Timeline: Malaysia

A chronology of key events:

14th century - Conversion of Malays to Islam begins.

1826 - British settlements of Malacca, Penang and Singapore combine to form the Colony of Straits Settlements, from where the British extend their influence by establishing protectorates over the Malay sultanates of the peninsula.

Kuala Lumpur's Petronas Twin Towers: Symbols of 90s boom Settlement established 1857 by Chinese tin miners Kuala Lumpur translates as "muddy confluence" Population: 1.4 million 2003: Mahathir leaves mark on skyline

1895 - Four Malay states combine to form the Federated Malay States.

1942-45 - Japanese occupation.

1948 - British-ruled Malayan territories unified under Federation of Malaya.

1948-60 - State of emergency to counter local communist insurgency.

1957 - Federation of Malaya becomes independent from Britain with Tunku Abdul Rahman as prime minister.

1963 - British colonies of Sabah, Sarawak and Singapore join Federation of Malaya to form the Federation of Malaysia.

1965 - Singapore withdraws from Malaysia, which is reduced to 13 states; communist insurgency begins in Sarawak.

1969 - Malays stage anti-Chinese riots in the context of increasing frustration over the economic success of the ethnic Chinese.

1970 - Tun Abdul Razak becomes prime minister following Abdul Rahman's resignation; forms National Front (BN) coalition.

Positive discrimination for Malays

1971 - Government introduces minimum quotas for Malays in business, education and the civil service.

Former deputy PM Anwar Ibrahim spent six years in jail 2004: Malaysia's surprising, significant release Profile: Anwar Ibrahim

1977 - Kelantan chief minister expelled from Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS), triggering unrest, a national emergency and the expulsion of PAS from the BN coalition.

1978-89 - Vietnamese refugees benefit from unrestricted asylum.

1981 - Mahathir Mohamad becomes prime minister.

1989 - Local communist insurgents sign peace accord with government.

1990 - Sarawak communist insurgents sign peace accord with government.

1993 - Sultans lose legal immunity.

Financial crisis

1997 - Asian financial crisis spells end of decade of impressive economic growth.

1998 - Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad sacks his deputy and presumed successor, Anwar Ibrahim, on charges of sexual misconduct, against the background of differences between the two men over economic policy; Ibrahim arrested.

2000 - Ibrahim is found guilty of sodomy and sentenced to nine years in prison. This is added to the six-year jail sentence he was given in 1999 after being found guilty of corruption following a controversial trial.

As PM, Mahatir Mohamad oversaw country's transformation Profile: Mahathir Mohamad 2006: Mahathir fights to protect legacy

2001 February - Government decides to proceed with construction of huge Bakun hydroelectric power project on island of Borneo despite serious environmental concerns.

2001 March - Dozens arrested during Malaysia's worst ethnic clashes in decades between Malays and ethnic Indians.

2001 April - Demonstrations against the Internal Security Act following the detention without trial of supporters of Anwar Ibrahim.

2001 September - Malaysia, Singapore resolve long-standing disputes, ranging from water supplies to air space. They also agree to build a new bridge and tunnel.

Mahathir bows out

2002 August - Tough new laws against illegal immigrants come into effect, providing for whipping and prison terms for offenders. Laws prompt exodus of foreign workers.

2003 October - Abdullah Ahmad Badawi takes over as prime minister as Mahathir Mohamad steps down after 22 years in office.

2004 March - Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi wins landslide general election victory.

2004 September - Former deputy PM Anwar Ibrahim freed after court overturns his sodomy conviction.

2004 December - Scores of people in Malaysia are killed in the Asian tsunami disaster. Malaysia delays planned deportations of many thousands of illegal immigrants, most of them from Indonesia.

2005 January - Malaysia, Singapore settle a bitter dispute over land reclamation work in their border waters.

Penang island, one of Malaysia's tourist draws

2005

March - Round-up of illegal immigrants follows a four-month amnesty which sees an exodus of hundreds of thousands of illegal workers. Those remaining risk jail, a fine, or whipping.

2005 August - Acrid smoke, from forest fires on the Indonesian island of Sumatra, engulfs central areas and prompts a state of emergency.

2006 April - Malaysia shelves the construction of a controversial bridge to Singapore.

2006 December - 60,000 displaced by flooding in the south.

2007 January - Some 70,000 evacuated as second wave of floods hits south of country.

2007 February - Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei Darussalam sign deal to protect 200,000 square kilometres of rainforest on the island of Borneo.

2007 March - US tells Malaysia it will not be able to conclude free-trade deal in summer of 2007.

2007 May - Anwar Ibrahim's Parti Keadilan Rakyat loses a bitterly contested by-election to the government. The result is seen as a blow to his efforts to revive his political career.

2007 May - Malaysian, Indonesian and Saudi Arabian partners move a step closer to building a 193 mile (310km) pipeline to bypass the Malacca Strait, so oil tankers can load crude away from the busy and often dangerous waterway.

2008 March - Elections. Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's National Front coalition suffers its worst election result in decades. It loses its two thirds parliamentary majority and control of five state assemblies.

2008 July - Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim is arrested over allegations of sodomy, in a move that elevates political tensions.

Economic downturn

2008 October - The government unveils a raft of measures to prop up the stock market and attract more foreign investment in expectation of slower growth in 2009.

PM Abdallah Ahmad Badawi, under continuing political pressure, announces that he is to resign in March 2009.

2009 January - Malaysia bans the recruitment of foreign workers to protect its citizens from unemployment during the economic downturn.

2009 March - The government unveils a $16bn economic stimulus plan as it seeks to stave off a deep recession.