Malaysia

Welcome to Malaysia in Southeast Asia. 

250 healthcare professionals working in Malaysia are members of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow.

Malaysia is a federal constitutional monarchy consisting of 13 states and 3 federal territories with a population of over 30 million

Malaysia consists of 2 geographical regions divided by the South China Sea: the Peninsular Malaysia and Malaysian Borneo, also known as East Malaysia or Sarawak.  It is the only country with territory on both the Asian mainland and the Malay Archipelago. 

Land borders are shared with Thailand, Indonesia, and Brunei.  Malaysia is linked to Singapore by a narrow causeway and a bridge.  The country also has maritime boundaries with Vietnamand the Philippines. 

Tanjung Piai is the southernmost point of Peninsular Malaysia and thus the most southern point of mainland Eurasia.

Malaysia is one of 17 megadiverse countries on earththat harbour the majority of the Earth's species and is home to a large numbers of endemic species.  The waters around Sipadan Island, the only oceanic island in Malaysia located off the east coast of Malaysian Borneo,are the most biodiverse in the world with over 3,000 species of fish and hundreds of coral species.  Not surprisingly, Sipadan is rated as one of the top diving destinations in the world

The capital city is Kuala Lumpur seat of the Parliament of Malaysia and home to the official residence of the Malaysian King, the Istana Negara.  Kuala Lumpur also contains the tallest twin buildings in the world, the Petronas Twin Towers, which have become an iconic symbol of Malaysia's futuristic development. 

Malaysia has had one of the best economic records in Asia.

The Strait of Malacca, lying between Sumatra and Peninsular Malaysia, is one of the most important thoroughfares in global commerce, carrying 40 % of the world's trade.

Malaysia has 5 UNESCO World Heritage Sites, including:

• The Lenggong Valley on Peninsula Malaysia which contains archaeological sites spanning close to 2 million years, one of the longest records of early man in a single locality, and the oldest outside the African continent; 
• Kinabalu National Park, one of the most important biological sites in the world with more than 4,500 species of flora and fauna, including 326 bird and around 100 mammal species; and 
• Gunung Mulu National Park  on Malaysian Borneo, famous for its karst formations and its enormous caves including the Sarawak Chamber which is so big that it could accommodate about 40 Boeing 747s, without overlapping their wings, and Clearwater Cave, believed to be the largest cave in the world by volume at 30,347,540 m³.