The
Federation of Malaya (), is the name given to a federation of 11 states that existed from 31 January 1948 until 16 September 1963. Comprising the nine
Malay states and the
British settlements of
Penang and
Malacca, it was eventually superseded by
Malaysia.
History
From 1946 to 1948, the 11 states formed a single
British crown colony known as the
Malayan Union. Due to opposition from
Malay nationalists, the Union was disbanded and replaced by the Federation of Malaya, which restored the symbolic positions of the rulers of the Malay states.
Within the Federation, while the Malay states were
protectorates of the
United Kingdom, Penang and Malacca remained British colonial territories. Like the Malayan Union before it, the Federation did not include
Singapore, which before this time had usually been considered to be part of
Malaya.
The Federation achieved independence within the
Commonwealth of Nations on 31 August 1957. In 1963, the federation together with Singapore,
Sarawak and
British North Borneo (which was renamed
Sabah), which is being claimed to be part of the Sultanate of Sulu, formed a new federation called Malaysia. Singapore separated from Malaysia to become an independent republic on 9 August 1965.
Demographics
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Federation of Malaya Population
Year
| Malay
| Chinese
| Indian
| Other
|
1948
| 2,457,014
| 1,928,965
| 536,646
| 64,802
|
1951
| 2,631,154
| 2,043,971
| 566,371
| 75,726
|
Source: Annual Report on the Federation of Malaya: 1951 in C.C. Chin and Karl Hack, Dialogues with Chin Peng pp. 380, 81.
|
List of member states
See also
Category:1963 disestablishmentsCategory:Former countries in Malaysian historyCategory:1948 establishments Malaya (1948-1957)Category:1948 in MalaysiaCategory:States and territories established in 1948de:Föderation Malayaes:Federación Malayafr:Fédération de Malaisieid:Federasi Malayait:Federazione della Malesiams:Persekutuan Tanah Melayunl:Federatie van Malayaja:マラヤ連邦pl:Federacja Malajskafi:Malaijazh:马来亚联合邦 
