Geography of Malaysia - Land

Land

The total land area of Malaysia is 329,847 square kilometres (127,350 sq mi), the 67th largest country in the world in terms of area. It is the only country to contain land on both mainland Asia and the Malay archipelago. Peninsular Malaysia makes up 132,090 square kilometres (51,000 sq mi), or 39.7%, while East Malaysia covers 198,847 square kilometres (76,780 sq mi), or 60.3% of the total land of the country. From the total land area, 1,200 square kilometres (460 sq mi) or 0.37% is made up of water such as lakes, rivers, or other internal waters. Malaysia has a total coastline of 4,675 kilometres (2,905 mi), whereby Peninsular Malaysia has 2,068 kilometres (1,285 mi), while East Malaysia has 2,607 kilometres (1,620 mi) of coastline. Malaysia has the 29th longest coastline in the world. The two distinct parts of Malaysia, separated from each other by the South China Sea, share a largely similar landscape in that both West (Peninsula) and East Malaysia feature coastal plains rising to hills and mountains.

Peninsula Malaysia covers the southern half of the Malay Peninsula, and extends 740 kilometres (460 mi) from north to south, and its maximum width is 322 kilometres (200 mi). It is very mountainous, with more than half of it over 150 metres (492 ft) above sea level. About half of Peninsular Malaysia is covered by granite and other igneous rocks, a third more is covered by stratified rocks older than the granite, and the remainder is covered by alluvium. Harbours are only available on the peninsula's western side, and the most fertile land occurs when river valleys flow out to the sea. The coastal plains bordering the straits of Malacca are the most densely populated areas of Malaysia, and contains Malaysia's capital, Kuala Lumpur.

East Malaysia, on the island of Borneo, has a coastline of 2,607 kilometres (1,620 mi). It is divided between coastal regions, hills and valleys, and a mountainous interior. There are only two major cities, Kuching and Kota Kinabalu. Much of southern Sarawak is coastal lowlands, which shifts to a series of plateaus going north, ending in the mountainous regions of Sabah.