Peninsular Malaysia
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Map of Peninsular Malaysia |
Peninsular Malaysia (
Malay:
Semenanjung Malaysia) is the part of
Malaysia which lies on the
Malay Peninsula, and shares a land border with
Thailand in the north. It is connected via a causeway and bridge to the island of
Singapore to the south. Across the
Strait of Malacca to the west lies the island of
Sumatra.
East Malaysia (on the island of
Borneo) lies to the east across the
South China Sea.
It consists of the following 11
states and two federal territories (starting from the North going to the South):
Northern Region:
Perlis,
Kedah,
Penang,
Perak East Coast Region:
Kelantan,
Terengganu,
PahangCentral Region:
Selangor, federal territories of
Kuala Lumpur and
PutrajayaSouthern Region:
Negeri Sembilan,
Malacca,
JohorPeninsular Malaysia is also known as
West Malaysia (
Malaysia Barat) or
Malaya (
Tanah Melayu). The term Peninsular Malaysia is used more often than West Malaysia (to avoid the idea that West and East Malaysia are separate
countries like
West Germany and
East Germany used to be until
1990), or Malaya (which is now becoming
obsolete due to its connotations of the
British colonial era). Nonetheless, all three terms are correct, and the older term Malaya can still be found in many institutional titles, e.g. the
High Court of Malaya, the
University of Malaya,
Malayan Railway, etc., as well as in legal contexts in the phrase the
States of Malaya (
Negeri-negeri Tanah Melayu), which should not be confused with the
Malay states. Note that until
1946, the term Malaya usually included
Singapore.
The distinction between West and East Malaysia is significant beyond the sphere of
geography, because as well as having a different court structure, the Eastern states have more
autonomy than the original States of Malaya, for example, maintaining restrictions on
immigration from the
peninsula.
*
British Malaya*
Federation of Malaya*
Malayan Union*
Malaysia*
Malay peninsula*
Malayan dollar*
