Kuala Lumpur is the capital of which southeast Asian nation?

Kuala Lumpur is the capital of Malaysia, the Southeast Asian nation on the Malay Peninsula and the island of Borneo.

Kuala Lumpur began as a 19th-century tin-mining settlement at the meeting of the Klang and Gombak rivers. Its name is usually translated as “muddy confluence.” The settlement grew under British influence and became the center of administration, commerce, and transport in the region.

The city is widely known as KL and is Malaysia’s largest urban center. It is famous for landmarks such as the Petronas Twin Towers, which were completed in 1998 and were once the world’s tallest buildings.

A common mix-up involves Putrajaya. Kuala Lumpur remains Malaysia’s constitutional and national capital, while Putrajaya became the federal administrative center in the 1990s. Malaysia’s Parliament and many major institutions remain associated with Kuala Lumpur, making Malaysia the single correct country answer.