Our series on Federations takes us to Malaysia, a federation located in Southeast Asia, which has the distinction of having the majority of its population residing on the Malay Peninsula, while the majority of its territory is located on the island of Borneo.
Malaysia was created in two steps from a collection of British possessions. British territories in Southeast Asia at the end of WW2 were a patchwork of colonies and protectorates with different levels of autonomy. The Straits Settlements were a federation of three colonies that had been British for a very long time: Singapore, Penang and Malacca. Next to it was a federation of four states that were jointly administered as the protectorate of the Federated Malay States. Also on the Peninsula were five independently administered protectorates. Finally, three states, Sarawak, Brunei and North Borneo, formed the British possessions in Borneo.
The Federation of Malaya was formed in 1948 and contained all of the peninsular possessions except Singapore. It reached independence in 1957, and proceeded to merge with Singapore, Sarawak and North Borneo (currently known as Sabah) in 1963 to form the Federation of Malaysia. Brunei opted not to join the federation. Singapore was expelled in 1965, a unique case in modern history of a country becoming independent against its will.
As of 2022, Malaysia is a federation of 13 states and three federal territories. More on Malaysia
Malaysia in 2022
