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People
Divisions and Demography
Malaysia is a country of Southeast Asia composed of two noncontiguous regions: West Malaysia on the Malay Peninsula and East Malaysia on the north coast of the island of Borneo. Of the 13 states in Malaysia, 11 of them are situated on the Peninsular Malaysia. The other two states, Sabah and Sarawak, are situated on the island of Borneo that is separated from West Malaysia by the South China Sea.
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. Malaysia's population of about 29 million continues to grow at a rate of close to two percent per year. Noteworthy is the fact that about 34 percent of the population is under the age of 15.
Cultural Diversity
There is great diversity regarding the Malaysian population's ethnicities, linguistic groups, cultures and religions. The population of Malaysia can be divided into four major ethnic groups: the Malays, the Chinese, the Indians and the indigenous people. In addition, there are Europeans, Americans, Australians, Eurasians, Middle Easterners and Thais, as well as people of mixed ancestry.
Ethnic Malays and other indigenous peoples comprise 58 percent of the population. They are the largest, as well as the most homogeneous ethnic group, in the country in terms of culture, language and religion. They share a common culture and speak a common language - Malay - the official language of Malaysia. Almost all Malays are Muslims, and adherence to the religion is seen as an important factor distinguishing a Malay from a non-Malay. Indeed, by constitutional definition, all Malays are Muslim. Malays also enjoy certain privileges under the affirmative action program introduced in 1971, which was aimed at helping Malays who were economically disadvantaged at that time. There are favorable quotas for Malays entering universities and in the arena of employment. These privileges have been sources of conflicts between Malays and other ethnic groups in the country.
The second largest ethnic group in Malaysia is Chinese, consisting of 24 percent of the population. The Chinese are ethnically homogeneous, but less so in terms of language and religion. They speak several different Chinese dialects, and there is no dominating religion among them; some are Buddhist or Taoist as well as a small number of Christians. The Chinese are largely outside of the political process, but they are very active and successful in business. Indeed, the Chinese have historically played an important role in trade and business in Malaysia. Considerable tension exists between the Malays and the Chinese as a result of success of the Chinese in business and their unfavorable political position in the country.
The Indians constitute about 8 percent of the population in Malaysia, and most of them speak Tamil. The majority of the people in this ethnic group practice Hinduism; others practice Islam, Buddhism and Christianity.
Non-Malay indigenous groups make up 10 percent of the Malaysian population and they tend to live in Eastern Malaysia. As such, more than half of Sarawak's population and about two-thirds of Sabah's population are composed of non-Malay indigenous groups. 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 since then, many have become Christian or Muslim. The indigenous Malaysians known as the Orang Asli constitute the smallest such ethnic group. The Orang Asli is subdivided into several groups, each speaking a different language from the other groups. Most of them believe in traditional religions, but some have converted to Islam.
The "other" category includes Europeans, Americans, Australians, Eurasians, Middle Easterners, Thais, as well as Malaysians of mixed ethnic and national backgrounds.
Human Development
The population of Malaysia has a healthy life expectancy at birth of 73.03 years (70.32 for males, and 75.94 for females). The infant mortality rate of Malaysia is 16.39 deaths per 1,000 live births. In terms of literacy rate in Malaysia, 88.9 percent (85.4 percent for females and 92.4 percent for males), age 15 and over, can read and write.
In terms of health and welfare, 4.1 percent of GDP in this country is spent on education; eight percent of GDP is spent on health expenditures. Generally, access to sanitation and water in this country is good with some limits in certain rural areas. Another notable measure of human development is the Human Development Index (HDI), which is formulated by the United Nations Development Program. The HDI is a composite of several indicators, which measure a country's achievements in three main arenas of human development: longevity, knowledge and education, as well as economic standard of living. In a recent ranking of 169 countries and territories, the HDI placed Malaysia in the high human development category, at 57th place. Note: Although the concept of human development is complicated and cannot be properly captured by values and indices, the HDI, which is calculated and updated annually, offers a wide-ranging assessment of human development in certain countries, not based solely upon traditional economic and financial indicators. Written by Dr. Denise Youngblood Coleman, Editor in Chief, www.countrywatch.com . See Bibliography for list of research sources.
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