Geography
The geography of Malaysia deals with the physical and human geography of Malaysia, a country located in Southeast Asia. There are two distinct parts to this country being Peninsular Malaysia to the west and East Malaysia to the east. Peninsular Malaysia is located south of Thailand, north of Singapore and east of the Indonesian island of Sumatra. East Malaysia is located on the island of Borneo and shares borders with Brunei and Indonesia.
Climate
Located near the equator, Malaysia's climate is categorised as equatorial, being hot and humid throughout the year. Annual rainfall exceeds 2000mm a year and the average temperature is 27 degrees Celsius. Malaysia faces two monsoon winds seasons – the Southwest Monsoon from late May to September, and the Northeast Monsoon from November to March. The Northeast Monsoon brings in more rainfall compared to the Southwest Monsoon.
The highest temperature was recorded at Chuping, Perlis on 9 April 1998 at 40.1 degrees Celsius. The lowest temperature was recorded at Cameron Highlands on 1 February 1978 at 7.8 degrees Celsius. The highest rainfall recorded in a day was 608 mm in Kota Bharu, Kelantan on 6 January 1967. The highest rainfall recorded in a year was 5687mm at Sandakan, Sabah in 2006. Meanwhile, the lowest rainfall recorded in a year was 1151 mm at Tawau, Sabah in 1997.
The wettest place in Malaysia is Kuching, Sarawak with an average rainfall of 4128mm with 247 days of rain a year. The driest place in Malaysia is in Chuping, Perlis with average rainfall of only 1746mm a year.
Land
The total land area of Malaysia is 329,847 km², the 66th largest country in the world in terms of area. Peninsular Malaysia makes up 131,000 km² or 39.7%, while East Malaysia covers 198,847 km² or 60.3% of the total land of the country. About half of Peninsular Malaysia is covered by granite and other igneous rocks, a third more is covered by stratified rocks older than the granite, and the remainder is covered by alluvium. The terrain can be characterised as coastal plains which rises towards the hills and mountains.
From the total land area, 1,200 km² or 0.37% is made up of water such as lakes, rivers, or other internal waters. Malaysia has a total coastline of 4,675 km, whereby Peninsular Malaysia has 2,068 km, while East Malaysia has 2,607 km of coastline. Malaysia has the 29th longest coastline in the world.
Mountain ranges
The highest mountain range in Malaysia is the Crocker Range in Sabah. This range houses Mount Kinabalu, the highest mountain in the country, as well as Mount Tambuyukon, the third highest in the country. The Trus Madi Range, also in Sabah, houses Mount Trus Madi, the second highest peak in Malaysia. Bombalai Hill in Sabah is the only active volcano in Malaysia.
The main mountain range in Peninsular Malaysia is the Titiwangsa Mountains. It houses Mount Korbu, the second highest peak in the Peninsular. The highest peak in the Peninsular is Mount Tahan, located on the Tahan Range.
Forests
Malaysian forests can be categorised as tropical rainforest. This can be further divided into dipterocarp, swamps, and mangrove forest. Approximately 58.2% of Malaysian land is covered by forest. Some areas are designated as forest reserves, state parks, or national parks. The management of these reserves as under control of the Department of Wildlife and National Park, the Forest Department of Sarawak, the Sabah Forestry Department, Sabah Foundation, and Sabah Parks. As of 2008, there are two World Heritage Sites under the natural category – Kinabalu National Park and Gunung Mulu National Park.
Islands
There are numerous islands found everywhere in Malaysia. The largest island is Banggi Island in Sabah, followed by Betruit Island in Sarawak, Langkawi in Kedah, and Penang Island in Penang. The largest island shared with another country is Borneo, followed by Sebatik Island. In addition, Malaysia lies within the world's coral reef distribution. The reefs can be usually found around islands such as Sipadan Island, Swallow Reef, and Redang Island.
Extreme points
The southernmost point of Malaysia is located in the district of Serian in Sarawak. Tanjung Piai on the southern tip of Johor is the southermost point in Peninsular. The easternmost point is found on the tip of Dent Peninsular in Lahad Datu district in Sabah. The northernmost point is found on the northern tip of Banggi Island. The westernmost point is found on the western tip of Pulau Langkawi in Kedah.
Bodies of water
Between Peninsular Malaysia and East Malaysia is the South China Sea, the largest body of water around Malaysia. Facing the western coast of Peninsular Malaysia there is the Straits of Malacca towards the south, and the Andaman Sea towards the north. These seas are marginal seas of the Indian Ocean. Off the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia is mainly the South China Sea, while a small part in the north lies within the Gulf of Thailand. These form part of the marginal seas of the Pacific Ocean. The Straits of Johor off the south of Peninsular acts as a maritime border of Malaysia and Singapore.
