is considered to be among the most developed in Asia, which contributes to its thriving medical tourism industry. Revenue from medical tourism to Malaysia grew from RM 299 million in 2008 to RM 527 million in 2011 to RM 1.7 billion in 2019. Medical tourism in Malaysia was ranked by Nuwire as one of the top five destinations for health tourism in the world in 2008. Malaysia was also recognized as 2015 'Destination of the Year' by the International Medical Travel Journal (IMTJ). ​ To have a further understanding of the country, view the recommended videos below.