od intercity service provided on Peninsular Malaysia mainly by
microwave radio relay; adequate intercity microwave radio relay
network between Sabah and Sarawak via Brunei; international service
good; good coverage by radio and television broadcasts; 994,860
telephones (1984); broadcast stations - 28 AM, 3 FM, 33 TV; submarine
cables extend to India and Sarawak; SEACOM submarine cable links to
Hong Kong and Singapore; satellite earth stations - 1 Indian Ocean
INTELSAT, 1 Pacific Ocean INTELSAT, and 2 domestic

@Malaysia, Defense Forces

Branches:
Malaysian Army, Royal Malaysian Navy, Royal Malaysian Air Force, Royal
Malaysian Police Force, Marine Police, Sarawak Border Scouts
Manpower availability:
males age 15-49 4,942,387; fit for military service 3,001,972; reach
military age (21) annually 182,850 (1994 est.)
Defense expenditures:
exchange rate conversion - $2.2 billion, 3% of GDP (1994 est.)

@Maldives, Geography

Location:
Southern Asia, in the Indian Ocean off the southwest coast of India
Map references:
Asia, Standard Time Zones of the World
Area:
total area:
300 sq km
land area:
300 sq km
comparative area:
slightly more than 1.5 times the size of Washington, DC
Land boundaries:
0 km
Coastline:
644 km
Maritime claims:
exclusive economic zone:
35-310 nm as defined by geographic coordinates; segment of zone
coincides with maritime boundary with India
territorial sea:
12 nm
International disputes:
none
Climate:
tropical; hot, humid; dry, northeast monsoon (November to March);
rainy, southwest monsoon (June to August)
Terrain:
flat with elevations only as high as 2.5 meters
Natural resources:
fish
Land use:
arable land:
10%
permanent crops:
0%
meadows and pastures:
3%
forest and woodland:
3%
other:
84%
Irrigated land:
NA sq km
Environment:
current issues:
depletion of freshwater aquifers threatens water supplies
natural hazards:
low level of islands makes them very sensitive to sea level rise
international agreements:
party to - Biodiversity, Climate Change, Hazardous Wastes, Ozone Layer
Protection; signed, but not ratified - Law of the Sea
Note:
1,200 coral islands grouped into 19 atolls; archipelago of strategic
location astride and along major sea lanes in Indian Ocean

@Maldives, People

Population:
252,077 (July 1994 est.)
Population growth rate:
3.61% (1994 est.)
Birth rate:
43.59