Geography of Malaysia

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Mount Kinabalu

Location: Malaysia is located in Southeastern Asia. There are two distinct parts to Malaysia being Peninsular Malaysia to the west and East Malaysia to the East. Peninsular Malaysia is located south of Thailand, north of Singapore and east of the Indonesian island of Sumatra. East Malaysia is located on the island of Borneo and shares borders with Brunei and Indonesia. According to a recent study by Centre for Marine and Coastal Studies, about 30% of Malaysian coastline is subject to varying degrees of erosion.

Geographic coordinates: 2°30′N, 112°30′E

Map references: Southeast Asia

Area:
total: 329,750 km²
land: 328,550 km²
water: 1,200 km²

Land boundaries:
total: 2,669 km
border countries: Brunei 381 km, Indonesia 1,782 km, Thailand 506 km

Coastline: 4,675 km (Peninsular Malaysia 2,068 km, East Malaysia 2,607 km)

Maritime claims:
continental shelf: 200-m depth or to the depth of exploitation; specified boundary in the South China Sea
exclusive economic zone: 200 nautical miles (370 km)
territorial sea: 12 nautical miles (22 km)

Climate: tropical; annual southwest (April to October) and northeast (October to February) monsoons

Terrain: coastal plains rising to hills and mountains

Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Indian Ocean 0 m
highest point: Mount Kinabalu 4,095m

Natural resources: tin, petroleum, timber, copper, iron ore, natural gas, bauxite

Land use:

arable land: 3%
permanent crops: 12%
permanent pastures: 0%
forests and woodland: 68%
other: 17% (1993 est.)

About half of Peninsular Malaysia is covered by granite and other igneous rocks, a third more is covered by stratified rocks older than the granite, and the remainder is covered by alluvium.^[1]

Irrigated land: 2,941 km² (1998 est.)

Natural hazards: flooding, landslides

Environment - current issues: air pollution from industrial and vehicular emissions; water pollution from raw sewage; deforestation; smoke/haze from Indonesian forest fires

Environment - international agreements:
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Life Conservation, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol

Geography - note: strategic location along Strait of Malacca and southern South China Sea

^ Encyclopædia Britannica. The Land (West Malaysia).

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