What is the capital of Malaysia?

Kuala Lumpur is the capital of Malaysia. The city became the capital of the Federation of Malaya in 1957 and remained the national capital when Malaysia was formed later that year.

Kuala Lumpur began as a 19th-century tin-mining settlement at the meeting point of the Gombak and Klang rivers. Its name is commonly translated as “muddy confluence.” British colonial development transformed it into the political and commercial center of the Malay Peninsula.

A frequent mix-up involves Putrajaya. In 1999, Malaysia moved the federal government’s administrative offices there to ease congestion in Kuala Lumpur. Putrajaya is therefore the administrative center, but Kuala Lumpur remains the national capital, the seat of Parliament, and the residence of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, Malaysia’s constitutional monarch.

Kuala Lumpur is also Malaysia’s largest metropolitan hub and a major center for finance, business, education, and tourism. The Petronas Twin Towers became its best-known modern landmark.