Travel Information

Malaysia is located in the heart of Southeast Asia, with a total land area of 330,200 km2. It is divided into two main regions: Peninsular Malaysia, which lies just south of Thailand, and East Malaysia, which can be found north of Indonesia on the island of Borneo.

The country is buoyant and wealthy and has moved towards a pluralist culture based on a vibrant and interesting fusion of Malay, Chinese, Indian and numerous native groups, with a population of 20 million people. It is a land of many natural beauties, from white sandy beaches to rolling hills.

Most visitors to Malaysia stick to the insane headlong rush of Kuala Lumpur, the colonially soothing Cameron Highlands Hill Station or the hedonistic torpor of Langkawi. However, the island of East Malaysia offers spectacular wildlife, longhouses and the awe-inspiring Mt Kinabalu. Malaysia's love of Western-style industrialisation is abundantly clear in its big cities. Aside from the gleaming glass of the 21st Century, though, Malaysia boasts some of the most superb beaches, mountains and national parks in Asia.

Brief history/ Legend/ Myths
Like many other countries Malaysia is rich with legends of their origin. The peninsula came under the rule of the Cambodian-based Funan, the Sumatran-based Srivijaya and the Java-based Majapahit empires, before the Chinese arrived in Melaka in 1405. . About 1400 Parameswara, a Sumatran prince, founded the kingdom of Malacca on the site of present-day Melaka. He was converted to Islam, Islam arrived in Melaka at about the same time and spread rapidly which traders from India had already brought to the area, and Malacca became a centre for the further spread of the Muslim faith. Malacca prospered and expanded its influence into most of the Malay Archipelago, but in 1511, it was conquered by the Portuguese under Afonso de Albuquerque. The Portuguese in Malacca survived constant fighting with neighbouring Johor, Aceh in Sumatra, and other states. The Portuguese took control in 1511. Melaka's wealth soon attracted European powers. In 1641, however, Malacca fell to the Dutch. The British established a thriving port in Penang in 1786 and took over Melaka in 1795.

The British traded for spices and colonised the interior of the peninsula when tin was discovered. East Malaysia came into British hands via the adventurer Sir James Brooke (who was made Rajah of Sarawak in 1841 after suppressing a revolt against the Sultan of Brunei) and the North Borneo Company (which administered Sabah from 1882). Gradually, the Federated Malay States were created in piecemeal fashion over the course of the 19th century.

The final pieces of the Malaysian mosaic fell into place when Britain took formal control of both Sabah and Sarawak after World War II. The indigenous labour supply was insufficient for the needs of the developing rubber and tin industries, so the British brought large numbers of Indians into the country, altering the peninsula's racial mix.

The Japanese over ran Malaya in World War II. Communist guerrillas who fought the Japanese throughout the occupation began an armed struggle against British rule in 1948 and Malaya achieved independence on 31 August 1957.