MALAYSIA

MALAYSIA has its origins in the Malay Kingdoms present in the area which,from the 18th century,became subject to the British Empire.The first British territories were known as the Straits Settlements,whose establishment wan followed by the Malay kingdoms becoming British protectorates.The territories on Peninsular Malaysia were first unified as the Malayan Union in 1946.Malaya was restructured as the Federation of Malaya in 1948,and achieved independence on 31 August 1957.Malaya united with Sabah,Sarawak and Singapore on 16 September 1963,with is being added to give the new country name Malaysia.However,less than two years later in 1965,Singapore was expelled from the federation.Since independence,Malaysia has had one of the best economic records in Asia,with GDP growing an average 6.5% for almost 50 years.The economy has traditionally been fueled by its natural resources,but is expanding in the sectors of science,tourism,commerce and medical tourism.