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The borders of Malaysia include land and maritime borders with Brunei, Indonesia and Thailand and shared maritime boundaries with Philippines, Singapore and Vietnam.
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The borders of Malaysia include land and maritime borders with Brunei, Indonesia and Thailand and shared maritime boundaries with Philippines, Singapore and Vietnam.
Malaysia has a total land border length of 3,147.3 km
Malaysia's border with Brunei is 481.3 km in length. Except for its coastline with the South China Sea, Brunei is completely surrounded by Malaysia's state of Sarawak on the island of Borneo.
Malaysia shares a land border with Indonesia on the island of Borneo. The Malaysian states of Sabah and Sarawak lie to the north of the border while the Indonesian provinces of North Kalimantan, East Kalimantan, and West Kalimantan lie to the south. The length of the border is 2,019.5 km.
Malaysia's border with Thailand is located to the north of Peninsula Malaysia and runs between the Straits of Malacca on the west and the Gulf of Thailand/South China Sea in the east. The Malaysian states of Kedah, Kelantan, Perak and Perlis border the Thai provinces of Narathiwat, Satun, Songkhla and Yala. The border length is 646.5 km.
Malaysia has common maritime boundaries with Brunei, Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. Part of its maritime borders have been delimited through agreements with neighbouring countries. Malaysia has agreements to delimit the continental shelf, territorial sea and other border delimitation agreements or treaties with Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and Singapore.
Malaysia has also unilaterally declared its maritime boundaries through a 1979 map published by its Department of Mapping and Survey. The continental shelf and territorial sea limits depicted on the 1979 map have not been recognised by Malaysia's neighbouring states and have been the subject of maritime boundary and territorial disputes.
Malaysia has signed joint development agreements for areas which are subject to overlapping claims with Thailand and Vietnam. Malaysia has signed a Letters of Exchange with Brunei in 2009 to solve the dispute of maritime territories between the two countries. The boundaries between the two countries currently follow those determined through pre-independence British Orders in Council.
The coordinates for the continental shelf and territorial sea limits of Peninsula Malaysia are in the chart below. Territorial waters off the coast of Peninsula Malaysia border Thailand to the north in the Straits of Malacca and South China Sea/Gulf of Thailand; Indonesia to the west in the Straits of Malacca and south east in the South China Sea; and Vietnam in the north east in the South China Sea.
| Point | Latitude (N) | Longitude (E) | Remarks | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Border with Thailand according to 1909 Anglo-Siamese agreement | ||||
| A | From Point A, which is "the most seaward point of the northern bank of the estuary of the Perlis River", along "mid-channel between Terutau and Langkawi", to point B | |||
| Border with Thailand according to 1979 territorial sea agreement | ||||
| B | 6 28'.5 | 99 39'.2 | ||
| C | 6 30'.2 | 99 33'.4 | ||
| D | 6 28'.9 | 99 30'.7 | ||
| "Outer limit" border with Thailand according to 1979 agreement | ||||
| 1 | 6 18'.4 | 99 27'.5 | ||
| 2 | 6 16'.3 | 99 19'.3 | ||
| 3 | 6 18'.0 | 99 6'.7 | ||
| 4 | 5 57'.0 | 98 1'.5 | Common Indonesia-Malaysia-Thailand tripoint established under 1978 agreement | |
