Greater Kuala Lumpur (
Malay: ''Kuala Lumpur Raya'') is the geographical term that determines the boundaries of metropolitan
Kuala Lumpur
Kuala Lumpur (KL), officially the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur, is the capital city and a Federal Territories of Malaysia, federal territory of Malaysia. It is the largest city in the country, covering an area of with a census population ...
in
Malaysia
Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...
. Though similar to the term "
Klang Valley
Klang Valley () is an urban agglomeration in Malaysia that is centered in the federal territories of Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya, and including their adjoining cities and towns in the state of Selangor. It is the urban area of the much larger Ku ...
", there remains a variation between the two. Ranked as the
30th-largest in Asia, it covers a total land size of 7143.44
km2.
History
Pre-1974
Kuala Lumpur has been declared the capital city of
Federated Malay States
The Federated Malay States (FMS, , Jawi script, Jawi: ) was a federation of four protectorate, protected states in the Malay Peninsula — Selangor, Perak, Negeri Sembilan and Pahang — established in 1895 by the British government, and whi ...
in 1896, and when the group of states changes and expands to
Federation of Malaya
Malaya, officially the Federation of Malaya, was a country in Southeast Asia from 1948 to 1963. It succeeded the Malayan Union and, before that, British Malaya. It comprised eleven states – nine Malay states and two of the Straits Settleme ...
and later Malaysia, the town status has been kept as such. However, Kuala Lumpur itself is part of the larger Kuala Lumpur district of Selangor, which area also includes
Ampang,
Batu Caves
Batu Caves is a 325-m tall mogote with a series of limestone caves in Gombak, Selangor, Malaysia. It is located about north of the capital city of Kuala Lumpur. The cave complex contains many Hindu temples, the most popular of which is a shri ...
,
Gombak
The Gombak District is an administrative district located in the eastern-central part of the state of Selangor, Malaysia. The district was created on February 1, 1974, the same day when Kuala Lumpur was declared a Federal Territory.
History
Go ...
,
Ulu Klang
Ulu Kelang (alternately Hulu Kelang, Ulu Klang, or Hulu Klang), is a mukim and a state constituency in Gombak District, Selangor, Malaysia
Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of contine ...
,
Petaling Jaya
Petaling Jaya (), colloquially referred to as "PJ", is a city in Petaling District, in the state of Selangor, Malaysia. Originally developed as a Satellite city, satellite township for Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia, it is part of the G ...
,
Puchong
Puchong is a major town and a parliamentary constituency in the Petaling District, in the state of Selangor, Malaysia. Bordering Kuala Lumpur, it is part of the Greater Kuala Lumpur area. It is bordered by Petaling Jaya in the north, Subang J ...
and
Sungai Buloh
Sungai Buloh, or Sungei Buloh, is a town, a mukim (commune) and a Dewan Rakyat, parliamentary constituency in the northern part of Petaling District, Selangor, Malaysia. The name itself means ''bamboo river'' in the Malay language. It is located ...
. Until 1974, the city remains as part of Selangor.
Developments has been ongoing out of the city border long before it as Petaling Jaya was made a new township just beside Kuala Lumpur, converted from Effingham rubber estate on 1952 to accommodate the growing population of the capital and road infrastructures like newly opened Jalan Klang Lama spurs the growth of towns around the original Klang Valley corridor areas. Batu Caves and Kajang, both situated just north and south of the city border also already served as feeder towns of the capital.
Major development started to spur around Klang River corridor since the 60s as after Singapore exit from the federation, Port Swettenham in Klang now has been targeted as the nation's main port. Big infrastructure projects such as the new
Federal Highway has been planned to ensure straightforward flow of products between the capital and the port.
Subang Airport
Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport also known as Subang SkyPark, — formerly Subang International Airport/Kuala Lumpur International Airport, often called Subang Airport — is an airport located in Subang, Petaling District, Selangor, Malaysia. ...
in Subang also serves as the main gateway to the capital.
Kuala Lumpur township has been declared a city in 1972 and due to political factors and its status as the federal capital, the city is carved out from Selangor to be made as
Federal Territories, changing entirely the development scenarios of the areas.
