53 Facts About Penang

Penang is a Malaysian state located on the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia, by the Malacca Strait.

The second smallest Malaysian state by land mass, Penang is bordered by Kedah to the north and the east, and Perak to the south.

Penang formed part of the Straits Settlements in 1826, which became a British crown colony in 1867.

Penang was later merged with the Federation of Malaya, which gained independence from the British in 1957.

Penang is the nation's third highest Human Development Index state, after Kuala Lumpur and Selangor.

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Name Penang comes from the modern Malay name Pulau Pinang which means "areca nut island".

The State of Penang is referred to as the Pearl of the Orient and "The Island of Pearls" .

Penang Island was originally known by native seafarers as Pulau Ka-Satu, meaning The First Island, because it was the largest island encountered on the trading sea-route between Lingga and Kedah.

Penang Island was renamed the Prince of Wales Island after the heir to the British throne, while the new settlement of George Town was established in honour of King George III.

In 1805, Penang became a separate presidency of British India, sharing similar status with Bombay and Madras.

However, Penang's importance was supplanted by Singapore, as the latter rapidly outstripped the Port of Penang as the region's premier entrepot.

Penang Island was renamed Tojo-to, after Japanese Prime Minister Hideki Tojo.

Meanwhile, the Port of Penang was put to use as a major submarine base by the Axis Powers.

The now separate Crown Colony of Penang was consequently merged into the Malayan Union, which was then replaced by the Federation of Malaya in 1948.

Penang subsequently suffered an economic crisis, with the loss of maritime trade resulting in massive unemployment and brain drain.

However, the persistent brain drain, exacerbated by federal government policies that favoured the development of Kuala Lumpur, meant that Penang was no longer at the forefront of the country's economy by the 2000s.

Penang, situated at the northwestern coastline of Peninsular Malaysia, lies between latitudes 5.

Penang is geographically divided into two major halves physically divided by the Penang Strait.

Penang Strait is further divided into the North Channel and the South Channel.

Penang Island is irregularly shaped, with a hilly and mostly forested interior; its coastal plains are narrow, the most extensive of which is at the northeastern cape.

In spite of rapid urbanisation, Penang has still managed to safeguard a considerable area of natural environment.

Central hills of Penang Island, including Penang Hill, serve as the green lung for the urbanised island.

Penang is home to the smallest national park in the world - the Penang National Park.

Penang, being a former British crown colony, is one of only four Malaysian states without hereditary monarchies.

The head of state of Penang is the Governor, who is appointed by the King of Malaysia .

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Current Chief Minister of Penang is Chow Kon Yeow of the Democratic Action Party, who assumed office after the 2018 State Election.

Amendments to Penang's Constitution require the support of two-thirds of the Penang State Legislative Assembly.

Penang is divided into five administrative districts - two on Penang Island and three in Seberang Perai.

In 1807, a Royal Charter was granted to Penang which provided for the establishment of a Supreme Court.

The legal establishment in Penang was progressively extended to the whole of Malaya by 1951.

The State of Penang has ratified a sister state agreement with Japan's Kanagawa Prefecture and a friendship state agreement with China's Hainan Province.

Between 2015 and 2016, Penang achieved the highest migration effectiveness ratio among Malaysian states; for every 100 Malaysians that migrated into and out of Penang, the state's population increased by 58 persons.

Penang's population is almost equally distributed between the island and the mainland.

Penang has been regarded as Chinese state because of their high population but in recent years, the proportion of Bumiputeras within the state, which include ethnic Malays and East Malaysian indigenous races, has reached parity with that of the Chinese.

In particular, Penang is well known for its distinctive Hokkien language, known as Penang Hokkien.

Penang Hokkien serves as the lingua franca among the various ethnic Chinese communities in Penang.

Originally a variant of the Minnan language, Penang Hokkien has absorbed numerous loanwords from Malay and English, yet another legacy of the Peranakan culture.

Notably, smaller communities of Chinese Muslims and Indian Muslims have long existed within George Town, while most Buddhists in Penang follow either Theravada, Mahayana or Vajrayana traditions.

In spite of its tiny size, Penang, regarded as the Silicon Valley of the East, has one of the largest economies in Malaysia, contributing as much as RM7 billion of the country's tax income in 2015.

Penang has the highest Gross Domestic Product per capita among Malaysian states.

Jewellery from Penang is exported to over 20 foreign markets, including Singapore, Hong Kong, Japan, Canada and the United States.

Penang has always been one of the most popular tourist destinations in Malaysia.

Penang is known for its rich heritage and architecture, its vibrant multicultural society, a wide range of modern entertainment and retail choices, natural features such as beaches and hills, and the world-famous Penang cuisine.

Bangsawan, which was developed in Penang, is a type of Malay theatre that incorporates Indian, Western, Islamic, Chinese and Indonesian influences.

Boria is indigenous to Penang, featuring singing accompanied by violin, maracas and tabla.

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Penang is home to a relatively wide variety of architectures, both historical and modern.

Various street dishes and delicacies of Penang include asam laksa, Nasi Lemuni, char kway teow, curry mee, Hokkien mee, nasi kandar, oh chien, lor bak, rojak, pasembur, chendol, ais kacang, and tau sar pneah .

Correspondingly, Penang has the third highest Human Development Index within Malaysia.

Penang Island is connected to the mainland by two bridges.

Public bus services are mainly provided by Rapid Penang, which operates 56 routes within Greater Penang, including interstate routes into Kedah and Perak.

SPICE Arena in Bayan Baru is another major sporting venue within Penang, consisting of an indoor arena and an aquatics centre.

Penang has hosted the 2018 Asia Pacific Masters Games, the first edition of a Masters Games within Asia.

Penang is the first Malaysian state to provide its citizens with free internet connection.