The federation of Malaysia comprises Peninsular Malaysia and the states of Sabah and Sarawak on the Island of Borneo. Located 7 degrees north of the Equator, Peninsular Malaysia is separated from the states of Sabah and Sarawak by the South China Sea. In the north of the peninsular is Thailand while its southern neighbour is Singapore. Its total land area is 329 758 sq km, with a population of over 25 million, most of whom are of the three predominant races, Malay, Chinese and Indians and other ethnic groups making up the rest. Bahasa Melayu (Malay) is the national language but English is widely spoken. The ethnic groups also speak various languages and dialects. Islam is the official religion but all other religions are freely practiced. Malaysia has a tropical climate with warm and humid weather all year round. Temperature range from 21 to 32 °C. Annual rainfall varies from 2000 to 2500 mm. The unit of currency is the Malaysian Ringgit indicates as RM. Foreign currencies can be converted at banks and money changers. For more information, you can visit the official Tourism Malaysia website at http://www.tourism.gov.my. 

Kedah is a state of Malaysia, located in the northwestern part of Peninsular Malaysia. The state covers a total area of 9,425 km², and consists mostly of flat areas growing rice, plus the island of Langkawi. It was called Syburi by the Siamese when it was under their influence. To the north are the state of Perlis and the international boundary with Songkhla and Yala Provinces of Thailand, to the south and southwest are Perak and Penang respectively. The state’s capital and royal seat is Alor Star. Other major towns include Sungai Petani, and Kulim on the mainland, and Kuah on Pulau Langkawi. Kedah is divided into 12 districts:- Baling, Bandar Baharu, Kota Setar, Pokok Sena, Kuala Muda, Kubang Pasu, Kulim, Pulau Langkawi, Padang Terap, Pendang, Sik, and Yan. The Arabic honorific of Kedah is Darul Aman which have the same meaning as Brunei’s honorific, Darussalam (Abode of Peace). The state’s population by ethnic group in 2003 was estimated as: Malay (1,336,352), Chinese (252,987), Indian (122,911), Non citizens (35,293), Others (27,532). Pedu Lake is the largest man-made lake in the state. Kedah is considered the “rice bowl” of Malaysia, accounting for one third of Malaysia’s total production of rice. Other agricultural products, including rubber, oil palm and tobacco are also important. Tourism, particularly on the island of Langkawi is of growing importance. More recently, Kedah has forged its economy towards the automotive and aerospace industry with Modenas and Asian Composites setting up bases here. One of the main advantages is the low labour costs and the infrastructure in place with the highway and Penang International Airport on its door step. In 1996, the Kulim Hi-Tech Park (KHTP) which was officially opened and became the first high technology industrial park in Malaysia. The Park situated in Kulim comprises a total land area of approximately 14.5 square kilometres (5.6 mi²). Many local and foreign companies (such as Intel, Fuji Electric, Showa Denko, SilTerra etc.) have moved to the site since then. According to the Ninth Malaysia Plan, all this economic area is referred to as the Northern Corridor Economic Region (NCER). The Northern Corridor Economic Region is one of three development regions formed in Peninsular Malaysia, other development regions being the South Johor Economic Region (SJER) or Iskandar Development Region (IDR) and the East Coast Development Region. The Northern Corridor Economic Region (NCER) encompasses Penang (Penang Island and Seberang Prai), Kedah (Alor Star, Sungai Petani, Tikam Batu and Kulim) and northern Perak.