The name "Malaysia" is a combination of the word "Malays" and the Latin-Greek suffix "-

ia"/"-ία"[11] which can be translated as "land of the Malays".[12] The origin of the word
'Melayu' is subject to various theories. It may derive from the Sanskrit "Himalaya", referring
to areas high in the mountains, or "Malaiyur-pura", meaning mountain town.[13] Another
similar theory claims its origin lies in the Tamil words "malai" and "ur" meaning "mountain"
and "city, land", respectively.[14][15][16] Another suggestion is that it derives from the
Pamalayu campaign. A final suggestion is that it comes from a Javanese word meaning "to
run", from which a river, the Sungai Melayu ('Melayu river'), was named due to its strong
current.[13] Similar-sounding variants have also appeared in accounts older than the 11th
century, as toponyms for areas in Sumatra or referring to a larger region around the Strait of
Malacca.[17] The Sanskrit text Vayu Purana, thought to have been in existence since the first
millennium CE, mentioned a land named 'Malayadvipa' which was identified by certain
scholars as the modern Malay peninsula.[18][19][20][21][22] Other notable accounts are by
the 2nd century Ptolemy's Geographia that used the name Malayu Kulon for the west coast of
Golden Chersonese, and the 7th century Yijing's account of Malayu.[17]

At some point, the Melayu Kingdom took its name from the Sungai Melayu.[13][23] 'Melayu'
then became associated with Srivijaya,[17] and remained associated with various parts of
Sumatra, especially Palembang, where the founder of the Malacca Sultanate is thought to
have come from.[24] It is only thought to have developed into an ethnonym as Malacca
became a regional power in the 15th century. Islamisation established an ethnoreligious
identity in Malacca, with the term 'Melayu' beginning to appear as interchangeable with
'Melakans'. It may have specifically referred to local Malays speakers thought loyal to the
Malaccan Sultan. The initial Portuguese use of Malayos reflected this, referring only to the
ruling people of Malacca. The prominence of traders from Malacca led 'Melayu' to be
associated with Muslim traders, and from there became associated with the wider cultural and
linguistic group.[17] Malacca and later Johor claimed they were the centre of Malay culture,
a position supported by the British which led to the term 'Malay' becoming more usually
linked to the Malay peninsula rather than Sumatra.[24]

Before the onset of European colonisation, the Malay Peninsula was known natively as
"Tanah Melayu" ("Malay Land").[25] Under a racial classification created by a German
scholar Johann Friedrich Blumenbach, the natives of maritime Southeast Asia were grouped
into a single category, the Malay race.[26][27] Following the expedition of French navigator
Jules Dumont d'Urville to Oceania in 1826, he later proposed the terms of "Malaysia",
"Micronesia" and "Melanesia" to the Société de Géographie in 1831, distinguishing these
Pacific cultures and island groups from the existing term "Polynesia". Dumont d'Urville
described Malaysia as "an area commonly known as the East Indies".[28] In 1850, the
English ethnologist George Samuel Windsor Earl, writing in the Journal of the Indian
Archipelago and Eastern Asia, proposed naming the islands of Southeast Asia as
"Melayunesia" or "Indunesia", favouring the former.[29] The name Malaysia gained some
use to label what is now the Malay Archipelago.[30] In modern terminology, "Malay"
remains the name of an ethnoreligious group of Austronesian people predominantly
inhabiting the Malay Peninsula and portions of the adjacent islands of Southeast Asia,
including the east coast of Sumatra, the coast of Borneo, and smaller islands that lie between
these areas.[31]

The state that gained independence from the United Kingdom in 1957 took the name the
"Federation of Malaya", chosen in preference to other potential names such as "Langkasuka",
after the historic kingdom located at the upper section of the Malay Peninsula in the first
millennium CE.[32][33] The name "Malaysia" was adopted in 1963 when the existing states
of the Federation of Malaya, plus Singapore, North Borneo and Sarawak formed a new
federation.[34][d] One theory posits the name was chosen so that "si" represented the
inclusion of Singapore, North Borneo, and Sarawak to Malaya in 1963.[34] Politicians in the
Philippines contemplated renaming their state "Malaysia" before the modern country took the
name.[36]

History

Main article: History of Malaysia

Map showing the extent of the Malacca Sultanate, covering much of the Malay Peninsula and
some of Sumatra

