Having spent a year living in Malaysia, I decided it would be fun to share some of the fun things that I learned about the country while I was there. Malaysia is a pretty neat country that has a fascinating culture. If you get a chance to go there, you really should!
- Malaysia is almost always in a constant state of summer. The lowest temperature ever recorded in Kuala Lumpur was 14.4°C (57.9°F). Normally, temperatures fluctuate between 22 °C (72°F) and 33 °C (91°F). The highest it has ever gotten is 39.3°C (102.7°F), but that doesn’t happen very often. More often than not, it just feels super hot because it’s so humid.
- The Malaysian state of Sabah is home to the Rafflesia, the largest (and worst smelling) flower in the world. This flower is also known as the corpse flower because it smells like decaying flesh. I really wanted to find one of these while we were exploring Borneo, but we never found did. Oh well.
(image courtesy of Wikipedia) - Malaysia has 65,877 km (40,934 miles) of highway. This is more than the Earth’s circumference of 40,075 km (24,901 miles). Half of that roadway is in a constant state of construction as well as being super confusing to navigate.
- Islam is the official religion of Malaysia. Christianity, Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism and Hinduism are also practiced in Malaysia, but it is illegal to proselyte to Muslims.
- Malaysia is the sixth most visited city in the world. There are roughly 8.9 million tourists per year.
- Malaysia has a tall tower! The Kuala Lumpur Tower (normally referred to as KL Tower) is the fourth tallest in the world and tallest in Southeast Asia. It was completed on March 1, 1995 and stands 421 meters tall.
- Sultan Abdul Halim Muadzam Shah Bridge is the longest bridge in Malaysia. It is one of two bridges that lead to the island of Penang (the other is the second longest bridge in Malaysia) and has a length of 24 km or just over 15 miles.
(image courtesy of Wikipedia) - Ringgit is the official currency. The word ringgit means “jagged” and refers to the separated edges of Spanish silver dollars widely circulated in the region. We fondly refer to ringgit as monopoly money because it is so different from the boring ol’ US dollars.
(image courtesy of Wikipedia) - Malaysia is found on two continents. Half of Malaysia is Peninsular Malaysia and the other half is Malaysian Borneo. The two land masses are are separated by the South China Sea.
(image courtesy of Wikipedia) - Malaysia has the world’s largest cave. The world’s largest (discovered) single-chamber cave is the Sarawak Chamber, also known as Gua Nasib Bagus (Good Luck Cave). It is 600 meters (2,000 ft) long, 435 meters (1,427 ft) wide with a height of 115 meters (377 ft) high and can be found in the Gunung Mulu National Park on Borneo.
(image courtesy of mulucaves.org)
Do you know any interesting facts about Malaysia? Share them in the comments below!
Interesting read. Never heard of that flower before.
I hadn’t heard of it either until my boyfriend was googling random stuff shortly after we got there and told me about it. It’s kinda creepy. lol
Batu Caves are so high up on my list of things I am just dying to see. I also have never heard of Rafflesia but I am adding that to my list too. How can one not want to find a corpse scented flower? 🙂