The mainland areas of Malaysia have evidence of human habitation dating back approximately 4,000 years. Peninsular Malaysia was not well-suited to agriculture, and it appears that other nations overlooked the area except as the passageway between the mainland and the more fertile volcanic and coastal islands of Indonesia. No major empires developed on the peninsula, although the Majapahit Empire, and later the Malacca Sultanate, subdued the land in the 15th century. The Portuguese established a colony in 1511, which was later captured by the Dutch. The British East India Company took a lease over Penang Island in 1786, commencing a long and growing relationship with the British Empire until 1957. European traders were made welcome, staying several months at a time during the monsoon season, improving the prosperity of the region. British involvement in the region also includes the purchase of Singapore in 1824 for the value of its harbor for shipping, and the economic benefits flowed on to the general region. This relationship with Singapore continued until it withdrew from the Malaysian Federation of States to become its own independent state in 1963.

In 1942, at the start of World War II, the Japanese captured Malaysia, recognizing its strategic importance, and occupied it until the end of the war, when it returned to British control. The ethic Chinese in the region were very harshly treated with many thousands dying in massacres during the occupation.

There have been many religious influences on the area. Merchants bringing Islam began travelling through and settling in the area from the 15th century. Buddhist monks were often the first educational pioneers providing learning and operating simple schools for villagers.

Independence from Great Britain was achieved in 1957 and a period of modern democratic Malaysia has ensued.