The Malacca Sultanate played a major role in spreading Islam throughout the Malay
Archipelago.
Evidence of modern human habitation in Malaysia dates back 40,000 years.[37] In the Malay
Peninsula, the first inhabitants are thought to be Negritos.[38] Traders and settlers from India
and China arrived as early as the first century AD, establishing trading ports and coastal
towns in the second and third centuries. Their presence resulted in strong Indian and Chinese
influences on the local cultures, and the people of the Malay Peninsula adopted the religions
of Hinduism and Buddhism. Sanskrit inscriptions appear as early as the fourth or fifth
century.[39] The Kingdom of Langkasuka arose around the second century in the northern
area of the Malay Peninsula, lasting until about the 15th century.[32] Between the 7th and
13th centuries, much of the southern Malay Peninsula was part of the maritime Srivijayan
empire. By the 13th and the 14th century, the Majapahit empire had successfully wrested
control over most of the peninsula and the Malay Archipelago from Srivijaya.[40] In the
early 15th century, Parameswara, a runaway king of the former Kingdom of Singapura linked
to the old Srivijayan court, founded the Malacca Sultanate.[41] The spread of Islam increased
following Parameswara's conversion to that religion. Malacca was an important commercial
centre during this time, attracting trade from around the region.[42]

Dutch fleet vs Portuguese armada

The Dutch fleet battling with the Portuguese armada as part of the Dutch–Portuguese War in
1606 to gain control of Malacca

In 1511, Malacca was conquered by Portugal,[42] after which it was taken by the Dutch in
1641. In 1786, the British Empire established a presence in Malaya, when the Sultan of
Kedah leased Penang Island to the British East India Company. The British obtained the town
of Singapore in 1819,[43] and in 1824 took control of Malacca following the Anglo-Dutch
Treaty. By 1826, the British directly controlled Penang, Malacca, Singapore, and the island of
Labuan, which they established as the crown colony of the Straits Settlements. By the 20th
century, the states of Pahang, Selangor, Perak, and Negeri Sembilan, known together as the
Federated Malay States, had British residents appointed to advise the Malay rulers, to whom
the rulers were bound to defer by treaty.[44] The remaining five states in the peninsula,
known as the Unfederated Malay States, while not directly under British rule, also accepted
British advisers around the turn of the 20th century. Development on the peninsula and
Borneo were generally separate until the 19th century. Under British rule the immigration of
Chinese and Indians to serve as labourers was encouraged.[45] The area that is now Sabah
came under British control as North Borneo when both the Sultan of Brunei and the Sultan of
Sulu transferred their respective territorial rights of ownership, between 1877 and 1878.[46]
In 1842, Sarawak was ceded by the Sultan of Brunei to James Brooke, whose successors
ruled as the White Rajahs over an independent kingdom until 1946, when it became a crown
colony.[47]

In the Second World War, the Japanese Army invaded and occupied Malaya, North Borneo,
Sarawak, and Singapore for over three years. During this time, ethnic tensions were raised
and nationalism grew.[48] Popular support for independence increased after Malaya was
reconquered by Allied forces.[49] Post-war British plans to unite the administration of
Malaya under a single crown colony called the "Malayan Union" met with strong opposition
from the Malays, who opposed the weakening of the Malay rulers and the granting of
citizenship to the ethnic Chinese. The Malayan Union, established in 1946, and consisting of
all the British possessions in the Malay Peninsula with the exception of Singapore, was
quickly dissolved and replaced on 1 February 1948 by the Federation of Malaya, which
restored the autonomy of the rulers of the Malay states under British protection.[50]

Leader of the Malayan Communist Party Lee Meng holding a rifle during the Malayan
Emergency, 1951

During this time, the mostly ethnically Chinese rebels under the leadership of the Malayan
Communist Party launched guerrilla operations designed to force the British out of Malaya.
The Malayan Emergency (1948–1960) involved a long anti-insurgency campaign by
Commonwealth troops in Malaya.[51] On 31 August 1957, Malaya became an independent
member of the Commonwealth of Nations.[52] After this a plan was put in place to federate
Malaya with the crown colonies of North Borneo (which joined as Sabah), Sarawak, and
Singapore. The date of federation was planned to be 31 August 1963 so as to coincide with
the anniversary of Malayan independence; however, federation was delayed until 16
September 1963 in order for a United Nations survey of support for federation in Sabah and
Sarawak, called for by parties opposed to federation including Indonesia's Sukarno and the
Sarawak United Peoples' Party, to be completed.[53][54]
Federation brought heightened tensions including a conflict with Indonesia as well
continuous conflicts against the Communists in Borneo and the Malayan Peninsula which
escalates to the Sarawak Communist Insurgency and Second Malayan Emergency together
with several other issues such as the cross border attacks into North Borneo by Moro pirates
from the southern islands of the Philippines, Singapore being expelled from the Federation in
1965,[55][56] and racial strife. This strife culminated in the 13 May race riots in 1969.[57]
After the riots, the controversial New Economic Policy was launched by Prime Minister Tun
Abdul Razak, trying to increase the share of the economy held by the bumiputera.[58] Under
Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad there was a period of rapid economic growth and
urbanization beginning in the 1980s. The economy shifted from being agriculturally based to
one based on manufacturing and industry. Numerous mega-projects were completed, such as
the Petronas Towers, the North–South Expressway, the Multimedia Super Corridor, and the
new federal administrative capital of Putrajaya.[34] However, in the late 1990s, the Asian
financial crisis almost caused the collapse of the currency and the stock and property markets,
although they later recovered.[59] The 1MDB scandal was a major global corruption scandal
that implicated then-Prime Minister Najib Razak in 2015.[60] The scandal contributed to the
first change in the ruling political party since independence in the 2018 general election.[61]
In the 2020s, the country was gripped by a political crisis that coincided with health and
economic crises caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.[62]

