On peninsular malaysia in southeast asia: Malaya and malaysia are two terms that are often used interchangeably, but they actually refer to different entities Malaya was the name of a region in southeast asia that was made up of the malay peninsula and some surrounding islands. When it was established on september 16, 1963, malaysia comprised the territories of malaya (now peninsular malaysia), the island of singapore, and the colonies of sarawak and sabah in northern borneo. The southern part of thailand includes part of the malay peninsula, used to consist of malay sultanates and continues to have a malay muslim majority in some provinces, but it was never politically part of malaya. On 16 september 1963, independent malaya united with the then british crown colonies of north borneo, sarawak, and singapore to become malaysia
In august 1965, singapore was expelled from the federation and became a separate, independent country. Malaya, somewhat romantically referred to as the meeting point between the east and the west, lies between the straits of malacca and south china sea Traders from the west have no other choice but to travel along the narrow straits to avoid the torrential monsoons in indian ocean. Malay peninsula, in southeast asia, a long, narrow appendix of the mainland extending south for a distance of about 700 miles (1,127 km) through the isthmus of kra to cape piai, the southernmost point of the asian continent Its maximum width is 200 miles (322 km), and it covers roughly 70,000 square miles (181,300 square km). The federation of malaya became an independent country on 31 august 1957.
During the second world war, japan ruled a part of malaya as a single unit from singapore.
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