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 Industries: agricultural processing (tea, tobacco, sugar), sawmilling, cement, consumer goods

Agriculture: accounts for 40% of GDP; cash crops—tobacco, sugarcane, cotton, tea, and corn; subsistence crops—potatoes, cassava, sorghum, pulses; livestock—cattle and goats

Aid: US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-88), $182 million; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-87), $1.8 billion

Currency: Malawian kwacha (plural—kwacha); 1 Malawian kwacha (MK) = 100 tambala

Exchange rates: Malawian kwacha (MK) per US$1—2.6793 (January 1990), 2.7595 (1989), 2.5613 (1988), 2.2087 (1987), 1.8611 (1986), 1.7191 (1985)

Fiscal year: 1 April-31 March

Communications

Railroads: 789 km 1.067-meter gauge

Highways: 13,135 km total; 2,364 km paved; 251 km crushed stone, gravel, or stabilized soil; 10,520 km earth and improved earth

Inland waterways: Lake Nyasa (Lake Malawi); Shire River, 144 km

Ports: Chipoka, Monkey Bay, Nkhata Bay, and Nkotakota all on Lake Nyasa (Lake Malawi)

Civil air: 3 major transport aircraft

Airports: 48 total, 47 usable; 6 with permanent-surface runways; none with runways over 3,659 m; 1 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 9 with runways 1,220-2,439 m

Telecommunications: fair system of open-wire lines, radio relay links, and radio communication stations; 36,800 telephones; stations—8 AM, 4 FM, no TV; satellite earth stations—1 Indian Ocean INTELSAT and 1 Atlantic Ocean INTELSAT

Note: a majority of exports would normally go through Mozambique on the Beira or Nacala railroads, but now most go through South Africa because of insurgent activity and damage to rail lines

Defense Forces

Branches: Army, Army Air Wing, Army Naval Detachment, paramilitary Police Mobile Force Unit, paramilitary Young Pioneers

Military manpower: males 15-49, 1,904,445; 967,032 fit for military service

Defense expenditures: 1.6% of GDP, or $22 million (1989 est.)  Malaysia



Geography

Total area: 329,750 km²; land area: 328,550 km²

Comparative area: slightly larger than New Mexico

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

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

Maritime claims:
 * Continental shelf: 200 meters or to depth of exploitation; specified boundary in the South China Sea
 * Exclusive fishing zone: 200 nm
 * Extended economic zone: 200 nm
 * Territorial sea: 12 nm

Disputes: involved in a complex dispute over the Spratly Islands with China, Philippines, Taiwan, and Vietnam; state of Sabah claimed by the Philippines; Brunei may wish to purchase the Malaysian salient that divides Brunei into two parts

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

Terrain: coastal plains rising to hills and mountains

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

Land use: 3% arable land; 10% permanent crops; NEGL% meadows and pastures; 63% forest and woodland; 24% other; includes 1% irrigated

Environment: subject to flooding; air and water pollution

Note: strategic location along Strait of Malacca and southern South China Sea

People

Population: 17,510,546 (July 1990), growth rate 2.3% (1990)

Birth rate: 29 births/1,000 population (1990)

Death rate: 6 deaths/1,000 population (1990)

Net migration rate: 0 migrants/1,000 population (1990)

Infant mortality rate: 30 deaths/1,000 live births (1990)

Life expectancy at birth: 65 years male, 71 years female (1990)

Total fertility rate: 3.5 children born/woman (1990)

Nationality: noun—Malaysian(s); adjective—Malaysian

Ethnic divisions: 59% Malay and other indigenous, 32% Chinese, 9% Indian

Religion: Peninsular Malaysia—Malays nearly all Muslim, Chinese predominantly Buddhists, Indians predominantly Hindu; Sabah—38% Muslim, 17% Christian, 45% other; Sarawak—35% tribal religion, 24% Buddhist and Confucianist, 20% Muslim, 16% Christian, 5% other

Language: Peninsular Malaysia—Malay (official); English, Chinese dialects, Tamil; Sabah—English, Malay, numerous tribal dialects, Mandarin and Hakka dialects predominate among Chinese; Sarawak—English, Malay, Mandarin, numerous tribal languages

Literacy: 65.0% overall, age 20 and up; Peninsular Malaysia—80%; Sabah—60%; Sarawak—60%

Labor force: 6,800,000; 30.8% agriculture, 17% manufacturing, 13.6% government, 5.8% construction, 4.3% finance, 3.4% business services, transport and communications, 0.6% mining, 24.5% other (1989 est.)

Organized labor: 660,000, 10% of total labor force (1988)

Government

Long-form name: none

Type: Federation of Malaysia formed 9 July 1963; constitutional monarchy nominally headed by the paramount ruler (king) and a bicameral Parliament composed of a 58-member Senate and a 177-member House of Representatives; Peninsular Malaysian states—hereditary rulers in all but Penang and Melaka, where governors are appointed by Malaysian Government; powers of state governments are limited by federal Constitution; Sabah—self-governing state, holds 20 seats in House of Representatives, with foreign affairs, defense, internal security, and other powers delegated to federal government; Sarawak—self-governing state within Malaysia, holds 24 seats in House of Representatives, with foreign affairs, defense, internal security, and other powers delegated to federal government

Capital: Kuala Lumpur

Administrative divisions: 13 states (negeri-negeri, singular—negeri) and 2 federal 191