Mahathir Mohamad
Prime Minister

(pronounced "ma-hah-TEER mo-HAH-med")

"I'll be here for as long as the people want me."

Malaysia's estimated 22.7 million people (2002) come from a multitude of ethnic and religious backgrounds and are spread out over 329,757 sq km (127,584 sq mi). Malaysia is divided by the South China Sea into West Malaysia (the 11 states on the narrow Malay peninsula that stretches south from the Asian continent) and East Malaysia (the states of Sarawak and Sabah on the northern part of the island of Borneo). Western Malaysia borders its continental neighbor Thailand to the north on the peninsula and the island city-state Singapore on the southern tip of the peninsula. Its sits across from the Indonesian island of Sumatra on the eastern side of the narrow and strategically valuable Strait of Malacca (through which passes much of the world's oil from the Middle East...