Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
East Malaysia

East Malaysia

3.7
The part of Malaysia on the island of Borneo that includes Sabah, Sarawak and Labuan
  • proper noun
translation icon : Malasia Oriental
  • The states of Sabah and Sarawak are both located in East Malaysia.

Examples

  • Oil and gas production play a crucial role in the economy of East Malaysia.

  • Many tourists visit East Malaysia for its rainforests and rich biodiversity.

  • I visited East Malaysia last summer.

  • Have you ever been to East Malaysia?

  • Many tourists visit East Malaysia for its rainforests and rich biodiversity.

  • Oil and gas production play a crucial role in the economy of East Malaysia.

  • The states of Sabah and Sarawak are both located in East Malaysia.

Surface Forms

East Malaysia main

Morphology

east + Malaysia

The meaning 'the eastern part of Malaysia' is directly compositional from 'east' (a directional/geographic modifier) + 'Malaysia' (the country). This kind of place-name formation (direction + country/region) is cross-linguistically common and therefore immediately understandable to B1 learners who know both constituents.

Etymology

East Malaysia comes from a simple map idea: it is the part of Malaysia that lies to the east on the island of Borneo. So East Malaysia now means the states of Sabah and Sarawak and the territory of Labuan.