MALAYSIA, FLAG OF

national flag consisting of seven red and seven white horizontal stripes and a blue canton with a yellow star and crescent. The width-to-length ratio of the flag is 1 to 2. The flag traditions of the many independent states now united in Malaysia emphasized white, red, yellow, and black; a horizontally striped flag in those colours served as the naval ensign for the Federated Malay States, which came into existence on July 1, 1896. The traditional royal Malay tiger appeared on a white oval in the centre. Some of the larger states resisted federation and maintained their own national symbols, however. After the Japanese occupied the peninsula during World War II, efforts toward unification eventually gained support. On April 1, 1946, the Malayan Union was founded, followed on February 1, 1948, by the Federation of Malaya. A competition for a national flag led to the design first hoisted on May 26, 1950. It consisted of 11 horizontal stripes of red and white, the colours favoured by the dominant United Malays National Organization and found in the flags of neighbouring Indonesia and Thailand. The canton of the flag was blue with a yellow star of 11 points, symbolizing Malaya's 11 states, and a yellow crescent. When additional states joined on September 16, 1963, the flag was modified. The current version has 14 stripes and a 14-pointed star. Yellow is a royal colour in Malaysia, and red, white, and blue indicate the close association of the country with the Commonwealth. The flag design was also influenced by the flag of the United States. The crescent and star symbolize the nation's majority Muslim population. Whitney Smith History Because the Malay Peninsula links mainland and archipelagic Southeast Asia and because Malaysia is characterized by a geographic division, the history of the present-day country can be understood only within a regional framework and as part of the wider context of the western archipelago zone. The Strait of Malacca (Melaka) bisects this realm and long has constituted a crossroads for peoples, cultures, and trade passing through or taking root in the area. Influences from China, India, the Middle East, and, later, Europe followed the maritime trade. Malaya (Peninsular Malaysia) and Sarawak and Sabah (East Malaysia) have shared many historical patterns, but each region also has developed in unique ways. The rise of Indianized states Malaysia's prehistory remains insufficiently studied, but bone and artifact discoveries at the Niah Caves site in northern Sarawak confirm modern human habitation in the region that may date to 40,000 years ago. The vast cave complex contains an almost unbroken succession of human frequentations and occupations, including a unique sequence of the evolution of stone tools that persisted until some 1,300 years ago. Malaya has been inhabited for at least 6,000 to 8,000 years, archaeologists having unearthed evidence of Stone Age and early Bronze Age civilizations; Neolithic culture was apparently well-established by 2500 to 1500 BC. Traditional historiography postulated that successive waves of peoples, who now are the modern Malays, migrated into the region from China and Tibet during the 1st millennium BC, pushing earlier inhabitants into the western Pacific or remote mountain enclaves. More recently it has been suggested that instead the southward migration consisted of small groups who imposed their culture and language and created new ethnic fusions. Small Malayan kingdoms appeared in the 2nd or 3rd century AD, a time when Indian traders and priests began traveling the maritime routes and brought with them Indian concepts of religion, government, and the arts. Over many centuries the peoples of the region, especially the royal courts, synthesized Indian and indigenous ideas, making brilliant and selective use of Indian modelsincluding Hinduism and Mahayana Buddhismin shaping their political and cultural patterns. The most significant complex of Indianized temple ruins has been found around Kedah Peak in northwestern Malaya. The peninsula and northern Borneo both lacked broad, fertile plains and were unable to support the pattern of densely populated classical Southeast Asian civilizations that flourished in Cambodia and Java. Although knowledge is scant and is based chiefly on Chinese written sources, it does appear that perhaps 30 small Indianized states rose and fell in Malaya, mostly along the east coast, during the 1st millennium AD. The most important of these states, Langkasuka, controlled much of northern Malaya. Malaya developed an international reputation as a source of gold and tin, populated by renowned seafarers. Between the 7th and 13th centuries many of these small, often prosperous peninsular maritime trading states may have come under the loose control of Srivijaya, the great Sumatra-based empire. At various times the Cambodian Angkor and Javanese Majapahit empires and the Tai Ayutthaya (Ayudhia) kingdom also claimed suzerainty in the region. The early states left a living legacy, traces of which can still be found in the political ideas, social structures, rituals, language, arts, and cultural practices of Malay Muslims. Although development was slower in more remote, less fertile northern Borneo, Sarawak