ABSTRACT
Malaysia is a relatively new country, formed in 1963 from the union between the existing state of Malaya and the Borneo territories of Sabah and Sarawak. Politically, Malaysia is remarkable because it is the only Southeast Asian country, apart from Singapore, that has held free elections at approximately regular intervals since its independence. Before independence, Malaysia was dependent mainly on what the land could provide—on crops such as rice, rubber, and palm oil; on timber; and on minerals, principally tin. Among the minerals, tin deposits are concentrated in central and southern Peninsular Malaysia, principally in Perak. Malaysia's per capita gross national product is surpassed in Southeast Asia only by the island state of Singapore and the tiny oil-rich state of Brunei. Malaysia is approaching the economic status of Singapore, which is recognized as falling into the category of "newly industrialized nations."
