Javaid Iqbal

Natural Resources of Malaysia

Natural Resources of Malaysia

Rivers and Lakes East Malaysia contains the country’s two longest

rivers: the Rajang in Sarawak and the Kinabatangan in Sabah. Also long Baram River in Sarawak. Peninsular Malaysia’s longest rivers include the Pahang, the Kelantan, and the Perak, all of which are navigable for most of their courses. Most of Malaysia’s rivers have steep descents, especially those in Sarawak.

Dams Projects Dam projects created Malaysia’s largest lakes,

Lake Kenyir and Lake Temengor, both located in West Malaysia. Lake Kenyir is a popular tourist destination and borders on the Taman Negara National Park, the largest national park in Peninsular Malaysia. The country’s largest natural lake is Lake Bera, also in West Malaysia.

The world’s largest flower, the giant raffles (also known as corpse lily), grows in East Malaysia. Sabah contains the largest of the pitcher plants, which can hold up to 2 liters of water. Approximately one-quarter of the land in Malaysia is cultivated or used for plantation agriculture. Like other tropical forests, Malaysia’s forests include an enormous variety of animal life. Large mammals include Asian elephants; tigers; sun bears; tapirs; several species of deer which are endangered.

Plant and Animal Life

Other animals include more than 500 known species of birds; more than 100 species of snakes, including king cobras and pythons; and many amphibians and reptiles, including crocodiles and 80 species of lizards. Malaysia is renowned for its huge insect population, including many species of butterflies and moths. Some insects, including mosquitoes, hornets, red ants, scorpions, and certain spiders, can be harmful to people.

Plant and Animal Life

Natural Resources

Malaysia has several important natural resources.

• Forests cover 63.4 percent of the land Sabah and Sarawak are especially known for their tropical forests.

• West Malaysia has large deposits of tin and numerous rubber trees.

• Other minerals include copper and uranium, Palm oil, Timber, Petroleum and Natural Gas .

Renewable Natural Resources

Palm oil

Rubber

Timber

Palm oilPalm oil may not sound like a very

important natural resource, but it is the primary cooking oil used in Asia. And Malaysia is the largest exporter of palm oil in the world. Plus, clever Malaysian scientists are developing efficient ways of converting palm oil into ethanol. Boustead Holdings (2711.KL) operates 286,000 acres of palm oil trees.

RubberMalaysia is the third largest rubber

producer in the world (Thailand is number one and Indonesia is number two) and Kossan Rubber Industries (7153.KL) has the wind at its back.

Thanks to its tropical climate and abundant rainfall, Malaysia is COVERED with trees. A lot of those trees — teak, sandalwood, ebony, and ironwood — can be turned into valuable lumber products. Jaya Tiasa Holdings (4383.KL) is one of Malaysia’s top timber producers.

Timber

Non-renewable Natural Resources

OilNatural Gas

Petroleum Oil

• Malaysia is blessed with massive deposits of oil and is one of the largest non-OPEC oil exporters in the world. Malaysia’s state-owned energy giant, Petronas Gas Berhad (6033.KL), is so profitable that its royalties provided 44% of the government’s total revenues last year.

Production, Consumption and

ReservesOil - Production:

664,800 bbl/day (2010 est.) Country comparison to the world: 28

Oil - Consumption: 561,000 bbl/day (2010 est.) Country comparison to the world: 31

Oil - Proved reserves: 4 billion bbl (1 January 2011 est.) Country comparison to the world: 27

Natural GasMalaysia has the 14th largest gas

reserves.As at January 2008, Malaysia's gas

reserves stood at 88.0 trillion standard cubic feet (TSCF) or 14.67 billion barrels of oil equivalent, approximately three times the size of crude oil reserves of 5.46 billion barrels.

Natural Gas Reserves

Gas Production and Consumption

Natural gas - production:

58.6 billion cubic meter (2010 est.) country comparison to the world: 16

Natural gas - consumption:

29.07 billion cubic meter (2010 est.)country comparison to the world: 28

Demographics of Malaysia

Demographics

Population: 28,728,607 (July 2011 est.)

Age structure: 0-14 years: 29.6% (male 4,374,495/female

4,132,009) 15-64 years: 65.4% (male 9,539,972/female

9,253,574) 65 years and over: 5% (male 672,581/female

755,976) (2011 est.)

Median age:Total: 26.8 years Male: 26.7 years Female: 27 years (2011 est.)

Population growth rate: 1.576% (2011 est.)

Demographics

Birth rate: 21.08 births/1,000 population (2011 est.)

Death rate:4.93 deaths/1,000 population (July 2011 est.)

Net migration rate:0.39 migrant(s)/1,000 population

Note: does not reflect net flow of an unknown number of illegal immigrants from other countries in the region (2011 est.)

Demographics

Urbanization:

Urban population: 72% of total population (2010) Rate of urbanization: 2.4% annual rate of change (2010-

15 est.)

Gender ratio:

At birth: 107 male(s)/100 female Under 15 years: 106 male(s)/ 100 female 15-64 years: 101 male(s)/ 100 female 65 years and over: 79 male(s)/ 100 female Total population: 102 male(s)/ 100 female (2011 est.)

Demographics

Cont……Infant mortality rate Total: 15.02 deaths/1,000 live births Male: 17.37 deaths/1,000 live births Female: 12.52 deaths/1,000 live births (2011 est.)

Life expectancy at birth Total population: 73.79 years Male: 71.05 years Female: 76.73 years (2011 est.)

Major infectious diseases: Degree of risk: high Food or waterborne diseases: bacterial diarrhea Vector borne diseases: dengue fever and malaria

Literacy: Definition: age 15 and over can read and write Total population: 88.7% Male: 92% Female: 85.4% (2000 census)

Cont……