Malaysia the Beautiful

I posted a blog recently describing how I want to travel. I still do by the way. In that post I mentioned Ireland, because that's where my family came from.

But there's another country that's on my bucket list. I became interested in Malaysia when I was a teenager. I learned about this beautiful country in High School and I remember after seeing pictures of it the first time my imagination soared. I could see myself laying on one of its awesome beaches, soaking up sun, swimming in its crystal clear water, walking through one of many ancient palaces, visiting one of its cities towering with skyscrapers, I could go on and on.

What I did learn about this country years ago is limited but it must have really sparked an interest in my young mind back in High School because, I have forgotten so many things since that time. Only the most important things stick with you.

I would love to see comments regarding Malaysia from anyone else as interested as myself, from those that have actually been there and have experienced it's beauty first hand or better yet, from the wonderful people of Malaysia.

For those of you who don't know much about this awesome country, Malaysia is  a federal constitutional monarchy in Southeast Asia. It consists of thirteen states and three federal territories and has a total landmass of 329,847 square kilometres (127,350 sq mi). Malaysia has a King, Abdul Halim @Abdul Halim. Isn't that cool?! 

The country is separated by the South China Sea into two similarly sized regions, Peninsular Malaysiaand Malaysian Borneo. Land borders are shared with Thailand, Indonesia, and Brunei, and maritime borders exist with Singapore,Vietnam, and the Philippines. The capital city is Kuala Lumpur, while Putrajaya is the seat of the federal government. In 2010 the population was 28.33 million, with 22.6 million living on the Peninsula. The southernmost point of continental Eurasia, Tanjung Piai is in Malaysia, located in the tropics. It is one of 17megadiverse countries on earth, with large numbers of endemic species.

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, whose establishment was followed by the Malay kingdoms becoming British protectorates. The territories on Peninsular Malaysia were first unified as the Malayan Union in 1946. Malaya was restructured as the Federation of Malaya in 1948, and achieved independence on 31 August 1957. Malaya united with North Borneo, Sarawak, and Singapore on 16 September 1963, with si being added to give the new country the name Malaysia. Less than two years later in 1965, Singapore was expelled from the federation.

The country is multi-ethnic and multi-cultural, which plays a large role in politics. Theconstitution declares Islam the state religionwhile protecting freedom of religion. The government system is closely modelled on the Westminster parliamentary system and the legal system is based on common law. The head of state is the king, known as theYang di-Pertuan Agong. He is an elected monarch chosen from the hereditary rulers of the nine Malay states every five years. The head of government is the Prime Minister.

Since independence, Malaysia has had one of the best economic records in Asia, with GDPgrowing an average 6.5% for almost 50 years. The economy has traditionally been fueled by its natural resources, but is expanding in the sectors of science, tourism, commerce andmedical tourism. Today, Malaysia has a newly industrialised market economy, ranked third largest in Southeast Asia and 29th largest in the world. It is a founding member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, theEast Asia Summit and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, and a member of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, the Commonwealth of Nations, and the Non-Aligned Movement.

If you want to learn more about this great nation, there is a treasure of information on the internet. I encourage all of my readers, friends, anyone reading this post to learn more about the people of our big planet. I hope to see some of your comments on this post about what you've learned! Thanks for reading my blog!!