Malaysia Offers Wonders to the Tourist

Malaysia was first given the name in 1963 after the Federation of Malaya, North Borneo, Sarawak and Singapore formed a federation comprising 14 states. At that time other names were considered too, among them was Langkasuka which was the name of a historic kingdom in the same area.

In the year 1511 Portugal established a colony in Malacca, which is situated on the east coast of Malaysia, but they were always in conflict with the Sultanate of Johor and the Sultanate of Aceh. The conflict lasted on until 1641 when the Dutch allied with the Sultanate of Johor to gain control from the Portuguese of Malacca.

Jumping forward in time, in 1963 the Federation of Malaysia came about. Initially the Sultanate of Brunei had wished also to join the Federation but due to pressure from some members of their population and some other issues to do with oil payments, they pulled out of the agreement.

In the early years of the Federation and independence, troubles continually reared up from Indonesia and President Sukarno, and also with Singapore's exit from the Federation in 1965. Then, the Philippines made a claim upon the state of Sabah.

Furthermore, due to the large racial variation, mainly made up of Malays, Chinese, Indians and ethno tribes people such as the Iban, there is a very delicate set up with the proposed idea that all peoples are to be treated fairly. Many people however feel that the political system is very much in favor of the Malays at the expense of all other races - the Chinese feel themselves to be treated very unfairly.

The governmental system has been modeled upon that of the British system, which is a legacy of colonial rule. From the date of independence from Britain in 1957, Malaysia has used a multi-party coalition to govern, which is known as Barisan Nasional.

Malaysia is now made up of 13 states, 2 of these are in Malaysian Borneo - Sarawak and Sabah, and 3 federal territories. The states are subdivided into districts, which are individually referred to as mukim. Governance over the country is divided between both federal and state governments.

Malaysia is by land mass the 66th largest country in the world being 320,000 km square, which is a similar size to Vietnam, New Mexico and Norway. Total population is 28 million which makes it the 43rd most populated country in the world which is similar to Venezuela and Saudi Arabia.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Joseph_Archibald