ONE LAND · 6 ATLASES
History of Malaysia in maps
Malaysia as it appears in 6 interactive history atlases, from 1890 to 1991: Malaya, Malaysia, British Malaya. Each era below lists who ruled the land and when control changed, linked to the dated map that shows it.
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What was Malaysia before it was Malaysia? Below, every era of this land in the Maps of History atlases — who ruled it, what it was called, and when control changed — each line linked to the dated map that shows it. Modern borders stand in as an honest approximation; every atlas says so on the map itself.
Malaya (British) · Industrial Revolution
| Colony or dependency — the opening position | |
| Colony or dependency |
INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION: EVERY CHAPTER AND MAP →
Malaysia · WWI
| Entente-aligned & imperial territories — the opening position |
British Malaya · Road to WW2
| Colonial empires & possessions — the opening position |
ROAD TO WW2: EVERY CHAPTER AND MAP →
Malaysia · WW2
| Western Allies — the opening position | |
| Axis-occupied | |
| Western Allies |
Malaysia · Cold War
| NATO & core Western allies — the opening position |
COLD WAR: EVERY CHAPTER AND MAP →
Malaysia · Refugee crises
Malaysia received about 250,000 boat people at Pulau Bidong alone, more than any other state in the region over time. Its political order rested on a balance between Malays and Chinese, so the arrival of ethnic Chinese boat people alarmed its leaders, and in June 1979 it began towing boats back to sea. After the Geneva meeting it reopened its shores in exchange for resettlement guarantees.
| Western bloc or democracy — the opening position | |
| First asylum open | |
| First asylum restricted | |
| First asylum open |
REFUGEE CRISES: EVERY CHAPTER AND MAP →
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