After 1974
Selangor decided to revise their district areas which not only affect the former Kuala Lumpur district but also neighbouring districts of Klang, Hulu Selangor and Hulu Langat where from parts of those districts, two new districts has been created namely Gombak and Petaling. Sepang, while not originally part of any of Kuala Lumpur areas, was also made a full district due to the revisions, carved out from Hulu Langat and Kuala Langat district.
Klang was made a temporary state capital of Selangor from 1974 to 1977, where a new state capital is declared in Sungai Renggam, later renamed as Shah Alam. Sungai Renggam has been marked for development as the new state administration center back in 1963. The construction of the new main campus of
Universiti Teknologi MARA
The MARA Technological University ( Malay: ''Universiti Teknologi MARA''; Jawi: اونيۏرسيتي تيكنولوڬي مارا; abbr. UiTM) is a public university in Malaysia, based primarily in Shah Alam, Selangor. It was established to ...
also accompany the new capital development. In Hulu Langat, a new township of
Bandar Baru Bangi
Bandar Baru Bangi (literal translation: ''Bangi New Town'') is a township and satellite town of Kajang situated in Hulu Langat District, in southeastern Selangor, Malaysia.
It is named after the small town of Bangi situated further south. It i ...
was being built on the site of Westcountry Estate between Kajang and Bangi to accompany the development of the new main campus of
National University of Malaysia (UKM) by Selangor State Development Corporation (PKNS). Similar situation happened in Serdang where
University of Putra Malaysia
University of Putra Malaysia (Malay language, Malay: ''Universiti Putra Malaysia''), abbreviated as UPM, is a Malaysian public research university located in Seri Kembangan, Serdang, Selangor. Formerly it was named Universiti Pertanian Malaysi ...
(formerly known as Universiti Pertanian Malaysia) build their main campus there, spurring new townships around Serdang and Seri Kembangan.
In Gombak,
Kuala Lumpur–Karak Expressway
The Kuala Lumpur–Karak Expressway is a interstate controlled-access highway in Peninsular Malaysia. It runs between the town of Gombak (town), Gombak in Selangor to the southwest and Karak, Pahang, Karak in Pahang to the northeast. The expres ...
are built to provide the East Coast states direct access to the capital city, where the expressway terminus starts from the town.
1980s
In the 1980s, new township development from the past decades started to take their shape. With the nation moves into large scale industrialization, more township around the capital starts to emerge, grow and expands.
The
North–South Expressway, an interstate expressway project was kicked off by phases to connect Kuala Lumpur better to other states on the West Coast of the peninsular. While most of it runs parallel to the existing
Federal Route 1, the first section in the area,
Kuala Lumpur–Seremban Expressway
The Kuala Lumpur–Seremban Expressway () is a main expressway in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. This expressway links Kuala Lumpur in the north to Seremban, Negeri Sembilan in the south.
Some maps label this highway as E2 as it links directly with t ...
section includes the new townships of Seri Kembangan and Bandar Baru Bangi instead as route to Seremban and provides more straightforward access between the federal capital and the Negeri Sembilan state capital, providing development potentials on involved areas. The section opens in 1982.
Other than the state administration centre, Shah Alam town area now hosts industrial areas as well, with sites includes Malaysia's first automotive company
Proton
A proton is a stable subatomic particle, symbol , Hydron (chemistry), H+, or 1H+ with a positive electric charge of +1 ''e'' (elementary charge). Its mass is slightly less than the mass of a neutron and approximately times the mass of an e ...
headquarter and first main production plant which started operating in 1984.
Port Klang Authority started moving towards privatisation with divesting their current container terminal to a private entity, Klang Container Terminal Berhad. At the same time, a bypass road from Sungai Rasau was built to help diverting traffic to the main port area from Federal Highway named
North Klang Straits Bypass, the first privately operated toll road in the Klang Valley area.
1990s
The 1990s saw a major expansion of the metropolitan area of Kuala Lumpur with various megaproject taking shapes around the area. This is also the decade which shapes the current township areas of the metropolitan area.
