Demographics

The population of Malaysia as of 2006 was estimated to be somewhere around 27 million people. Out of that number about 6 million of these people live in the East Malaysia and the other 21 million people live in the Peninsular Malaysia. The population is on a steady rise of about 2 percent per year. About 34 percent of the population is the age 15 and under. The breakdown is as follows Malays make up 50 percent with Chinese at 23 percent and Indigenous people has 11 percent; Indians have 7 percents and miscellaneous hold about 7 percent as well.
The Malays first came from the Yunnan of Southern China before coming over to Southeast Asia. They were Hindus and Buddhists that had converted to Islam. Inside of Malaysia Malays are people combined with indigenous people are Muslims. Indigenous people come from Malayo Polynesian or Kadazandusun, Iban, Dayak, and Melanau. Other indigenous people living in Malaysia who are not Malays are from Sabah and Sarawak.
Besides the Malays the Chinese are the second biggest group living in Malaysia. Not only do they live there but they have a great history there with important roles in trade and in business. The Indian population is the third largest; the Indian population is made of mostly of Hindu Tamils. There are smaller groups of people who live here as well. They are from Europe or the Middle East.
Here are some important as well as interesting facts about the demographics of Malaysia. The growth rate of the population is about 1.42 percent per year, the sex ratio at birth is 1.07 males/females, children under 15 are 1.06 males/females, adults between 15 and 64 are 1.01 males/females, citizens 66 years of age or older is 0.749 males/females and the total population is 1.01 males /females.
The infant mortality rate is 6.6 deaths occur within 1000 live births so that ration is pretty small. The life expectancy of the total population is about 74 years, males have 71 years and females have 76 years.
The main religions are Islam with 60 percent, Buddhism with 19 percent, Hinduism has 6 percent and Christianity has 9 percent. Other religions that are practiced are Sikhism, Daoism, Confucianism, Animism and Shamanism.
The main languages are Malay the official language, English, Mandarin, Cantonese, Hokkien, Hakka, Teochew, Hainan and Foochow for Chinese Dialect, Indian dialect is Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam. Malaysia is very much diversified probably not what most people would think. They have their own culture as well as other countries culture brought over by the different groups of people who live there.
Malaysia is a very interesting place with many historic sites to see. Demographics are always interesting to read about before visiting a place, so you know when you get there what you can expect. It makes traveling easier rather than get somewhere and walk into a new country and not have any expectations. Before you visit any country read the demographics you may find it interesting.

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