| Border with Indonesia according to 1969 continental shelf agreement | ||||
| 5 | 5 27'.0 | 98 17'.5 | Northern terminus of continental shelf boundary | |
| 6 | 4 55'.7 | 98 41'.5 | ||
| 7 | 3 59'.6 | 99 43'.6 | ||
| 8 | 3 47'.4 | 99 55'.0 | ||
| 9 | 2 51'.6 | 101 0'.2 | Northern terminus of territorial sea boundary according to 1970 territorial sea agreement | |
| 10 | 2 41'.5 | 101 12'.1 | ||
| 11 | 2 15'.4 | 101 46'.5 | ||
| 12 | 1 55'.2 | 102 13'.4 | ||
| 13 | 1 41'.2 | 102 35'.0 | ||
| 14 | 1 19'.5 | 103 3'.9 | ||
| 15 | 1 15'.0 | 103 22'.8 | Southern terminus of continental shelf and territorial sea boundary | |
| Continental shelf border according to 1979 map, subject to negotiations with Indonesia and Singapore | ||||
| 16 | 1 13'.45 | 103 26'.8 | ||
| 17 | 1 1'.45 | 103 32'.5 | ||
| 18 | 1 11'.0 | 103 34'.2 | ||
| 19 | 1 15'.15 | 103 34'.95 | ||
| 20 | 1 16'.37 | 103 37'.38 | ||
| 21 | 1 15'.85 | 103 24'.1 | This turning point is located near the western end of the boundary determined by the 1995 Malaysia-Singapore border agreement | |
| Boundary between 21 and 22 determined by the 1995 Malaysia-Singapore border agreement | ||||
| Continental shelf border according to 1979 map, subject to negotiations with Indonesia and Singapore | ||||
| 22 | 1 17'.63 | 104 7'.5 | This turning point is located near the eastern end of the boundary determined by the 1995 Malaysia-Singapore border agreement | |
| 23 | 104 2'.5 | 1 17'.42 | ||
| 24 | 1 17'.3 | 104 4'.6 | ||
| 25 | 1 16'.2 | 104 7'.1 | ||
| 26 | 1 15'.65 | 104 7'.42 | ||
| 27 | 1 13'.65 | 104 12'.67 | ||
| 28 | 1 16'.2 | 104 16'.15 | ||
| 29 | 1 16'.5 | 104 19'.8 | ||
| 30 | 1 15'.55 | 104 29'.45 | ||
| 31 | 1 16'.95 | 104 29'.33 | ||
| Border with Indonesia according to 1969 continental shelf agreement | ||||
| 32 | 1 23'.9 | 104 29'.5 | This point is the southern terminus of continental shelf boundary | |
| 33 | 1 38'.0 | 104 53'.0 | ||
| 34 | 1 54'.4 | 105 5'.2 | ||
| 35 | 2 22'.5 | 105 1'.2 | ||
| 36 | 2 55'.2 | 104 51'.5 | ||
| 37 | 3 50'.1 | 104 46'.5 | ||
| 38 | 4 3'.0 | 104 51'.9 | ||
| 39 | 5 4'.7 | 105 28'.8 | ||
| 40 | 5 40'.6 | 105 47'.1 | ||
| 41 | 6 5'.8 | 105 49'.2 | Northern terminus of continental shelf border with Indonesia | |
| Continental shelf border according to 1979 map, subject to dispute with Vietnam and Thailand | ||||
| 42 | 6 48'.25 | 104 30'.0 | ||
| 43 | 7 49'.0 | 103 2'.5 | ||
| 44 | 7 10'.25 | 102 29'.0 | ||
| Border with Thailand according to 1979 memorandum of understanding | ||||
| 45 | 6 50'.0 | 102 21'.2 | Northern terminus of the continental shelf boundary with Thailand according to 1979 memorandum of understanding | |
| 46 | 6 27'.8 | 102 9'.6 | ||
| Border with Thailand according to 1979 territorial sea agreement | ||||
| 47 | 6 27'.5 | 102 10'.0 | Northern terminus of territorial sea boundary, southern terminus of agreed continental shelf border | |
| D | 6 14'.5 | 102 5'.6 | Terminus of territorial sea boundary at estuary of Golok River | |
Malaysia's continental shelf off the coast of its Borneo states of Sabah and Sarawak cover the South China Sea and Sulu Sea to the north, and Celebes Sea to the east. Territorial waters border Indonesia to the east and west, the Philippines to the northeast, and Vietnam to the north.
Only a portion of the border is delimited through agreements. The bulk of the border is the result of the unilateral declaration by Malaysia through its 1979 map and the border is subject to dispute, including most of the border in the South China Sea which covers parts of the Spratly Islands.
