Page 16 - The Guide To Malaysia 9th Edition

12 INTRODUCTION TO MALAYSIA
A Land of Multiple Facets
The Land
Malaysia lies at the very heart of Southeast Asia, just north of the Equator, where the vast land mass of Eurasia gives way to the sprawling archipelagos of the Sunda Shelf. Its land area of 329,847sq km makes it almost as large as Germany and somewhat bigger than Italy.
The country consists of two main land masses. West Malaysia or Peninsular Malaysia is made up of
13 States and 3 Federal Territories and covers 132,090sq km or 40% of the country, forming the southernmost point of the Asian mainland and
bordering Thailand in
the north. East Malaysia covers 198,847sq km or 60% of the total land area and comprises the states of Sabah and Sarawak in the northern part of the island of Borneo, bordering Indonesia and enclosing Brunei Darussalam.
A panoramic view of tea plantations in the Cameron Highlands. These highlands are part of the Titiwangsa Range, a chain of mountains rising to 2,183 metres that forms the backbone of the Malay Peninsula.
The landscape of
West Malaysia is predominantly flat in the coastal regions, bisected by great meandering rivers. The Peninsula is divided lengthwise by the Titiwangsa Range, also known as the Main Range, which rises to 2,183m and forms the central spine of West Malaysia. The interior of Sabah is dominated by Mount Kinabalu (4,095m), while Sarawak has a number of smaller ranges rising to 2,424m (Mount Murud). Both West and
East Malaysia have long coastlines, totalling some 4,675kms, sprinkled with islands and coral reefs.
Malaysia’s climate is equatorial with an average temperature of 27°C and high annual rainfall of 2500mm in the peninsula, rising to 2900mm in Sabah and between 3,300 and 4,600mm in Sarawak. There is no specific wet
or dry season, although rainfall is usually heavier from November to March on the East Coast of Peninsular Malaysia,
Sabah’s longest river and Malaysia’s second longest, the Kinabatangan River is renowned as a wildlife paradise, home to orangutans, pygmy elephants, proboscis monkeys and many more iconic species.