During the late 18th and 19th centuries, Great Britain established colonies and protectorates in the area of current Malaysia. These were occupied by Japan from 1942 to 1945.

In 1948, the British-ruled territories on the Malay Peninsula formed the Federation of Malaya, which became independent in 1957.

Malaysia was formed in 1963 when the former British colonies of Singapore and the East Malaysian states of Sabah and Sarawak on the northern coast of Borneo joined the Federation.

The first several years of the country's history were marred by Indonesian efforts to control Malaysia, Philippine claims to Sabah, and Singapore's secession from the Federation in 1965. During the 22-year term of Prime Minister MAHATHIR bin Mohamad (1981-2003), Malaysia was successful in diversifying its economy from dependence on exports of raw materials, to expansion in manufacturing, services, and tourism.

Capital: Kuala Lumpur

Currency: ringgit (MYR)

Malaysia is located in Southeast Asia, in two sections. On the mainland, Malaysia lies on the peninsula south of Thailand and north of Singapore. The rest of Malaysia is the northern third of the island of Borneo across the South China Sea, with Indonesia to the south and Brunei to the north. (The island of Borneo is south of Vietnam, across the South China Sea.)

The country is comprised of 1,200 square kilometers of water and 328,550 square kilometers of land, for a total area of 329,750 square kilometers -- slightly larger than New Mexico.

The climate of Malaysia is tropical, with annual southwest monsoons (April to October) and northeast monsoons (October to February).

Malaysia's natural resources include tin, petroleum, timber, copper, iron ore, natural gas, and bauxite.

Malaysia occupies a strategic location along Strait of Malacca and southern South China Sea.

Malaysians come from several ethnic groups, including Malay 50.4%, Chinese 23.7%, indigenous 11%, and Indian 7.1%.

Primarily a Muslim country (60.4%), Malaysia also is 19.2% Buddhist, 9.1% Christian, 6.3% Hindu, and 2.6% traditional Chinese religions (Taoism, Confucianism, etc.).

Malaysia's official language is Bahasa Malaysia. Other languages spoken there include English, Chinese dialects (Cantonese, Mandarin, Hokkien, Hakka, Hainan, and Foochow), Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Panjabi, and Thai. In addition, East Malaysia has several indigenous languages such as Kadazan and Iban.

The Malaysian flag has fourteen equal horizontal stripes of red (top) alternating with white (bottom).

There is a blue rectangle in the upper hoist-side corner bearing a yellow crescent and a yellow fourteen-pointed star.

The crescent and the star are traditional symbols of Islam.

The design was based on the flag of the US.