Geography of Malaysia

Occupying a land mass of 329,847 square kilometers being world’s 66th largest country in Southeast Asia is the country of Malaysia, which is comprised of two main regions namely Peninsular Malaysia in the west and East Malaysia in the east. Peninsular Malaysia covering 132,090 sq.km borders with the southern part of Thailand and with Singapore in the north while East Malaysia of 198,847 sq.km shares borders with the Brunei and Indonesia. With a total coastline of 4,675 km, Malaysia also boasts 29th longest coastline in the world. The Peninsular Malaysia and East Malaysia are separated by the South China Sea and both the regions feature almost similar landscape. Peninsular Malaysia is very mountainous dominated by granite and other igneous rocks. The western side of the peninsula is the only place for harbor and most fertile land normally occur at the delta of the rivers. As for the East Malaysia, it has a coastline of 2,607 kilometres divided by coastal regions, hills, valleys, and mountainous interior along with two major cities, Kuching and Kota Kinabalu.

The most densely populated areas of Malaysia are the coastal plains bordering the straits of Malacca which contains Malaysia's capital, Kuala Lumpur as well. The country is divided in half by the Crocker Mountain Range in Sabah, which houses the highest mountain of Malaysia, Mount Kinabalu. The only active volcano in Malaysia is Bombalai Hill in Sabah. Other mountain ranges include Titiwangsa Mountains, Bintang Range, Tahan Range and Mount Tahan, the highest peak in the region of Peninsular Malaysia. Malaysia also has many caves of tourist attraction and Mulu Caves in East Malaysia are the largest caves in the world. Approximately 58.2% of Malaysian land is covered by tropical rainforest mainly with dipterocarp, swamps, and mangroves. However, due to increasing logging and shifting cultivation, much of Borneo lowland rain forests in East Malaysia have been cleared and over 80% of Sarawak's forests have been felled leading to polluted waterways, increased erosion, and damaged agriculture.

Given its geographical location, Malaysia has a number of islands and plenty of coral reefs. Labuan is the largest island followed by Banggi Island in Sabah, Betruit Island in Sarawak, Langkawi in Kedah, and Penang Island in Penang. In addition, the reef-rich islands are Sipadan Island, Swallow Reef and Redang Island. Sipadan Island, an underwater mountain, is Malaysia's only oceanic island. There are only two natural lakes in Malaysia namely Tasik Chini and Bera Lake in Pahang, also known for being one of the largest in Malaysia. Man-made lakes are Pedu Lake of 12 kilometres and Kenyir Lake. Kenyir Lake is the largest artificial lake in Southeast Asia covering an area of 369 sq. km. There are many systems of rivers found around Malaysia. Rajang River in Sarawak which is 760 kilometres long is the longest while Kinabatangan River in Sabah billed the second longest. Pahang Rive is another main river being the longest one for the Peninsular Malaysia region.

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