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Malaysia is a federation which consists of thirteen states (Negeri) and three federal territories (Wilayah Persekutuan). Eleven states and two federal territories are located on the Malay Peninsula while the remaining two states and one federal territory are on the island of Borneo.
Contents |
Sultanate of Johor (Johor Bahru)
Sultanate of Kedah (Alor Star)
Sultanate of Kelantan (Kota Bharu)
Sultanate of Pahang (Kuantan)
Sultanate of Perak (Ipoh)
Sultanate of Selangor (Shah Alam)
Sultanate of Terengganu (Kuala Terengganu)
Elective Monarchy of Negeri Sembilan (Seremban)
Kingdom of Perlis (Kangar)
Melaka (Bandar Melaka).svg){kind=small}
Pulau Pinang (George Town)
Federal Territory of Putrajaya (federal administrative capital)
Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur (legislative capital)
Federal Territory of Labuan (Bandar Labuan)Country and regional codes. Note that FIPS 10-4 and ISO 3166-2:MY codes are not interchangeable.
| Regions | Abbreviation | ISO 3166-2:MY | FIPS 10-4 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Johor | JHR | MY-01 | MY01 |
| Kedah | KDH | MY-02 | MY02 |
| Kelantan | KTN | MY-03 | MY03 |
| Melaka | MLK | MY-04 | MY04 |
| Negeri Sembilan | NSN | MY-05 | MY05 |
| Pahang | PHG | MY-06 | MY06 |
| Pulau Pinang | PNG | MY-07 | MY09 |
| Perak | PRK | MY-08 | MY07 |
| Perlis | PLS | MY-09 | MY08 |
| Selangor | SGR | MY-10 | MY12 |
| Terengganu | TRG | MY-11 | MY13 |
| Sabah | SBH | MY-12 | MY16 |
| Sarawak | SRW | MY-13 | MY11 |
| W.P Kuala Lumpur | KUL | MY-14 | – |
| W.P Labuan | LBN | MY-15 | MY15 |
| W.P Putrajaya | PJY | MY-16 | – |
| Wilayah Persekutuan | – | – | MY14 |
The nine Malay States have a hereditary Ruler as titular Head of state and a popularly elected, executive Chief Minister or Menteri Besar as politically responsible Head of government. The rulers of Johor, Kedah, Kelantan, Pahang, Perak, Selangor and Terengganu are styled Sultans (typically Islamic). Only Negeri Sembilan's elective ruler holds the rare, autochthonous Malay title of Yang di-Pertuan Besar, whereas only the Ruler of Perlis is titled Raja (a relic from the Hindu period). The Federal King (titled Yang di-Pertuan Agong) is elected (de facto rotated) among the nine rulers to serve a 5-year term. Former British settlements and crown colonies of Penang and Malacca (both peninsular) and Sabah and Sarawak (both on Borneo) each have a federally appointed titular Governor (but styled Yang di-Pertua Negeri 'head of state') and an executive Chief Minister.
Theoretically, any matter not set out in the Ninth Schedule of the Constitution of Malaysia can be legislated on by the individual states. However, legal scholars generally view this as a "pauper's bequest" because of the large scope of the matters listed in the Ninth Schedule. The courts themselves have generally favoured a broad interpretation of the language of the Ninth Schedule, thus limiting the number of possible subjects not covered. The Ninth Schedule specifically lists the following matters as those that can only be legislated on by the states: land tenure, the Islamic religion, and local government.[1]
The Parliament of Malaysia is permitted to legislate on issues of land, Islamic religion and local government in order to provide for a uniform law between different states, or on the request of the state assembly concerned. The law in question must also be passed by the state assembly as well, except in the case of certain land law-related subjects. Non-Islamic issues that fall under the purview of the state may also be legislated on at the federal level for the purpose of conforming with Malaysian treaty obligations.[2]
Singapore was a Malaysian state from the formation of Malaysia on 16 September 1963 until Singapore separated from the rest of Malaysia on 9 August 1965.
Brunei was invited to join the federation but decided not to at the last minute because of several reasons.
The Barisan National (BN), which comprises of the Malay-based United Malay National Organisation (UMNO), the Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA), the Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC) and other parties from East Malaysia, had ruled almost all of Malaysia since the independence of the country on August 31, 1957.
However in the general elections of 2008, the opposition front or Pakatan Rakyat consisting of the Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR), the Parti Islam Se-Malaysia (PAS) and the Chinese-dominated Democratic Action Party (DAP) made history by unprecedentedly gaining control of five states and the Federal Territory.