| Point | Latitude (N) | Longitude (E) | Remarks | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boundary with Indonesia according to 1969 continental shelf agreement | ||||
| 48 | 2° 5' | 109° 38'.8 | Southern terminus of continental shelf boundary, eastern terminus of land boundary with Indonesia | |
| 49 | 3° 0' | 109° 54'.5 | ||
| 50 | 4° 40'.0 | 110° 2'.0 | ||
| 51 | 5° 31'.2 | 109° 59'.0 | ||
| 52 | 6° 18'.2 | 109° 38'.6 | Northern terminus of continental shelf boundary | |
| Continental shelf according to 1979 map, subject to dispute with China, Brunei, the Philippines and Vietnam. | ||||
| 53 | 7° 07'.75 | 111° 34' | ||
| 54 | 8° 23'.75 | 112° 30'.75 | ||
| 55 | 8° 44'.42 | 113° 16'.25 | ||
| 56 | 8° 33'.92 | 113° 39' | ||
| 57 | 8° 24'.42 | 113° 47'.75 | ||
| 58 | 8° 24'.43 | 113° 52'.42 | ||
| 59 | 8° 23'.75 | 114° 19'.83 | ||
| 60 | 8° 30'.25 | 114° 29'.17 | ||
| 61 | 8° 28'.17 | 114° 50'.12 | ||
| 62 | 8° 55' | 115° 10'.58 | ||
| 63 | 8° 49'.08 | 115° 38'.75 | ||
| 64 | 8° 19'.92 | 115° 54'.08 | ||
| 65 | 8° 01'.5 | 116° 03'.5 | ||
| Boundary with the Philippines according to 1898 treaty and 1930 treaty | ||||
| 66 | 7° 40' | 116° 00' | Western terminus of the treaty defined boundary | |
| 67 | 7° 40' | 117° 0' | The western terminus of the Malaysia-Philippines border as per 1930 treaty | |
| 68 | 7° 24'.75 | 117° 25'.5 | ||
| 69 | 6° 52' | 117° 58' | ||
| 70 | 6° 17' | 117° 58' | ||
| 71 | 6° 0' | 118° 20' | ||
| 72 | 6° 0' | 118° 50' | ||
| 73 | 5° 16' | 119° 35' | ||
| 74 | 4° 42' | 119° 0' | ||
| 75 | 4° 23' | 119° 0' | ||
| 76 | 4° 23' | 120° 0' | Malaysia's 1979 map regards this as the Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines tri-point and the eastern terminus of the Malaysia-Philippines border; the 1898 treaty however gives 4 45'N 120 0'E as the eastern terminus which is now located on the Indonesia-Philippines border | |
| Continental shelf claim according to the 1979 map, subject to dispute by Indonesia. | ||||
| 77 | 3° 02'.75 | 120° 15'.75 | ||
| 78 | 3° 01'.5 | 119° 53' | ||
| 79 | 3° 06' | 118° 57'.5 | ||
| 80 | 3° 08'.67 | 118° 46'.17 | ||
| 81 | 3° 39' | 118° 22' | ||
| 82 | 4° 03'.65 | 118° 01'.1 | ||
| 83 | 4° 08' | 117° 56'.95 | ||
| 84 | 4° 10' | 117° 53'.97 | This point is on the eastern terminus of the land boundary (but it is only left for 1/2 a day) | |
Outside the border defined by a 1995 agreement, there is still no formal agreement between Malaysia and Singapore to delimit their common borders and this has resulted in several overlapping claims. Singapore claims a three-nautical-mile (6 km) territorial sea limit, while Malaysia claims a 12-nautical-mile (22 km) territorial sea limit.
Following the International Court of Justice decision on 23 May 2008 on the sovereignty of Pedra Branca which gave the island to Singapore, the new portion of the Malaysia-Singapore maritime border around the island will also need to be determined. The island lies 24 nautical miles (44 km) from the easternmost point of Singapore, and 7.7 nautical miles (14.3 km) southeast of the Malaysian coastline.
There is also a dispute involving the alleged incursion into Malaysian territorial waters by land reclamation works by Singapore at the western entrance to the Straits of Johor.
Borneo is the third-largest island in the world, with an area of 748,168 km2 (288,869 sq mi). Situated at the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, it is one of the Greater Sunda Islands, located north of Java, west of Sulawesi, and east of Sumatra.
The geography of Malaysia includes both the physical and the human geography of Malaysia, a Southeast Asian country made up of two major landmasses separated by water—Peninsular Malaysia to the West and East Malaysia to the East—and numerous smaller islands that surround those landmasses. Peninsular Malaysia is on the southernmost part of the Malay Peninsula, south of Thailand, north of Singapore and east of the Indonesian island of Sumatra; East Malaysia comprises most of the northern part of Borneo island, and shares land borders with Brunei to the north and Indonesian Borneo to the south.
The South China Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean. It is bounded in the north by South China, in the west by the Indochinese Peninsula, in the east by the islands of Taiwan and northwestern Philippines, and in the south by the Indonesian islands of Borneo, eastern Sumatra and the Bangka Belitung Islands, encompassing an area of around 3,500,000 km2 (1,400,000 sq mi). It communicates with the East China Sea via the Taiwan Strait, the Philippine Sea via the Luzon Strait, the Sulu Sea via the straits around Palawan, and the Java Sea via the Karimata and Bangka Straits. The Gulf of Thailand and the Gulf of Tonkin are part of the South China Sea.
Territorial waters are informally an area of water where a sovereign state has jurisdiction, including internal waters, the territorial sea, the contiguous zone, the exclusive economic zone, and potentially the extended continental shelf. In a narrower sense, the term is often used as a synonym for the territorial sea.
An exclusive economic zone (EEZ), as prescribed by the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, is an area of the sea in which a sovereign state has exclusive rights regarding the exploration and use of marine resources, including energy production from water and wind. EEZ does not define the ownership of any maritime features within the EEZ.