had entered the Iron Age by AD 600. Archaeological excavations in the Sarawak River delta reveal many ancient sites containing evidence of both ironworking and an enormous trade with China and the Southeast Asian mainland. The local peoples exchanged edible bird's nests, rhinoceros horns, hornbill ivory, camphor, spices, wood, and other goods for Chinese ceramics, metal, and probably clothing. Neolithic boatbuilders along the east coast of Sabah already were involved in extensive interregional trade at about the same time; the maritime peoples of the area called the territory the land below the wind because it lay south of the typhoon belt. The economy Malaysia's economy has been transformed since 1970 from one based primarily on the export of raw materials (rubber and tin) to one that is among the strongest, most diversified, and fastest-growing in Southeast Asia. Primary production remains important: the country is the world's largest producer of rubber and palm oil, exports considerable quantities of petroleum and natural gas, and is one of the world's largest sources of commercial hardwoods. Increasingly, however, Malaysia has emphasized export-oriented manufacturing to fuel its economic growth. Using the comparative advantage of a relatively inexpensive but educated labour force, well-developed infrastructure, political stability, and an undervalued currency, Malaysia has attracted considerable foreign investment, especially from Japan and Taiwan. The focal point of this growth has been the manufacture of electrical and electronic products and textiles, which together have become one of the most important sources of export earnings. The success of the manufacturing effort has been reflected by the development of a variety of heavy industries, including steelmaking and automobile assemblythe latter implemented through a Malaysian-Japanese joint venture. Peninsular Malaysia, especially the urban area of Kuala Lumpur and the rest of the developed area along the western side of the peninsula, accounts for nearly all of the country's manufacturing output. Since the early 1970s the Malaysian government has championed a social and economic restructuring strategy, first known as the New Economic Policy (NEP), that seeks to strike a balance between the goals of economic growth and the redistribution of wealth. Traditionally, the Malaysian economy has been dominated by the country's Chinese and South Asian minorities. The goal of the NEP has been to endow the Malays and other indigenous groups with greater economic opportunities and to develop their management and entrepreneurial skills. Official economic policy also has encouraged the private sector to take a greater role in the restructuring process. A major component of this policy has been the privatization of many public-sector activities, including the national railway, airline, automobile manufacturer, and telecommunications company. Malaysia's systems of public financeauditing and organization of accounts, parliamentary control, and revenue collectionare generally based on British principles. The primary role of the country's fiscal system is to raise revenue for governmental expenditure, rather than being a mechanism to manipulate the pace of economic activity, the level of employment, or prices. The greater part of government revenues are raised by taxationroughly equally divided between direct (income) taxes and indirect taxes (e.g., customs and excise duties). Malaysia's rapid economic expansion has created a great demand for additional labour for the manufacturing and service sectors. The labour shortage has tended to increase wages. Nonetheless, there has been a relatively limited flow of workers from East to Peninsular Malaysia despite the economic incentives, prompting interest in recruiting foreign workers. Resources Malaysia is rich in mineral resources. The major metallic ores are tin, bauxite (aluminum), copper, and iron. A host of minor ores found within the country include manganese, antimony, mercury, and gold. The production of tin formed one of the main economic pillars upon which the country's development effort has been built. It is found largely in alluvial deposits along the western slopes of the Main Range in Peninsular Malaysia, with smaller deposits on the east coast of the peninsula. Malaysia's most valuable mineral resources, however, are its reserves of petroleum and natural gas. The major fields are all offshore, off the east coast of the peninsula and off Sarawak. Malaysia also has large reserves of coal, peat, and wood, and it has considerable hydroelectric potential. The land Relief The long, narrow, and rugged Malay Peninsula extends to the south and southwest from Myanmar and Thailand. The Malaysian portion of it is about 500 miles long andat its broadest east-west axisabout 200 miles wide. About half of Peninsular Malaysia is covered by granite and other igneous rocks, one-third is covered by stratified rocks older than the granite, and the remainder is covered by alluvium. At least half the land area is more than 500 feet (150 metres) above sea level. Peninsular Malaysia is dominated by its mountainous core, which consists of a number of roughly parallel mountain ranges aligned north-south. The most prominent