Kuala Lumpur

Kuala Lumpur, officially the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur, is the capital city and a federal territory of Malaysia. It is the most populous city in the country, covering an area of 243 km2 with a population of 2,111,536 as of 2026.

Greater Kuala Lumpur, which itself includes the Klang Valley, is an urban agglomeration of 8.81 million people as of 2024. It is among the fastest growing metropolitan regions in Southeast Asia, in terms of both population and economic development.

The city serves as the cultural, financial, tourism, political and economic centre of Malaysia. It is also home to the Malaysian parliament (consisting of the Dewan Rakyat and the Dewan Negara) and the Istana Negara, the official residence of the monarch (Yang di-Pertuan Agong).

Kuala Lumpur was first developed around 1857 as a town serving the tin mines of the region, and important figures such as Yap Ah Loy and Frank Swettenham were instrumental in the early development of the city during the late 19th century. It served as the capital of Selangor from 1880 until 1978.