The two regions are called East Malaysia and West (or peninsular) Malaysia and they are actually about 400 miles (640 km) apart. East Malaysia is made up of the two largest states, Sabah and Sarawak. They are located on the popular island of Borneo. It is the only island in the world to be governed by 3 different countries: Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei.
Peninsular Malaysia is home to the capital Kuala Lumpur. It covers most of the so-called Malay peninsula. Its neighbours are Singapore to the South and Thailand to the North. This part of Malaysia is more developed than East Malaysia in terms of urbanisation and population. But East Malaysia has more tropical forests and wildlife habitat.