Kuala Lumpur

Kuala Lumpur is the largest city in Malaysia and the economic capital of the country. Within Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur is almost always abbreviated to KL. The administrative capital of Malaysia is now Putrajaya.

Kuala Lumpur is one of the three Federal Territories[?], and is physically located within the state of Selangor, on the west coast roughly halfway up in West Malaysia.

Table of contents showTocToggle("show","hide") 1 History 2 Statistics 3 Transportation Within KL 4 Tourist Information 5 Images of Kuala Lumpur

History

Kuala Lumpur was founded in 1857 at the confluence of the Gombak and Kelang rivers. In Malay, the name means "muddy confluence".

It was made capital of Selangor in 1880, and in 1896 it became the capital of the British-protected Federated Malay States[?].

During World War II Japanese forces captured Kuala Lumpur on January 11, 1942 and briefly occupied the city.

After independence in 1957, Kuala Lumpur was the capital of the Federation of Malaya[?] and continued to be the capital of the renamed Federation of Malaysia in 1963.

In 1974 Kuala Lumpur ceded from Selangor and the city became a Federal Territory[?].

Statistics

(As of 2000)

• Area: 243.65 kmē
• Population: 1,479,388

Transportation Within KL

Taxis are a reliable and fairly cheap method of transport for the newcomer to the city. However, traffic jams are fairly common with KL. Alternatives are the three light rail systems: Putra LRT, Star LRT and the monorail.

Those wishing to take buses to elsewhere in Malaysia should note that there are several bus stations, depending on which part of peninsular Malaysia you wish to travel to.

Tourist Information

Some of the most popular tourist locations in Kuala Lumpur are:

• The Chinese Night market area,
• Petronas Twin Towers, which also houses a large shopping mall.
• Batu Caves, a short distance north of Kuala Lumpur. This is a tall limestone cave, and home of a Hindu temple.
• About 40km west of Kuala Lumpur is the town of Shah Alam, site of a famous masjid (mosque).

Images of Kuala Lumpur