As a federal country, the term "Malaysia" appeared in Malaysia after the merger of East Malaysia and West Malaysia in 1963. The name "Malaysia" is to distinguish the former "Malaya" (now called West Malaysia) and the new "Malaysia" formed by the merger of Sabah and Sarawak (now called East Malaysia). At that time, the media transliterated the Chinese as "Malaysia", or literally translated it as "Pan Malaya" or "Greater Malaya," or simply "Malaysia" in order to distinguish it from "Malaya". "大" means "Great" (Great, Pan-).

Malaysia is divided into two parts by the South China Sea: West Malaysia on the Malay Peninsula, extending to Thailand in the north and the Johor Strait in the south, connected to Singapore through the New Soft Causeway and the Second Channel; East Malaysia is located in Borneo The island of Kalimantan is to the north, borders Indonesia to the south, and Brunei is sandwiched between Sabah and Sarawak. On August 31, 1957, the Federal President declared the independence of Malaya. In 1963, Malaya joined Singapore, Sabah and Sarawak to form the Federation of Malaysia. Kuala Lumpur is the capital and the federal government is located in Putrajaya. In August 1965, Singapore was expelled from the Federation of Malaysia.

Malaysia is one of the founders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and a member of the Indian Ocean Rim Association for Regional Cooperation, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, the Commonwealth, the Non-Aligned Movement and the Organization of the Islamic Conference. The main military operations it participates in are the five-nation joint defense and peacekeeping operations at the United Nations. Malaysia is a multi-ethnic and multi-cultural country. Islam is the state religion and freedom of religious belief is protected. The system of government is closely modeled on the parliamentary system of Westminster and a legal system based on common law. The head of state is the king, known as the supreme head of state. The head of government is the Prime Minister.

Malaysia is an emerging country with a diversified economy. In the 1990s, the economy developed rapidly and it became one of the "Four Asian Tigers" and a capitalist country. Today, Malaysia has become an attractive diversified emerging industrial country in Asia and an emerging market economy country in the world. Tourism is Malaysia's third largest source of foreign exchange earnings, and the service industry in the knowledge economy is also expanding simultaneously.