In East Malaysia, the western coasts of Sabah and Sarawak faces the South China. The northeast coast of Sabah faces the Sulu Sea, while the southeast coast of Sabah faces the Celebes Sea. Between southern Borneo and southern Peninsular and the island of Sumatra is the Karimata Strait.
Malaysia claims 12 nm (22 km) as its territorial waters. It also claims 200 nm (370 km) of exclusive economic zone. In addition, Malaysia claims 200 m in the depth of the continental shelf or to the depth of exploration in within the area below the South China Sea known as Sundaland. The territorial claim for the Straits of Malacca is shared between Malaysia and Indonesia in accordance to a treaty signed in 1970 known as the Treaty Between the Republic of Indonesia and Malaysia on Determination of boundary Lines of Territorial Waters of the two Nations at the Strait of Malacca.
Lakes
The Bera Lake in Pahang is one of the largest lakes in Malaysia, and one of the only two natural lakes in Malaysia with Tasik Chini. Pedu Lake is a 12km-long lake located 5 km from the Malaysian-Thai border and Kenyir Lake is the largest artificial lake in Southeast Asia.
Rivers
There are many system of rivers found around Malaysia. The longest is the Rejang River in Sarawak with a length of 760km. The second longest is the Kinabatangan river in Sabah with a length of 560km. The longest river in the Peninsular Malaysia is Pahang River with a length of 435km.
Natural disasters
Flooding
With 189 water basins in Malaysia and a average rainfall of over 2000mm per year, Malaysia is prone to flooding. There has been 15 major flooding in Malaysia since 1926. Flooding has been a larger concern today due to rapid development in the river catchment area which increase the river runoff and decreasing the river capacity. The recent 2006 and 2007 flooding in Johor has resulted in loss of RM1.5 billion and 18 lives in addition displacing 110,000 people temporarily.
Seismic activity
Malaysia is situated between two major boundaries of tectonic plates, Australian Plate and Eurasian Plate in the west of Peninsular Malaysia and Philippine Plate and Eurasian Plate in the East of Malaysia. Tremors, mostly non-lethal can be felt in Malaysia, caused by earthquakes in Sumatra islands of Indonesia and the Philippines.
Impacts of seismic activity on building in Malaysia has heighten interest since the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake. Although Malaysia is seismically stable, areas of concern are the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia such as Penang and Kedah and also the eastern state of Sabah.
Haze
A seasonal haze is caused by her Indonesia neighbors due to illegal logging and also peat fires. A state of emergency was announced once in 2005 at Port Klang as the air pollution index raises above the 500 level. Malaysia is working with the Indonesian authorities to help curb peat fires
Malaysia and Indonesia, together with other members of the Asean community, signed the "ASEAN Agreement on Trans boundary Haze pollution" in 2002 as a result of a 1997 haze. However, Indonesia is the only country that has not ratify the agreement. A repeat incident in 2005 and 2006 has forced Malaysia and Singapore to pressure Indonesia to ratify it.
Natural resources
Minerals and petroleum
Malaysia produces petroleum and is a net exporter. Malaysia also produces liquefied natural gas as well as various other related products, most of which are found off the coasts of Terengganu, Sabah, and Sarawak.
Malaysia was the largest exporter of tin until the industry wide collapse in 1980s. Tin deposit are found in Selangor, Kinta valley in Perak, Pahang and Johor. There are significant deposit of gold in Pahang towns of Raub and Kuala Lipis and also Kelantan's district of Gua Musang.
Coal is mostly concerated in Sarawak town of Kapit,Mukah and Silantek.
Forestry
Timber can be found in the vast jungles in Malaysia, especially in East Malaysia. Malaysia total exports for timber and other timber products amounted to MYR 23.4 billion in 2007.
Land use
Large areas of land are used as palm oil plantations, rubber plantations, and paddy fields. Malaysia is the largest exporter of palm oil in the world producing 15.8 million tonnes of crude palm oil in 2007. Malaysia is also one of the largest producers and exporters of rubber and other rubber products.
In 2001 the percentage arable land in Malaysia is 5.5%. Croplands consists of 17.6%, and pasture 0.9%. Forests covers 58% while other land uses consists of 17%. In 1998, irrigated land covers 2,941 km².
