The demographics of Malaysia is represented by the multiple ethnic groups that exist in this country. Malaysia's population, as of September 2008, is estimated to be 27,730,000, which makes it the 43rd most populated country in the world. Of these, 5.44 million Malaysians live in East Malaysia and 21.2 million live in Peninsular Malaysia.

Malaysian population continues to grow at a rate of 2.4% per annum; about 34% of the population is under the age of 15. Malays and other Bumiputra groups make up 65% of the population, Chinese 26%, and Indian 8%.

Population distribution is uneven, with some 20 million residents concentrated in the lowlands of Peninsular Malaysia, which has an area of 131,598 square kilometers.

Islam is the largest and the official religion, other large religions include Buddhism, Hinduism, and Christianity. Minority religions practiced here are Sikhism, Daoism, Confucianism, shamanism, and animism. The breakdown of the major religions is:

• Islam: 60.4%
• Buddhism: 19.2%
• Christianity: 9.1%
• Hindu: 6.3%
• Confucianism/Taoism/other traditional Chinese religion: 2.6%
• Others: 2.4%

additional information from Wikipedia

12/08/08 by visitEarth
Tags: Malaysia, demographics, population, religion