Malaysia is generally regarded as one of the easiest countries to visit in the Southeast Asia region. It welcomed over 2 million foreign visitors in 2005. The urban areas are very modern. The cost of living is favorable: food is reasonably priced, hotels are generally priced at about 50% to 75% of comparable US levels and it is very inexpensive to travel within the cities by taxi. English is universally spoken in the urban areas of Malaysia and the Malaysian people are kind, warm and friendly to visitors. Malaysia is located just north of the equator in Southeast Asia and is bordered by Singapore to the south and Thailand to the north. The average daily temperature is approximately 84 degrees (27C) year round. Malaysia has a population of 25 million people and is a multi-ethnic country with approximately 55% of the population being ethnic Malay, 25% ethnic Chinese and 10% ethnic Indian. Bahasa Malayu is the official language, although English is widely spoken.
