Malaysian Territory : 236 Malaysian islands to get names at last

KUALA LUMPUR: The Govern­ment plans to mark its “territory” by naming the 236 Malaysian islands that are currently unnamed.

In addition, over one fifth, or 129 geographical entities – including rocks, sandbanks and ridges located off the coastlines – are also unnamed, said Natural Resources and Environment Deputy Minister Tan Sri Joseph Kurup.

The islands are all located in Sabah according to statistics from the Survey and Measurement Depart­ment (Jupen).

“The islands need to be named quickly before foreign countries stake a claim on them,” he said.

Kurup was speaking at the launch of a seminar on geographical names and the 18th Divisional Meeting of the United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names Asia South East and Pacific South West here yesterday.

Any country can claim the boundaries of their territorial waters up to a 200-nautical miles radius from an island, including its economic resources.