The two distinct parts of Malaysia, separated from each other by the South China Sea, share a largely similar landscape in that both West and East Malaysia feature coastal plains rising to often densely forested hills and mountains, the highest of which is Mount Kinabalu at 4,095.2 metres (13,435.7 ft) on the island of Borneo. The local climate is equatorial and characterised by the annual southwest (April to October) and northeast (October to February) monsoons.

Tanjung Piai, located in the southern state of Johor, is the southernmost tip of continental Asia. The Strait of Malacca, lying between Sumatra and peninsular Malaysia, is arguably the most important shipping lane in the world.

Putrajaya is the newly created administrative capital for the federal government of Malaysia, aimed in part to ease growing congestion within Malaysia's capital city, Kuala Lumpur. Kuala Lumpur remains the seat of parliament, as well as the commercial and financial capital of the country. Other major cities include George Town, Ipoh, Johor Bahru, Kuching, Kota Kinabalu, Miri, Alor Star, Malacca Town, and Petaling Jaya.

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.

There are also 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.

additional information from Wikipedia

12/08/08 by visitEarth
Tags: Malaysia, geography, country, location, southeast Asia