Malaysia's capital, Kuala Lumpur, offers cultural experiences, shopping, museums, and attractions, like its theme parks, or the Petronas Twin Towers. The city of Malacca was once the heart of the region, and is an important historical destination, with colonial sites influenced by the Portuguese, Dutch, and British settlers. Other colonial sites include Fraser's Hill and Penang.
 

The early Malays have inhabited the Malaysian peninsula since at least 1000 BC, and may have migrated from China. They had continuous contact with India, and were probably named from the Tamil words meaning “mountain land.” 

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The Malacca Sultanate was established as an independent state in the 15th century, but the arrival of the Europeans soon led to Portuguese control of Malacca in 1511. The Dutch conquered the colony in 1641, but the British followed, establishing the colony as part of the British East India Company in 1786. 

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Malaysia is made up of two major land areas: Peninsular Malaysia and Malaysian Borneo. Peninsular Malaysia, as its name suggests, is located on a peninsula of the Asian mainland. The other land area is Malaysian Borneo, or East Malaysia, which takes up about a third of the island of Borneo. Between the two land areas is the South China Sea, along which Malaysia has many miles of coastline.