of these is the Main Range, which is about 300 miles long and has peaks rising to elevations of more than 7,000 feet. Karst landscapeslimestone hills with characteristically steep, whitish gray sides, stunted vegetation, caves created by the dissolving action of water, and subterranean passagesare distinctive landmarks in central and northern Peninsular Malaysia. Bordering the mountainous core are the coastal lowlands, 10 to 50 miles wide along the west coast of the peninsula but narrower and discontinuous along the east coast. Settlement and development have taken place primarily along the west coast. East Malaysia is an elongated strip of land approximately 700 miles long with a maximum width of about 170 miles. The coastline of 1,400 miles is paralleled inland by a 900-mile land boundary with Kalimantan. For most of its length, the relief consists of three topographic features. The first is the flat coastal plain. In Sarawak, where the coastline is regular, the plain averages 20 to 40 miles in width, while in Sabah, where the coastline is rugged and deeply indented, it is only 10 to 20 miles wide. Inland from the coastal plain is the second topographic feature, the hill-and-valley region. Elevations there generally are less than 1,000 feet, but isolated groups of hills reach heights of 2,500 feet or more. The terrain in this region is usually irregular, with steep-sided hills and narrow valleys. The third topographic feature is the mountainous backbone that forms the divide between East Malaysia and Kalimantan. This region, which is higher and nearer the coast in Sabah than in Sarawak, is composed of an eroded and ill-defined complex of plateaus, ravines, gorges, and mountain ranges. The summits of the ranges are between 4,000 and 7,000 feet. Mount Kinabalu, at 13,455 feet (4,101 metres) the highest peak in Malaysia, towers above this mountain complex. Drainage Peninsular Malaysia is drained by an intricate system of rivers and streams. The longest riverthe Pahangis only 270 miles long. Streams flow year-round because of the constant rains, but the volume of water transported fluctuates with the localized and torrential nature of the rainfall. In the western part of the peninsula such heavy rainfalls may occur at any time of year, but in the eastern part they are more likely to occur during the northeast monsoon (November to March). Prolonged rains often cause floods, especially in areas where the natural regimes of the rivers have been disrupted by uncontrolled mining or agricultural activities. As in Peninsular Malaysia, the drainage pattern of East Malaysia is set by the interior highlands, which also form the watershed between Malaysia and Indonesia. The rivers, also perennial because of the year-round rainfall, form a dense network covering the entire region. The longest river in Sarawak, the Rajang, is about 350 miles long and is navigable by shallow-draft boats for about 150 miles from its mouth; its counterpart in Sabah, the Kinabatangan, is of comparable length but is navigable for only about 120 miles from its mouth. The rivers are important because they provide a means of communication between the coast and the interior. Settlement also has taken place along the rivers, as it did on the peninsula in an earlier period. The people The population of Malaysia is unevenly divided between Peninsular and East Malaysia, with the vast majority living in Peninsular Malaysia. The population shows great ethnic, linguistic, cultural, and religious diversity. A significant distinction is made between indigenous peoples (aborigines and Malays, collectively often called bumiputra) and immigrants (primarily Chinese and South Asians). In addition, there are important differences among the indigenous peoples themselves and among religious groups. Ethnic composition, languages, and religions The Malay Peninsula, situated at one of the great maritime crossroads of the world, has long been the meeting place of peoples from other parts of Asia. As a result, the population shows the ethnographic complexity typical of Southeast Asia as a whole. In general, there are four groups of people, given in the order of their appearance on the peninsula: the Orang Asli (aborigines), the Malays, the Chinese, and the South Asians. In addition, there are small numbers of Europeans, Americans, Eurasians, Arabs, and Thai. The Orang Asli constitute the smallest group and can be divided ethnically into the Jakun, who speak an archaic Malay, and the Semang and Senoi, who speak languages of the Mon-Khmer language family. They are primarily adherents of traditional religions, but a number have been converted to Islam. The Malays originated in different parts of the peninsula and archipelagic Southeast Asia. They constitute about two-thirds of the population and are politically the most important group. They share with each other a common culture, speak a common Austronesian languageMalay (officially called Bahasa Malaysia), which is the national languageand are overwhelmingly Muslim. Adherence to Islam is regarded as one of the most important factors distinguishing a Malay from a non-Malay, and the number of Malays who are not Muslim is negligible. Minor differences in dialect, culture, and physical characteristics are