Malaysia

A federation of sultanates and Borneo territories built around a bargain between three communities that had been brought together to work. Malacca was the great entrepot of the straits until Portugal took it in 1511, followed by the Dutch and then the British, who extended protection over the peninsular sultanates from 1874 and left their rulers formally in place. Tin and then rubber made the peninsula the empire's most profitable Asian possession, and both ran on imported labour: Chinese in the mines and commerce, Tamils on the estates, leaving Malays a bare majority in their own country. The Japanese occupation and the communist Emergency from 1948 preceded independence in 1957. Singapore joined in 1963 and was expelled two years later over exactly this question. Racial riots in 1969 produced the New Economic Policy, an extensive system of preferences in education, employment and share ownership for Malays and indigenous peoples, which remains the central fact of Malaysian politics. Mahathir Mohamad governed for twenty-two years and returned at ninety-two. The 1MDB scandal moved billions and jailed a prime minister. Sabah and Sarawak hold special constitutional status. Kuala Lumpur is the capital. The country has about thirty-four million people and is split between the peninsula and northern Borneo. Malay is the national language, with English, Mandarin and Tamil widely used. Mount Kinabalu is the highest peak in Southeast Asia's islands. Malaysia produces a large share of the world's palm oil. Its rainforests are among the oldest on earth. The Petronas Towers were the tallest buildings in the world when completed in 1998.

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