Government and politics

Main articles: Politics of Malaysia and Government of Malaysia

White tall building and two arches

The Parliament of Malaysia, the building that houses the members of the Dewan Rakyat

Malaysia is a federal constitutional elective monarchy; the only federal country in Southeast
Asia.[63] The system of government is closely modelled on the Westminster parliamentary
system, a legacy of British rule.[64] The head of state is the King, whose official title is the
Yang di-Pertuan Agong. The King is elected to a five-year term by and from among the nine
hereditary rulers of the Malay states. The other four states, which have titular Governors, do
not participate in the selection. By informal agreement the position is rotated among the nine,
[64] and has been held by Abdullah of Pahang since 31 January 2019.[65] The King's role
has been largely ceremonial since changes to the constitution in 1994, picking ministers and
members of the upper house.[66]

Legislative power is divided between federal and state legislatures. The bicameral federal
parliament consists of the lower house, the House of Representatives and the upper house, the
Senate.[67] The 222-member House of Representatives is elected for a maximum term of five
years from single-member constituencies. All 70 senators sit for three-year terms; 26 are
elected by the 13 state assemblies, and the remaining 44 are appointed by the King upon the
Prime Minister's recommendation.[42] The parliament follows a multi-party system and the
government is elected through a first-past-the-post system.[42][68] Parliamentary elections
are held at least once every five years,[42] the most recent of which took place in May 2018.
[61] Before 2018, registered voters aged 21 and above could vote for the members of the
House of Representatives and, in most of the states, for the state legislative chamber. Voting
is not mandatory.[69] In July 2019, a bill to lower the voting age to 18 years old was
officially passed.[70]

Large building with a series of flags in front of it

The Perdana Putra houses the office of Malaysia's Prime Minister

Executive power is vested in the Cabinet, led by the Prime Minister. The prime minister must
be a member of the House of Representatives, who in the opinion of His Majesty the King,
commands the support of a majority of members. The Cabinet is chosen from members of
both houses of Parliament.[42] The Prime Minister is both the head of cabinet and the head of
government.[66] As a result of the 2018 general election Malaysia was governed by the
Pakatan Harapan political alliance,[61] although Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad resigned
amid a political crisis in 2020. In March 2020, the Perikatan Nasional coalition formed under
Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin,[71] before Muhyiddin lost majority support and was
replaced by deputy Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob, a veteran politician from UMNO, in
August 2021.[72][73]
Malaysia's legal system is based on English Common Law.[42] Although the judiciary is
theoretically independent, its independence has been called into question and the appointment
of judges lacks accountability and transparency.[74] The highest court in the judicial system
is the Federal Court, followed by the Court of Appeal and two high courts, one for Peninsular
Malaysia and one for East Malaysia. Malaysia also has a special court to hear cases brought
by or against royalty.[75]

Racial is a significant force in politics.[42] Affirmative actions such as the New Economic
Policy[58] and the National Development Policy which superseded it, were implemented to
advance the standing of the bumiputera, consisting of Malays and the indigenous tribes who
are considered the original inhabitants of Malaysia, over non-bumiputera such as Malaysian
Chinese and Malaysian Indians.[76] These policies provide preferential treatment to
bumiputera in employment, education, scholarships, business, and access to cheaper housing
and assisted savings. However, it has generated greater interethnic resentment.[77] There is
ongoing debate over whether the laws and society of Malaysia should reflect Islamism or
secularism.[78] Islamic criminal laws passed by the Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party with the
support of United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) state assemblymen in the state
legislative assembly of Kelantan have been blocked by the federal government on the basis
that criminal laws are the responsibility of the federal government.[79][80][81]

After the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) lost power at the 2018 Malaysian
general election, Malaysia's ranking increased by 9 places in the 2019 Democracy Index to
43th compared to the previous year, and is classified as a 'flawed democracy'.[82] Malaysia's
ranking in the 2020 Press Freedom Index increased by 22 places to 101st compared to the
previous year, making it one of two countries in Southeast Asia without a 'Difficult situation'
or 'Very Serious situation' with regards to press freedom.[83] However, it fell 18 places the
following year due to the policies of the Perikatan Nasional government.[84]

Malaysia is marked at 48 and 62nd place according to the 2021 Corruption Perceptions
Index, indicating above average levels of corruption. Freedom House noted Malaysia as
"partly free" in its 2018 survey.[85] A lawsuit filed by Department of Justice (DOJ), alleged
that at least $3.5 billion involving former prime minister Najib Razak had been stolen from
Malaysia's 1MDB state-owned fund, known as the 1Malaysia Development Berhad scandal.