PAS maintained its control of Kelantan, which it has had ruled for 18 years, and while it failed to recapture Terengganu as widely expected, it gained control of Kedah. In Kelantan, PAS rules by itself while in Kedah, it rules with the support of the PKR.
DAP gained Chinese-dominated Penang, and won the most seats by the opposition in Perak. However, it was not abled to rule Perak singly since its 19 seats fall far short of the majority needed for it to form a government. Currently, it is ruling Perak together with the support of the PKR and PAS representatives.
In a unique twist, the post of the chief minister of Perak did not go to DAP but to PAS. This is seen as a compromise in Perak where the majority population is Malay. The issue of the chief minister nearly caused a major rife within the Pakatan Rakyat or People's Alliance.
With the Perak chief ministership going to PAS, this party has three chief ministers with DAP and PKR one each.
The PKR gained Selangor, the most populated state of Malaysia which encircles the capital of Kuala Lumpur. Again, in Selangor, the PKR did not win enough seats and is ruling the state with PAS, which wins the second largest number of seats after the PKR, and DAP.
Recently in August 2008, Anwar Ibrahim, contested and won his old constituency of Permatang Pauh with a huge margin, returning him to parliament for the first time since he was charged and jailed for corruption and sexual crimes. Those crimes were recently declared bogus by the court. He is the de facto leader of both the PKR and the alliance. While he was incarcerated, his wife Wan Azizah Wan Ismail had contested in Permatang Pauh, winning it three times in a row, lastly in the general elections of 2008. She gave up her seat to make way for Anwar Ibrahim.
It should be noted that their daughter contested the Lembah Pantai constituency in the Federal Territory in the same elections and won against the incumbent, a Federal Minister.
The areas are rounded to the nearest square kilometer or square mile. Percentages are given to the nearest tenth of a percent.
| Rank | Name and flag | Total area (km²) | Total area (mi²) | Percentage of national total area |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Sarawak |
124,450 | 48,050 | 37.7% |
| 2 |  Sabah |
76,115 | 29,388 | 23.1% |
| 3 | Pahang |
35,964 | 13,886 | 10.9% |
| 4 | Perak |
21,006 | 8,111 | 6.4% |
| 5 | Johor |
19,984 | 7,716 | 6.1% |
| 6 | Kelantan |
14,922 | 5,761 | 4.5% |
| 7 | Terengganu |
12,955 | 5,002 | 3.9% |
| 8 | Kedah |
9,426 | 3,639 | 2.9% |
| 9 | Selangor |
7,956 | 3,072 | 2.4% |
| 10 | Negeri Sembilan |
6,645 | 2,566 | 2.0% |
| 11 | Malacca |
1,650 | 637 | 0.5% |
| 12 | Pulau Pinang |
1,046 | 404 | 0.3% |
| 13 | Perlis |
810 | 313 | 0.3% |
| 14 | FT Kuala Lumpur |
243 | 95 | 0.1% |
| 15 | FT Labuan |
92 | 36 | >0.1% |
| 16 | FT Putrajaya |
46 | 18 | >0.1% |
| Total |  Malaysia |
329,847 | 127,355 | 100.0% |
All the figures in the list below are estimations for 2007.
| Rank | Name and flag | Population | Percentage of national total population (approx.) |
Population density (/km²) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Selangor |
7,200,000 | 26.0% | 905.0 |
| 2 | Sabah |
3,387,880 | 12.2% | 32.2 |
| 3 | Johor |
3,300,000 | 11.9% | 137.6 |
| 4 | Sarawak |
2,500,000 | 9.0% | 19.1 |
| 5 | Perak |
2,260,576 | 8.2% | 104.7 |
| 6 | Kelantan |
2,100,000 | 7.6% | 93.8 |
| 7 | FT Kuala Lumpur |
1,887,674 | 6.8% | 7747.5 |
| 8 | Kedah |
1,818,188 | 6.6% | 188.7 |
| 9 | Pulau Pinang |
1,503,000 | 5.4% | 1436.9 |
| 10 | Pahang |
1,396,500 | 5.0% | 38.2 |
| 11 | Terengganu |
1,150,286 | 4.2% | 83.0 |
| 12 | Negeri Sembilan |
1,004,807 | 3.6% | 137.4 |
| 13 | Malacca |
733,000 | 2.6% | 432.1 |
| 14 | Perlis |
215,000 | 0.8% | 244.9 |
| 15 | FT Labuan |
85,000 | 0.3% | 923.9 |
| 16 | FT Putrajaya |
50,000 | 0.2% | 1087.0 |
| Total | Malaysia |
27,730,000 | 100.0% | 83 |
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