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| Scuba Malaysia Sumatra Coral Reef |
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Resources Overview
Malaysia is a large country split into two land areas: Peninsular Malaysia and east Malaysia. The latter, comprising the states of Sarawak and Sabah, is located along the northern and western edge of the island of Borneo. All of these areas are located on the Sunda Shelf, although the edge of this continental shelf comes relatively close to the land around Sabah.
Although Peninsular Malaysia has a relatively high relief its coastline, particularly in the south and west, is dominated by low-lying land and mangroves or former mangrove areas. Offshore a number of small islands are important for reef development. These include the Pulau Langkawi group in the northwest, Pulau Semblian in the west, and the Pulau Tioman and Pulau Redang groups in the east. East Malaysia also has a very high relief, although in the west there is a generally wide coastal strip with extensive wetlands and mangrove development. Further east, and particularly in Sabah, the coastline is more complex and indented, with a generally narrow coastal strip. Again, a number of offshore island groups are important for reef development, particularly around Sabah.
There is relatively little reef development along the mainland coast of Peninsular Malaysia, but reefs occur around all the offshore islands. Conditions for reef development are generally poor in the Strait of Malacca, however there are small low diversity reefs on the mainland close to Port Dickson. There are also reported to be some minor mainland fringing communities on the east coast between Terengganu and Chukai.
Reef development is highly restricted off the coast of Sarawak, although there are some reefs around the offshore islands of Pulau Talang and Pulau Satar. The most extensive reef development in the country is in the waters around Sabah, which is the region with the highest diversity and optimal conditions for reef development. This is close to the global center of coral reef diversity. Around the southeast coast there are extensive fringing reefs and a small barrier reef. Offshore from the town of Semporna lie a number of islands of volcanic origin with extensive reef developments. Just off the continental shelf lies Pulau Sipadan, a small coral cay with a surrounding reef with high coral cover and diversity. Further north, onshore reef development is restricted, but there are fringing reefs around the Turtle Islands. Off the north and west coasts, and particularly around the offshore islands, there are significant areas of fringing reefs. Over 200 kilometers off the west coast of Sabah there is a coral atoll, Layang Layang, with high biodiversity, although coral cover on the outer slopes was only recorded at 29 percent. Overall some 346 species of scleractinian coral have been identified in Malaysian waters. The impact of the 1998 bleaching appears to have been highly varied, but no widespread mortalities were recorded. At the same time, declines in coral cover were noted throughout eastern Malaysia in the decade up to 1999, linked to various anthropogenic impacts.
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Geography
Area: 329,749 sq. km. (127,316 sq. mi.); slightly larger than New Mexico. Cities: Capital--Kuala Lumpur. Other cities--Penang, Ipoh, Malacca, Johor Baru, Kuching, Kota Kinabalu.
Terrain: Coastal plains and interior, jungle-covered mountains. The South China Sea separates peninsular Malaysia from East Malaysia on Borneo (400 mi.).
Climate: Tropical. |
People
Nationality: Noun and adjective--Malaysian(s).
Population (2000): 23.3 million.
Annual growth rate: 2.4%.
Ethnic groups: Malay 47%, Chinese 24%, Indigenous 11%, Indian 7%, non-Malaysian citizens 7%, others 4%.
Religions: Islam, Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism, Christianity, Hinduism, Sikhism, Baha'i faith.
Languages: Malay, Cantonese, Hokkien, Mandarin Chinese, English, Tamil, indigenous.
Education: Years compulsory--9. Attendance--99% (primary), 82% (secondary). Literacy (1999)--94%.
Health: Infant mortality rate (1999)--7.9/1,000. Life expectancy (2000)--female 75 yrs., male 70.2 yrs.
Work force (9.6 million, 2000): Manufacturing--27.6%; services (../../includes government)--20.2%; trade and tourism--17.1%; agriculture--15.2%; construction--8.2%; finance--5.5%; transportation and communications--5.0%; utilities--0.8%; mining and petroleum--0.4%. |
Economy
GNP: $82 billion.
Annual real GDP growth rate: 8.3%.
Per capita income: $3,500.
Natural resources: Petroleum, liquefied natural gas (LNG), tin, minerals. Agriculture: Products--palm oil, rubber, timber, cocoa, rice, tropical fruit, fish, coconut.
Industry: Types--electronics, electrical products, chemicals, food and beverages, metal and machine products, apparel.
