Dry and sub-humid lands, including arid and semi-arid regions, grasslands, savannahs, and Mediterranean landscapes, encompass approximately 47% of the Earth's terrestrial area, with the largest areas found in Australia, China, Russia, the United States, and Kazakhstan.

Six countries with at least 99% of their areas are classified as dry and sub-humid lands: Botswana, Burkina Faso, Iraq, Kazakhstan, the Republic of Moldova, and Turkmenistan. Malaysia, on the other hand, by its location between the equator and the latitudes 8 degrees north latitude, experiences an equatorial climate with both seasonal monsoon rains as well as frequent convection thunderstorms.

Some parts of the country experience dry seasons, but even then, the average monthly rainfall is ca. 20 mm. While Malaysia hosts a variety of xerophyte flora, they are primarily confined to specialized habitats such as limestone or karst topography, quartzite ridges, coastal sand dunes or heath forests.

Generally speaking, however, Malaysia does not have significant arid/or semi-arid areas.