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Malaysia vs Indonesia

Malaysia

vs

Indonesia

Green highlights the higher value (or higher GDP per capita). Figures are approximate.

Neighbours on land and sea

Malaysia and Indonesia face each other across the Strait of Malacca, one of the world's busiest shipping lanes, and share a long land border on the island of Borneo, where Malaysia's states of Sabah and Sarawak meet Indonesian Kalimantan. Indonesia is far bigger: roughly eight times Malaysia's population and almost six times its area, spread across thousands of islands. Malaysia, though, has a substantially higher GDP per capita.

Bahasa Malaysia and Bahasa Indonesia

The national languages are two standardised forms of Malay. Speakers can generally understand each other, though spelling conventions, vocabulary and slang differ, partly because of British influence on one side and Dutch on the other. Both countries are Muslim-majority. Malaysia, however, is more multi-ethnic, with large Chinese and Indian communities alongside the Malay majority and indigenous peoples of Borneo; Indonesia has hundreds of ethnic groups, the largest being Javanese.

From confrontation to cooperation

The two were colonised by different powers — Indonesia by the Dutch, Malaya and northern Borneo by the British — and their relationship began badly. When Malaysia was formed in 1963 by merging Malaya with Sabah, Sarawak and Singapore, Indonesia opposed it and waged a low-level undeclared war known as Konfrontasi until 1966. Soon afterwards both became founding members of ASEAN in 1967.

Some disputes have been settled in court: in 2002 the International Court of Justice awarded the islands of Sipadan and Ligitan to Malaysia. Others, such as the Ambalat sea block off Borneo, have been the subject of continuing negotiation. Indonesia's plan to move its capital to Nusantara in East Kalimantan would put it on the same island as Malaysia's Borneo states.

Palm oil, workers and food fights

Together, Indonesia and Malaysia produce most of the world's palm oil, and they often coordinate when defending the industry against EU rules. Millions of Indonesians have worked in Malaysia, especially on plantations, construction sites and in households, which makes labour protection a regular diplomatic topic. Cultural ownership arguments over batik, rendang, songs and dances flare up periodically online, a sign of how much the two cultures overlap.