Malaysia Truly ASIA

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, with the other states forming protectorates. Formerly known as Malaya and achieved independence on 31 August 1957.  Malaya has changed to their name from Malaya to "Malaysia" on 16th September 1963.  Since then, Malaysia has had one of the best economic records in Asia, with GDP growing an average 6.5% for almost 50 years.  The economy has traditionally been fuelled by its natural resources, but is expanding in the sectors of science, tourism, commerce and medical tourism.  Malaysia contains the southernmost point of continental Eurasia, Tanjung Piai, and is located near the equator and has a tropical climate. It has a biodiverse range of flora and fauna, and is considered a megadiverse country.  The Malaysian constitution guarantees freedom of religion while making Islam the state religion.  According to the Population and Housing Census 2010 figures, ethnicity and religious beliefs correlate highly. Approximately 60.4% of the population are practicing Islam. 19.2% Buddhism; 9.1% Christianity; 6.3% Hinduism; and 2.6% practice Confucianism, Taoism and other traditional Chinese religions. 0.8% reported having no religion, and the remaining 1.5% practised another religion or did not provide any information. The official language in Malaysia is Bahasa Malaysia and English remain as an active second language in Malaysia beside Tamil and also Chinese.  Many other languages are used in Malaysia, which contains speakers of 137 living languages. Peninsular Malaysia contains speakers of 41 of these languages.  Malaysia is a multi-ethnic, multicultural and multilingual society. The original culture of the area stemmed from indigenous tribes that lived there, along with the Malays who later moved there. Substantial influence exists from Chinese and Indian culture, dating back to when foreign trade began in the area. Other cultures that heavily influenced the culture of Malaysia include Persian, Arabic, and British culture. Due to the political structure of the government, coupled with the social contract theory, there has been minimal cultural assimilation of ethnic minorities.