The Federal Territories ( ms, Wilayah Persekutuan) in

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federal constitutional monarchy consists of thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two regions: Peninsular Malaysia and Borneo's East Mal ...

comprise three territories—

Kuala Lumpur , anthem = ''Maju dan Sejahtera'' , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Malaysia#Southeast Asia#Asia , pushpin_map_caption = , coordinates = , sub ...

Labuan Labuan (), officially the Federal Territory of Labuan ( ms, Wilayah Persekutuan Labuan), is a Federal Territory of Malaysia. Its territory includes and six smaller islands, off the coast of the state of Sabah in East Malaysia. Labuan's capita ...

, and

Putrajaya Putrajaya (), officially the Federal Territory of Putrajaya ( ms, Wilayah Persekutuan Putrajaya), is a planned capital city which functions as the administrative capital and the judicial capital of Malaysia. The seat of the federal governm ...

—governed directly by the Federal Government of Malaysia. Kuala Lumpur is the national capital of Malaysia, Putrajaya is the administrative capital, and Labuan is an offshore international financial centre. Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya are

enclaves An enclave is a territory (or a small territory apart of a larger one) that is entirely surrounded by the territory of one other state or entity. Enclaves may also exist within territorial waters. ''Enclave'' is sometimes used improperly to deno ...

in the state of

Selangor Selangor (; ), also known by its Arabic honorific Darul Ehsan, or "Abode of Sincerity", is one of the 13 Malaysian states. It is on the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia and is bordered by Perak to the north, Pahang to the east, Negeri Sem ...

, while Labuan is an island off the coast of

Sabah Sabah () is a state of Malaysia located in northern Borneo, in the region of East Malaysia. Sabah borders the Malaysian state of Sarawak to the southwest and the North Kalimantan province of Indonesia to the south. The Federal Territory ...

Administrations

The territories fall under the jurisdiction of the Ministry for the Federal Territories. Originally the Federal Territory Ministry was established in 1979 and was in charge of planning and administration of Kuala Lumpur and Klang Valley. In 1981, the FT Ministry has been re-established under the Prime Minister's Office which acts as the Planning Unit of Klang Valley. In 2004, FT Ministry is then again formed into a full-fledged ministry which focuses on the development of Kuala Lumpur, Labuan and Putrajaya.

History

The federal territories were originally part of two states -

and

. Both Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya were part of Selangor, while Labuan was part of Sabah. Kuala Lumpur, the state capital of Selangor, became the national capital of the

Federation of Malaya The Federation of Malaya ( ms, Persekutuan Tanah Melayu; Jawi: ) was a federation of what previously had been British Malaya comprising eleven states (nine Malay states and two of the British Straits Settlements, Penang and Malacca)''See' ...

(and later Malaysia) in 1948. Since independence in 1957, the federal as well as the Selangor state ruling party had been the Alliance (later the

Barisan Nasional The National Front ( ms, Barisan Nasional; abbrev: BN) is a political coalition of Malaysia that was founded in 1973 as a coalition of centre-right and right-wing political parties. It is also the third largest political coalition with 30 ...

). However, in the 1969 elections the Alliance, while retaining control of the federal government, lost its majority in Selangor to the opposition. The same election also resulted in a major

race riot This is a list of ethnic riots by country, and includes riots based on ethnic, sectarian, xenophobic, and racial conflict. Some of these riots can also be classified as pogroms. Africa Americas United States Nativist period: 1700 ...

in Kuala Lumpur. It was realised that if Kuala Lumpur remained part of Selangor, clashes between the federal and the Selangor state government might arise when they are controlled by different parties. The solution was to separate Kuala Lumpur from the state and place it under direct federal rule. On 1 February 1974, the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur Agreement was signed, and Kuala Lumpur became the first federal territory of Malaysia. The cession of Kuala Lumpur had the effect of securing the Selangor state government for the Barisan Nasional until the 2008 general election. The separation of Kuala Lumpur meant that Kuala Lumpur voters lost representation in the

Selangor State Legislative Assembly The Selangor State Legislative Assembly ( ms, Dewan Negeri Selangor) is the unicameral state legislature of the Malaysian state of Selangor. The State Assembly is composed of 56 members representing single-member constituencies throughout the sta ...

and could only vote for representation in the

Parliament of Malaysia The Parliament of Malaysia ( ms, Parlimen Malaysia) is the national legislature of Malaysia, based on the Westminster system. The bicameral parliament consists of the Dewan Rakyat (House of Representatives, lit. "People's Assembly") and the D ...

. Labuan, an island off coast of mainland Sabah, was chosen by the federal government for development into an

offshore financial centre An offshore financial centre (OFC) is defined as a "country or jurisdiction that provides financial services to nonresidents on a scale that is incommensurate with the size and the financing of its domestic economy." "Offshore" does not refer ...

. Labuan became the second federal territory in 16 April 1984. Putrajaya is a

planned city A planned community, planned city, planned town, or planned settlement is any community that was carefully planned from its inception and is typically constructed on previously undeveloped land. This contrasts with settlements that evolve ...

, designed to replace Kuala Lumpur as the seat of the federal government. Sultan Salahuddin, who was serving as the

Yang di-Pertuan Agong The Yang di-Pertuan Agong (, Jawi: ), also known as the Supreme Head of the Federation, the Paramount Ruler or simply as the Agong, and unofficially as the King of Malaysia, is the constitutional monarch and head of state of Malaysia. The o ...

at that time, was asked again to cede land to the federal government. Putrajaya became the third federal territory on 1 February 2001. In the recent years, efforts were made to forge a common identity for the three federal territories. A flag of Federal Territory was introduced to represent the federal territories as a whole. During the 2006 Sukma Games in

Kedah Kedah (), also known by its honorific Darul Aman and historically as Queda, is a state of Malaysia, located in the northwestern part of Peninsular Malaysia. The state covers a total area of over 9,000 km2, and it consists of the mainland ...

, Kuala Lumpur, Labuan and Putrajaya merged into the unified contingent of Federal Territories.

Symbols

Maju dan Sejahtera Maju dan Sejahtera ''(Progress and Prosper)'' is the official anthem of the Federal Territories of Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federal constitutional monarchy consists of thirteen states and three federal ...

() is the official anthem of the Federal Territories. Apart from the flag of Federal Territories, each federal territory has its own individual flag. Image:Flag of Kuala Lumpur Malaysia.svg, Flag of Kuala Lumpur Image:Flag of Labuan.svg, Flag of Labuan Image:Flag of Putrajaya.svg, Flag of Putrajaya

Sports

Sport activities in all the three Federal Territories are governed and coordinated by the Federal Territory Sports Council ( ms, Majlis Sukan Wilayah Persekutuan, WIPERS), a federal statutory body.

Holidays

In addition to Federal public holidays, all three Federal Territories celebrates Federal Territory Day. Labuan, with a significant

Kadazan-Dusun Kadazan-Dusun (also written as Kadazandusun or Mamasok Kadazan-Dusun) also less-known as "Mamasok Sabah" are two indigenous peoples of Sabah, Malaysia—the ethnic groups Kadazan and Dusun. The Kadazandusun is the largest native group of Bu ...

community, celebrates Kaamatan with the neighbouring state of Sabah.

Federal Parliament Seats

List of Federal Territories representatives in the Federal Parliament (Dewan Rakyat) since the 15th general election:

References

External links

Malaysian Ministry of Federal Territories
{{States and Federal Territories of Malaysia