James Shoal is a reef (bank) in the South China Sea, with a depth of 22 metres (72 ft) below the surface of the sea, located about 45 nautical miles off the Borneo coast of Malaysia. It is claimed by Malaysia, the People's Republic of China, and the Republic of China (Taiwan). The reef and its surrounds are administered by Malaysia.
The Malaysia–Thailand border divides the sovereign states of Malaysia and Thailand and consists of a land boundary running for 595 km across the Malay Peninsula and maritime boundaries in the Straits of Malacca and the Gulf of Thailand/South China Sea. The Golok River forms the easternmost 95 km stretch of the land border.
The Malaysia–Singapore border is an international maritime border between the Southeast Asian countries of Malaysia, which lies to the north of the border, and Singapore to the south. The boundary is formed by straight lines between maritime geographical coordinates running along or near the deepest channel of the Straits of Johor.
Ambalat is a sea block in the Celebes sea located off the east coast of Borneo. It lies to the east of the Indonesian province of North Kalimantan and to the south-east of the Malaysian state of Sabah, and it is the subject of a territorial dispute between the two nations. Malaysia refers to part of the Ambalat block as Block ND6 (formerly Block Y) and part of East Ambalat Block as Block ND7 (formerly Block Z). The deep sea blocks contain an estimated 62,000,000 barrels (9,900,000 m3) of oil and 348 million cubic meters of natural gas. Other estimates place it substantially higher: 764,000,000 barrels (121,500,000 m3) of oil and 3.96 × 1010 cubic meters (1.4 trillion cubic feet) of gas, in only one of nine points in Ambalat.
The Indonesia–Malaysia border consists of a 1,881 km land border that divides the territory of Indonesia and Malaysia on the island of Borneo. It also includes maritime boundaries along the length of the Straits of Malacca, in the South China Sea and in the Celebes Sea.
The Brunei–Malaysia border divides the territory of Brunei and Malaysia on the island of Borneo. It consists of a 266 km (165 mi) land border and substantial lengths of maritime borders stretching from the coastline of the two countries to the edge of the continental shelf in the South China Sea.
Malaysia and Vietnam are two Southeast Asian countries with maritime boundaries which meet in the Gulf of Thailand and South China Sea. The two countries have overlapping claims over the continental shelf in the Gulf of Thailand. Both countries have, however, come to an agreement to jointly exploit the natural resources in the disputed area pending resolution of the dispute over sovereignty.
The Indonesia–Singapore border is a maritime boundary in the Straits of Singapore between Indonesia's Riau Islands which lie to the south of the border, and the islands of Singapore which lie to the north. The Straits of Singapore is one of the region's busiest waterways as it is the main channel for Singapore's ports.
The border between Indonesia and Vietnam is a maritime border located in the South China Sea to the north of Indonesia's Natuna Islands. The two countries signed an agreement to determine their continental shelf boundary on 26 June 2003 in Hanoi, Vietnam.
The Malaysia–Philippines border is a maritime boundary located in the South China, Sulu and Celebes Seas. It separates the Malaysian state of Sabah, which is on the island of Borneo, and the Sulu Islands of the southern Philippines.
Peninsular Malaysia, historically known as Malaya, also known as West Malaysia or the "Malaysian Peninsula", is the western part of Malaysia that comprises the southern part of the Malay Peninsula on Mainland Southeast Asia and the nearby islands. Its area totals approximately 132,490 km2 (51,150 sq mi), which is nearly 40% of the total area of the country; the other 60% is in East Malaysia on the island of Borneo.
Indonesia and Thailand share a common maritime border in the northern part of the Straits of Malacca and the Andaman Sea to the north-east of Indonesia's Sumatera Island and to the west of the western coastline of southern Thailand. The maritime boundary runs between the India-Indonesia-Thailand tripoint in the north, and the Indonesia-Malaysia-Thailand tripoint in the south.
Territorial disputes in the South China Sea involve conflicting island and maritime claims in the South China Sea by several sovereign states, namely the People's Republic of China (PRC), Taiwan, Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Vietnam. The disputes involve the islands, reefs, banks, and other features of the region, including the Spratly Islands, Paracel Islands, Scarborough Shoal, and various boundaries in the Gulf of Tonkin. The waters near the Indonesian Natuna Islands, which some regard as geographically part of the South China Sea, are disputed as well. Maritime disputes also extend beyond the South China Sea, as in the case of the Senkaku Islands and the Socotra Rock, which lie in the East China Sea.
The Australasian Mediterranean Sea is a mediterranean sea located in the area between Southeast Asia and Australasia. It connects the Indian and Pacific oceans. It has a maximum depth of 7,440 m and a surface area of 9.08 mil. km².
The borders of Indonesia include land and maritime borders with Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, and East Timor, as well as shared maritime boundaries with Australia, India, Palau, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.