Malaysia Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federal constitutional monarchy consists of 13 states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two similarly sized regions, Peninsular Malaysia and East Malaysia (Malaysian Borneo). Peninsular Malaysia shares a land and maritime border with Thailand in the north and maritime borders with Singapore in the south, Vietnam in the northeast, and Indonesia in the west. East Malaysia shares land and maritime borders with Brunei and Indonesia and a maritime border with the Philippines and Vietnam. Kuala Lumpur is the national capital and largest city
Brunei–Malaysia border World War II, joined Malaysia on 16 September 1963. Brunei remained a British Protectorate until 1984 when it gained independence. Brunei and Malaysia have had long standing disputes over land and maritime territories. However, due to the cultural ties between the two countries, the disputes have always been low-key and deemed too sensitive to be discussed openly. The main land dispute was over the district of Limbang which has been controlled by Sarawak since 1890, while the dispute over maritime territory involved virtually the entire deep sea section of the South China Sea claimed by Brunei which Malaysia asserted as