Malaysia's population of 24.5 million (2002) (of which ca. 5 mln in East Malaysia) continues to grow at a rate of 2.4% per annum; about 34% of the population is under the age of 15. Malaysia's population comprises many ethnic groups, with the politically dominant Malays comprising a plurality.

Malays are by constitutional definition, Muslims. These people, combined with indigenous people (who are concentrated in Sabah and Sarawak) are denoted 'bumiputra'. Non-Malay indigenous groups make up more than half of Sarawak's population and about 66% of Sabah's. They are divided into dozens of ethnic groups, but they share some general patterns of living and culture. Until the 20th century, most practiced traditional beliefs, but many have become Christian or Muslim.

The second largest ethnic group is Chinese who have historically played an important role in trade and business.

The "other" category includes Malaysians of, inter alia, European and Middle Eastern descent. Population distribution is uneven, with some 15 million residents concentrated in the lowlands of Peninsular Malaysia, an area slightly smaller than the State of Michigan in the U.S.

Population

21,793,293 (July 2000 est.)

• Age structure
  • 0-14 years: 35% (male 3,914,112; female 3,697,731)
  • 15-64 years: 61% (male 6,655,506; female 6,642,073)
  • 65 years and over: 4% (male 386,387; female 497,484) (2000 est.)

Statistics

• Population growth rate: 2.01% (2000 est.)
• Birth rate: 25.3 births/1,000 population (2000 est.)
• Death rate: 5.25 deaths/1,000 population (2000 est.)
• Net migration rate: 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2000 est.)
  • note: does not reflect net flow of an unknown number of illegal immigrants from other countries in the region
• Sex ratio:
  • at birth: 1.06 male(s)/female
  • under 15 years: 1.06 male(s)/female
  • 15-64 years: 1 male(s)/female
  • 65 years and over: 0.78 male(s)/female
  • total population: 1.01 male(s)/female (2000 est.)
• Infant mortality rate: 20.96 deaths/1,000 live births (2000 est.)
• Life expectancy at birth:
  • total population: 70.83 years
  • male: 70.4 years (2002 est)
  • female:75.3 years (2002 est.)
• Total fertility rate: 3.29 children born/woman (2000 est.)

Nationality

• Noun: Malaysian(s)
• Adjective: Malaysian

Ethnic groups

• Bumiputra 58% (Malays and indigenous people)
• Chinese 26%
• Indian 7% (about 85% is Tamil)
• others 9%

Religions

Islam (See Islam in Malaysia), Buddhism, Daoism, Hinduism, Christianity, Sikhism; note - in addition, Shamanism is practiced in East Malaysia

Languages

Bahasa Melayu (official), English, Chinese dialects (Cantonese, Mandarin, Hokkien, Hakka, Teochew, Hainan, Foochow), Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Punjabi, Thai; note - in addition, in East Malaysia several indigenous languages are spoken, the largest of which are Iban and Kadazan . Officially, the English spoken is based on British English. However, English as spoken in Malaysia is diverging, and is locally called Manglish. Manglish has some similarities with Singlish, the English spoken in Singapore.

Literacy

• Definition: age 15 and over can read and write
• total population: 83.5%
• male: 89.1%
• female: 78.1% (1995 est.)