Malaysia

Coordinates: 2°30′N 112°30′E / 2.500°N 112.500°E / 2.500; 112.500

Malaysia (ⁱ/məˈleɪʒə/ mə-LAY-zhə or ⁱ/məˈleɪsiə/ mə-LAY-see-ə; Malaysian pronunciation: [məlejsiə]) is a federal constitutional monarchy located in Southeast Asia. It consists of thirteen states and three federal territories and has a total landmass of 329,847 square kilometres (127,350 sq mi) separated by the South China Sea into two similarly sized regions, Peninsular Malaysia and East Malaysia (Malaysian Borneo). Peninsular Malaysia shares a land and maritime border with Thailand and maritime borders with Singapore, Vietnam, and Indonesia. East Malaysia shares land and maritime borders with Brunei and Indonesia and a maritime border with the Philippines and Vietnam. The capital city is Kuala Lumpur, while Putrajaya is the seat of the federal government. With a population of over 30 million, Malaysia is the 44th most populous country. The southernmost point of continental Eurasia, Tanjung Piai, is in Malaysia. Located in the tropics, Malaysia is one of 17 megadiverse countries on earth, with large numbers of endemic species.

Najib Razak

Dato' Sri Haji Mohammad Najib bin Tun Haji Abdul Razak (born 23 July 1953) is the sixth and current Prime Minister of Malaysia. He was sworn in to the position on 3 April 2009 to succeed Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. He is the President of the United Malays National Organisation, the leading party in Malaysia's ruling Barisan Nasional coalition.

Najib is the eldest son of Abdul Razak Hussein, Malaysia's second Prime Minister, and the nephew of Hussein Onn, Malaysia's third. He was elected to the Parliament of Malaysia in 1976, at the age of 23, replacing his deceased father in the Pahang-based seat of Pekan. From 1982 to 1986 he was the Menteri Besar (Chief Minister) of Pahang, before entering the federal Cabinet of Mahathir Mohamad in 1986 as the Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports. He served in various Cabinet posts throughout the remainder of the 1980s and 1990s, including as Minister for Defence and Minister for Education. He became Deputy Prime Minister on 7 January 2004, serving under Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, before replacing Badawi a year after Barisan Nasional suffered heavy losses in the 2008 election. Under his leadership, Barisan Nasional won the 2013 election, although for the first time in Malaysia's history the opposition won the majority of the popular vote.

Prime minister

A prime minister is the most senior minister of cabinet in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. In many systems, the prime minister selects and may dismiss other members of the cabinet, and allocates posts to members within the government. In most systems, the prime minister is the presiding member and chairman of the cabinet. In a minority of systems, notably in semi-presidential systems of government, a prime minister is the official who is appointed to manage the civil service and execute the directives of the head of state.

In parliamentary systems fashioned after the Westminster system, the prime minister is the presiding and actual head of government and head of the executive branch. In such systems, the head of state or the head of state's official representative (i.e. the monarch, president, or governor-general) usually holds a largely ceremonial position, although often with reserve powers.

The prime minister is often, but not always, a member of parliament and is expected with other ministers to ensure the passage of bills through the legislature. In some monarchies the monarch may also exercise executive powers (known as the royal prerogative) that are constitutionally vested in the crown and may be exercised without the approval of parliament.

North Korea

Coordinates: 40°00′N 127°00′E / 40.000°N 127.000°E / 40.000; 127.000

North Korea ( listen), officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK; Chosŏn'gŭl: 조선민주주의인민공화국; hancha: 朝鮮民主主義人民共和國; MR: Chosŏn Minjujuŭi Inmin Konghwaguk), is a country in East Asia, in the northern part of the Korean Peninsula. The name Korea is derived from the Kingdom of Goguryeo, also spelled as Koryŏ. The capital and largest city is Pyongyang. North Korea shares a land border with China to the north and northwest, along the Amnok (Yalu) and Tumen rivers, and a small section of the Tumen River also forms a border with Russia to the northeast. The Korean Demilitarized Zone marks the boundary between North Korea and South Korea.

Korea was annexed by the Empire of Japan in 1910. After the Japanese surrender at the end of World War II in 1945, Korea was divided into two zones by the United States and the Soviet Union, with the north occupied by the Soviets and the south by the Americans. Negotiations on reunification failed, and in 1948 two separate governments were formed: the Democratic People's Republic of Korea in the north, and the Republic of Korea in the south. An invasion initiated by North Korea led to the Korean War (1950–53). Although the Korean Armistice Agreement brought about a ceasefire, no official peace treaty was ever signed. Both states were accepted into the United Nations in 1991.

Prime Minister of Malaysia

The Prime Minister of Malaysia (Malay: Perdana Menteri Malaysia) is the chairman of the Cabinet and thus head of government for Malaysia, charged with advising the Yang di-Pertuan Agong on the exercise of the executive powers vested in them by the constitution. It is in practice, the most powerful political position in Malaysia. As stated in the federal constitution, the Yang di-Pertuan Agong shall select as Prime Minister the person most likely to command the confidence of the elected House of Representatives; this individual is typically the leader of the political party that holds the largest number of seats in that chamber.

The Prime Minister has always been from the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) part of Barisan Nasional (previously Alliance) since independence. Tunku Abdul Rahman was the Chief Minister of the Federation of Malaya, restyled to Prime Minister of Malaysia on 16 September 1963 after the formation of Malaysia. Federation of Malaya became independent on 31 August 1957.