The federal territories (FT; Malay: Wilayah Persekutuan) in Malaysia comprise three territories—Kuala Lumpur, Labuan, and Putrajaya—governed directly by the Federal Government of Malaysia. Kuala Lumpur is the national capital of Malaysia, Putrajaya the administrative capital, and Labuan an offshore international financial centre. Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya are enclaves in the state of Selangor. Labuan is an island off the coast of the Sabah state.
Malaysia is a federation of thirteen states and three federal territories, which form the primary administrative divisions of the country. Eleven states and two territories are part of Peninsular Malaysia, while two states and one territory make up East Malaysia. Nine of the Peninsular states have monarchies, with the other four having appointed governors. State governments are led by chief ministers, who are appointed by the monarch or governor, provided they have the support of a majority in the state legislative assembly. The federal territories are governed directly by the national government.
Malaysia was formed through the union of various territories ruled by the United Kingdom in British Malaya and British Borneo. The federal system was created to maintain the status of the Malay sultans, who were the rulers of British protectorates in the Malay Peninsula. The Federation of Malaya was created in 1948, uniting these protectorates with two directly ruled British colonies. Malaya became independent in 1957. In 1963, Sabah and Sarawak, along with Singapore, joined with Malaya to form Malaysia. Singapore was expelled in 1965. The three federal territories–Kuala Lumpur, Labuan and Putrajaya–were created later, from land separated from existing states.
This is a list of Malaysian states and federal territories sorted by their gross domestic product (GDP).
As of 3 November 2022, the Malaysian Ringgit (symbol: RM, currency code: MYR) is equivalent to 0.211 United States dollar or 0.213 Euros.