According to abbreviationfinder, Kuala Lumpur, is the capital of Malaysia and federal territory (expanded to 243 km ² through incorporations), at the confluence of the Gombak in the Kelang, (2000) 1.3 million residents (over 43% Chinese, 46% Malay, about 10% Indian as well as Europeans).

Putrajaya has been since 1999the new administrative center of Malaysia, with Cyberjaya in the new “Multimedia Super Corridor”; Seat of a Catholic archbishop and an Anglican bishop; University (founded 1949), TU (founded 1972), Islamic University, language school, teacher seminars, medical, agricultural research institute, rubber research institute, Goethe Institute, radio and television station, national library, archive and museum, art gallery; Zoological Garden; numerous banks and insurance companies. The industry is concentrated on industrial estates in the suburbs: automotive assembly, metal industry, mechanical engineering, electrical, electronic, high-tech industry, chemical (including fertilizers), cigarette, food and beverage industry, railway workshops.² large multimedia super corridor [MSC]). Due to industrial sites and housing estates, some of which were planned according to plan, Kuala Lumpur and Port Kelang have grown together to form an economic area to which, among other things, Petaling Jaya, Batu Tiga and Kelang belong. Transport hub; new international airport in Sepang south of Kuala Lumpur (connected by rapid transit) opened in 1998.

Attractions

The image of the city center, which was renovated after it was destroyed by fire (1881), is dominated by older buildings characterized by a mixture of different historical styles (Victorian, Moorish, etc.), of which the Selangor Club (1910), the Town Hall (1896) and the Friday Mosque (1909, before the Masjid Negara was built in 1965, the country’s national mosque), located at the confluence of the Gombak and Kelang, are particularly impressive. Southeast of the Central Market is the Chinese old town with an Indian enclave, numerous temples have been preserved here. To the west of the main train station, built in the Moorish style (1911), are the National Museum of Art and the National Museum (1963), which show old Malay styles. Behind this museum, the park complex “Lake Gardens” opens with a cultural center (1986), the National Monument and the Parliament Building (1963). The national mosque (Masjid Negara, 1965) with spacious walkways, library and administrative buildings sets an urban development accent. Buildings of contemporary architecture are the Dayabumi Complex (1984), the Putra World Trade Center (1985), Pilgrimage Board Building (1986), the Maybank building (1987), the 421 m high »Kuala Lumpur Tower« (1996) and the Twin towers of the state oil company Petronas (“Petronas Twin Towers” by Cesar Pelli, 1996) with 451.9 m one of the tallest office buildings in the world.

History

Kuala Lumpur, founded in 1857 by Chinese tin miners, became the capital of Selangor in 1880 (until 1974), in 1895 of the Federated Malay States, 1946 of the Malay Union, 1948 of the Malay Federation, 1963 of the State of Malaysia (Malay Peninsula, History); Kuala Lumpur has been federal territory since 1974.

In 1997/98 Malaysia was also hit by the severe Asian currency and economic crisis. Especially in the dispute about the further course of the economy, there was an internal political power struggle between the globalization-critical and in many ways anti-western oriented Mahathir and the finance minister and deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim (* 1947)who was released from office in September 1998, then arrested and sentenced to six years in prison on charges of abuse of office in April 1999 following a rigged trial. As a result, a new kind of cross-class and tendentially pro-democratic reform movement (Reformasi movement) emerged in Malaysia. At the end of the 1990s, the moderate Islamist forces gained strength under the leadership of the Parti Islam Se Malaysia (PAS). The Mahathir government subsequently tightened its repressive policy towards the opposition: In January 2000 and April 2001, arrest of regime critics; in August 2000, Anwar Ibrahim was sentenced in a controversial second trial for a further nine years in prison for alleged homosexual relationships, repeated violent dissolution of protest demonstrations, further restrictions on freedom of the press and freedom of assembly. In connection with the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the government was increasingly able to discredit the Islamists of the PAS among the religious minorities.

The greatest effects of the economic crisis were overcome in Malaysia in 1999/2000, with the government using a dirigistic policy (including the introduction of controls on the capital market and foreign exchange trading). In April 2000, the east Malaysian island of Sipadan (state of Sabah) was the scene of a kidnapping of foreign tourists by members of the Philippine Islamist rebel organization Abu Sayyaf, who abducted their hostages (including three Germans) to the southern Philippine island of Jolo (Philippines).