Trade: Merchandise exports--$98.2 billion: electronics, electrical products, palm oil, petroleum, liquid natural gas, apparel, timber and logs, plywood and veneer, natural rubber. Major markets--U.S. 20.5%, Singapore 18.4%, Japan 13.1%. Merchandise imports--$82.2 billion: machinery, chemicals, manufactured goods, fuels, and lubricants. Major suppliers--U.S. 16.6%, Japan 21.1%, Singapore 14.3%. |
Profile
Malaysia's population of 23.3 million (2000) continues to grow at a rate of 2.4% per annum; about 33% of the population is under the age of 15. Malaysia's population comprises many ethnic groups, with the politically dominant Malays comprising a plurality. By constitutional definition, all Malays are Muslim. About a quarter of the population is Chinese who have historically played an important role in trade and business.
Malaysians of Indian descent comprise about 7% of the population and include Hindus, Muslims, Buddhists, and Christians. About 85% of the Indian community is Tamil.
Non-Malay indigenous groups make up more than half of the Borneo state of Sarawak's population and about 66% of the Borneo state of Sabah's population. They are divided into dozens of ethnic groups, but they share some general patterns of living and culture. Until the 20th century, most practiced traditional beliefs, but many have become Christian or Muslim. The "other" category ../../includes Malaysians of, inter alia, European and Middle Eastern descent. Population distribution is uneven, with some 15 million residents concentrated in the lowlands of Peninsular Malaysia, an area slightly smaller than the State of Michigan. |
History
In the first century AD, two far-flung but related events helped stimulate Malaysia's emergence in international trade in the ancient world. At that time, India had two principal sources of gold and other metals: the Roman Empire and China. The overland route from China was cut by marauding Huns, and at about the same time, the Roman Emperor Vespasian cut off shipments of gold to India. As a result, India sent large and seaworthy ships, with crews reported to have numbered in the hundreds, to Southeast Asia, including the Malayan Peninsula, to seek alternative sources. In the centuries that followed, rich Malaysian tin deposits assumed great significance in Indian Ocean trade, and the region prospered. As maritime trade among Middle Eastern, Indian, and Chinese ports flourished, the peninsula benefited from its location as well as from development of its diverse resources, including tropical woods and spices. Malay ships became prominent in that trade, and Malay ports served as transshipment centers. Indian trade brought Indian culture, economy, religion, and politics, with historic results for what is now Malaysia.
The early Buddhist Malay kingdom of Srivijaya, based at what is now Palembang, Sumatra, dominated much of the Malay Peninsula from the 9th to the 13th centuries AD. The powerful Hindu kingdom of Majapahit, based on Java, gained control of the Malay Peninsula in the 14th century. Conversion of the Malays to Islam, beginning in the early 14th century, accelerated with the rise of the state of Malacca under the rule of a Muslim prince in the 15th century. Malacca was a major regional entrepot, where Chinese, Arab, Malay, and Indian merchants traded precious goods. Drawn by this rich trade, a Portuguese fleet conquered Malacca in 1511, marking the beginning of European expansion in Southeast Asia. The Dutch ousted the Portuguese from Malacca in 1641 and, in 1795, were themselves replaced by the British, who had occupied Penang in 1786.
In 1826, the British settlements of Malacca, Penang, and Singapore were combined to form the Colony of the Straits Settlements. From these strong points, in the 19th and early 20th centuries, the British established protectorates over the Malay sultanates on the peninsula. Four of these states were consolidated in 1895 as the Federated Malay States.
During British control, a well-ordered system of public administration was established, public services were extended, and largescale rubber and tin production was developed. This control was interrupted by the Japanese invasion and occupation from 1942 to 1945 during World War II.
Popular sentiment for independence swelled during and after the war and, in 1957, the Federation of Malaysia, established from the British-ruled territories of Peninsula Malaysia in 1948, negotiated independence from the United Kingdom under the leadership of Tunku Abdul Rahman, who became the first prime minister. The British colonies of Singapore, Sarawak, and Sabah (called North Borneo) joined the Federation to form Malaysia on September 16, 1963.
Singapore withdrew from the Federation on August 9, 1965, and became an independent republic. Neighboring Indonesia objected to the formation of Malaysia and pursued a program of economic, political, diplomatic, and military "confrontation" against the new country, which ended only after the fall of Indonesia's President Sukarno in 1966.
Following World War II, local communists, nearly all Chinese, launched a long, bitter insurgency, prompting the imposition of a state of emergency in 1948 (later lifted in 1960). Small bands of guerrillas remained in bases along the rugged border with southern Thailand, occasionally entering northern Malaysia. These guerrillas finally signed a peace accord with the Malaysian Government in December 1989. A separate smallscale communist insurgency that began in the mid-1960s in Sarawak also ended with the signing of a peace accord in October 1990. |
| Information provided by CIA Worldfactbook, US Department of State, Coral Reef Action Network (ICRAN). ReefBase: Oliver, J. and M. Noordeloos. Editors. 2002, UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Center, |
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