noticeable among the Malays living in the south in Johor state, on the east coast in the states of Kelantan and Terengganu, and on the west coast in the states of Negeri Sembilan, Perak, Kedah, and Perlis. The Chinese, who make up about one-third of the peninsular population, originally migrated from southeastern China. They are ethnically homogeneous but are less homogeneous than the Malays in language and religion. Several different dialects are spoken, notably Hokkien, Cantonese, Hakka, and Hainanese. Thus, it may be necessary for two Chinese to converse in Mandarin Chinese, English, or Malay. A minority, the Baba Chinese, speak a Malay patois, although otherwise they remain Chinese in customs, manners, and habit. The Chinese do not have a dominant religion; most of them, while subscribing to Confucian moral precepts, are either Buddhist or Taoist. A small minority is Christian. The peoples from South AsiaIndians, Pakistanis, and Tamils from Sri Lankaconstitute about 10 percent of the population of Peninsular Malaysia. Linguistically, they can be subdivided into speakers of Dravidian languages (Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, and others) and speakers of Indo-European languages (PunjaGi, Bengali, Pashto, and Sinhalese). Numerically, the Tamil speakers are the largest group. Most of the Indians and Sri Lankans are Hindu, while the Pakistanis are predominantly Muslim. Some Indians have been converted to Christianity. The Sikhs, from the Punjab, adhere to their own religion, Sikhism. The population of East Malaysia is ethnographically even more complex than that of Peninsular Malaysia. The government has tended to oversimplify the situation in Sarawak and Sabah, officially recognizing only some of the dozens of ethnolinguistic groups in those two states. The main ethnic groups in Sarawak are the Chinese, various speakers of mutually unintelligible Austronesian languages including the Iban (Sea Dayak), the Malays, the Bidayuh (Land Dayak), and the Melanau. The Chinese of Sarawak, like those on the peninsula, originally came from southeastern China. The relative size of each dialect group is reversed, however, as speakers of Hakka and Fu-chou (Hokchiu) in Sarawak outnumber those speaking Cantonese and Hokkien. As in Peninsular Malaysia, nearly all the Chinese of Sarawak follow Confucianism and practice Buddhism or Taoism. The Iban are the largest and most important indigenous group in Sarawak. Their origins are obscure, but traditionally they were headhunters. The Iban are a homogeneous people speaking a language described as a type of pre-Islamic Sumatran Malay. Most of them live in the interior uplands, where they are longhouse dwellers practicing shifting cultivation. They have a distinctive culture, in which nearly every activity is influenced or governed by their animist religious beliefs. The Malays of Sarawak are a heterogeneous group of people, among whom only a few are of peninsular origin. Most are the descendants of aboriginal peoples who since the mid-15th century have converted to Islam and adopted the Malay way of life. Although ethnically diverse, they are culturally homogeneous, speaking a common language and practicing Islam. The Bidayuh live in hill country, most being found in the far western portion of Sarawak. Although all are of the same ethnic group, they speak a number of different but related dialects that to some extent are mutually intelligible. The majority of the Bidayuh practice traditional religions, but Christian missionaries have made some converts among them. The Melanau differ ethnically from the Sarawak Malays, but their dialects, which are distinct from Malay, do not differ sufficiently to constitute a barrier to communication. The great majority of Melanau are Muslim, with the rest (except for a small number of Christians), following traditional religions. Other indigenous peoplesincluding the Kenyah, Kayan, Kedayan, Murut, Kelabit, Bisaya (Bisayah), and Punancontribute much to Sarawak's ethnic and cultural diversity. Sabah also has a kaleidoscopic mixture of peoples. The largest groups are the Kadazan, Chinese, Bajau, and Murut, while a significant proportion consists of such indigenous peoples as the Kedayan, Orang Sungei, Bisaya, Sulu, and Tidong. Europeans, Eurasians, Malays, Indonesians, Filipinos, and South Asians make up the remainder. Kadazan society consists of a number of tribes, each speaking a dialect that the others can understand. The great majority of Kadazan are animists, although a significant proportion are Christian and a small number are Muslim. Most of the Chinese are Hakka-speaking, the other important dialects being Cantonese, Hokkien, Teochew, and Hainanese. The Bajau are not a cohesive community, as they are split into two main groups: sedentary agriculturists living on the north coast and those who live by the sea on the east coast. Most are Muslim, but not all of them can communicate with each other. The Murut of Sabah are descended from the same people as the Kadazan and are ethnically different from the Murut of Sarawak. They are shifting cultivators. Although they are divided into subtribes, their languages are mutually intelligible. Most follow traditional religions, with a significant minority being Christian.