iron ore, natural
gas, bauxite

Land use:
arable land: 3%
permanent crops: 12%
permanent pastures: 0%
forests and woodland: 68%
other: 17% (1993 est.)

Irrigated land: 3,400 sq km (1993 est.)

Natural hazards: flooding, landslides

Environment-current issues: air pollution from industrial and
vehicular emissions; water pollution from raw sewage; deforestation;
smoke/haze from Indonesian forest fires

Environment-international agreements:
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered
Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Life Conservation,
Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical
Timber 94, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

Geography-note: strategic location along Strait of Malacca and
southern South China Sea

@Malaysia:People

Population: 20,932,901 (July 1998 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 36% (male 3,832,040; female 3,635,136)
15-64 years: 60% (male 6,314,693; female 6,324,389)
65 years and over: 4% (male 359,006; female 467,637) (July 1998 est.)

Population growth rate: 2.11% (1998 est.)

Birth rate: 26.5 births/1,000 population (1998 est.)

Death rate: 5.36 deaths/1,000 population (1998 est.)

Net migration rate: 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1998 est.)

Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.06 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.77 male(s)/female (1998 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 22.45 deaths/1,000 live births (1998 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 70.36 years
male: 67.35 years
female: 73.56 years (1998 est.)

Total fertility rate: 3.37 children born/woman (1998 est.)

Nationality:
noun: Malaysian(s)
adjective: Malaysian

Ethnic groups: Malay and other indigenous 58%, Chinese 26%, Indian 7%,
others 9%

Religions: Peninsular Malaysia-Muslim (Malays), Buddhist (Chinese),
Hindu (Indians); Sabah-Muslim 38%, Christian 17%, other 45%;
Sarawak-tribal religion 35%, Buddhist and Confucianist 24%, Muslim
20%, Christian 16%, other 5%

Languages: Peninsular Malaysia-Malay (official), English, Chinese
dialects, Tamil; Sabah-English, Malay, numerous tribal dialects,
Chinese (Mandarin and Hakka dialects predominate); Sarawak-English,
Malay, Mandarin, numerous tribal languages

Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 83.5%
male: 89.1%
female: 78.1% (1995 est.)

@Malaysia:Government