Malaysia Flag
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Brief History. The Malay peninsula has been a commercial center since antiquity. Originally Hindu, with an Indian flavor, the region turned to Islam in the 1400s. Europeans arrived, first the Portuguese and then the Dutch (1641). Britain made its move in 1789 and eventually the Malay states became British protectorates. In World War II, Japan overran Malaya and, after the war, a federation was set up to eliminate much of the confusion that exited between the Malay states. A home-rule government was granted in 1955 and independence in 1957 as the Federation of Malaya. Six years later, Malaysia was created which brought together Malaya, Singapore, North Borneo (Sabah) and Sarawak (though Singapore went its own way in 1965 and achieved independence then).
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