General context

Located on the southeast edge of the Asian continent, Malaysia comprises a peninsula, known as Malaya until 1963, and the states of Sabah and Sarawak in a part of the large island of Borneo in the South China Sea. The country ranks among the smaller nations of Asia. Yet, it was one of the most fought over from the sixteenth century because the Straits of Malacca, which derive their name from one of the states in Malaysia, w…