George Town is the capital city of the state of Penang in Malaysia. Named after Britain's King George III, the city is located on the north-east corner of Penang Island and has about 220,000 inhabitants, or about 400,000 including the suburbs.

George Town was founded in 1786 by Captain Francis Light, a trader for the British East India Company, as base for the company in the Malay States. He obtained the island of Penang from the Sultan of Kedah and built Fort Cornwallis on the north-eastern corner of the island. The fort became the nexus of a growing trading post and the island's population reached 12,000 by 1804.

Due to strict rent controls, George Town retains many colonial-era shophouses to this day and is often considered an architectural gem. Most of George Town's population is of Chinese origin.

Since the repeal of the rent controls in 2000, many pre-war buildings have given way to new high rises. Heritage guidelines are still in its infancy and much needs to be done to conserve such treasures for the benefit of future generations.

George Town is also known in Malay as Tanjung.

Local Government

The Municipal Council of George Town was established in 1857, the first local authority in Malaya. Three out of five municipal commissioners were elected by a limited franchise, but due to apathy these elections were abolished in 1913.

In 1951, as part of the move towards independence for Malaya, the British colonial authorities reintroduced local elections of nine of the fifteen municipal commissioners for George Town. Other municipal councils in Malaya followed shortly thereafter, with Kuala Lumpur holding its first local elections the year after. By 1956, George Town had become the first municipality in Malaya to have a fully-elected council, with Cllr G. H. Goh (Alliance) as its first President.

On January 1, 1957, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II granted George Town city status by a royal charter. The first Mayor of George Town was Cllr D. S. Ramanathan (Labour). George Town was the only city in Malaya/Malaysia until Kuala Lumpur was granted city status in 1972.

In 1965, the federal Government suspended local elections as a result of the Indonesian Confrontation. A Royal Commission in 1968 recommended the restoration of local democracy, but this was never carried out.

In 1974, the City Council of George Town was merged with the Penang Rural District Council to form the Municipal Council of Penang Island (Majlis Perbandaran Pulau Pinang). The merged council does not have the status of a city council, and has a president rather than a mayor. See cities of Malaysia for further discussion.

The Local Government Act 1976 finally abolished local elections throughout Malaysia, providing for municipal councillors to be appointed by the state government.

Sister cities

Adelaide, Australia (1973) Medan, Indonesia Xiamen, China (1991) Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan

See also

• Cities of Malaysia

External links

Penang | Cities in Malaysia

George Town (Penang) | George Town | George Town (Penang) | George Town | Georgetown, Pulau Pinang | ジョージタウン (マレーシア)