A new airport for Kuala Lumpur and a new federal government administration centre has been planned to replace their current location in Kuala Lumpur and Subang. The airport was originally mooted to be somewhere around
Hulu Selangor
Hulu Selangor is a Districts in Malaysia, district in Selangor, Malaysia. It contains the towns of Serendah, Batang Kali and Kuala Kubu Bharu. Its principal town is Kuala Kubu Bharu. The district is located in the northeastern part of Selango ...
and the administrative center was mooted to be in
Janda Baik
Janda Baik (Bentong Malay: ''Jando Baék)'' is a village in Bentong District, Pahang, Malaysia. It is about 45 km from Kuala Lumpur and 800 m above sea level. It was estimated to have a population of around 2,820 in 2019.
Janda Baik was fir ...
, Bentong, Pahang, but ultimately the airport is chosen to be in Sepang and the new administrative center is in Prang Besar Estate, where later the location is named
Putrajaya
Putrajaya (), officially the Federal Territory of Putrajaya (), is the administrative centre of Malaysia. The Seat of government, seat of the Government of Malaysia, federal government of Malaysia was moved in 1999 from Kuala Lumpur to Putrajay ...
. Both started operational between 1998 and 1999.
Due to the approximate of these megaprojects between each other and the city center of Kuala Lumpur, a special economic corridor,
Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC) is established. The corridor aims to be a high-technology economic development area in Klang Valley, and includes Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya, Puchong, Serdang and Nilai of Negeri Sembilan as well as the new township established next to Putrajaya, Cyberjaya which will be one of the main area of the corridor.
Port Klang expands their activity by establishing a new cargo terminal in Pulau Indah, which later called Westport. Another terminal, called Northport was opened in 2000 and situated in the northern area of the Klang District.
All other new residential and commercial areas also starts to grow such as Kota Kemuning in southern Shah Alam, UEP Subang Jaya (later abbreviated as USJ), Bandar Sultan Suleiman in north of Klang, Bandar Baru Selayang in Gombak, Bandar Utama in Petaling Jaya, Salak Tinggi in Sepang.
Definition

Greater Kuala Lumpur is conterminous with the National Growth Conurbation, which spans the
Klang Valley
Klang Valley () is an urban agglomeration in Malaysia that is centered in the federal territories of Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya, and including their adjoining cities and towns in the state of Selangor. It is the urban area of the much larger Ku ...
, the
Malaysia Vision Valley
The Malaysia Vision Valley (MVV; Malay language, Malay: ) is a development corridor that encompasses the districts of Seremban District, Seremban and Port Dickson District, Port Dickson in the state of Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia. The corridor wa ...
region in western
Negeri Sembilan
Negeri Sembilan (, Negeri Sembilan Malay: ''Nogoghi Sombilan'', ''Nismilan''), historically spelled as Negri Sembilan, is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state in Malaysia which lies on the Peninsular Malaysia#Other features, wes ...
to the south, and the topographically
mountainous
A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually higher t ...
western frontier of
Pahang
{{Infobox political division
, name = Pahang
, official_name = Pahang Darul Makmur
, native_name =
, settlement_type = States and federal territories of Malaysia, State
, image_skyline =
, imagesize ...
to the east. The conurbation also reaches its northern limit at the town of
Tanjung Malim
Tanjong Malim, or Tanjung Malim, is a town in Muallim District, Perak, Malaysia. It is approximately north of Kuala Lumpur and 120 km south of Ipoh via the North–South Expressway. It lies on the Perak-Selangor state border, with Sunga ...
in southern
Perak
Perak (; Perak Malay: ''Peghok'') is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia on the west coast of the Malay Peninsula. Perak has land borders with the Malaysian states of Kedah to the north, Penang to the northwest, Kel ...
. It is defined as an area covered by 17 municipalities surrounding Kuala Lumpur as the central economic area. Each of the municipal areas are governed by separate local authorities.
Usage
The term "Greater Kuala Lumpur" is a relatively new term as compared to the more prevalent and established
Klang Valley
Klang Valley () is an urban agglomeration in Malaysia that is centered in the federal territories of Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya, and including their adjoining cities and towns in the state of Selangor. It is the urban area of the much larger Ku ...
term, and is often mistaken for Klang Valley despite both having two different definitions.
Statistics
In 2010, the Greater KL population was estimated at close to seven million and it contributed about RM263 billion to the nation's Gross National Income (GNI). Kuala Lumpur ranks 79th out of 140 cities in the
Economist Intelligence Unit
The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) is the research and analysis division of the Economist Group, providing forecasting and advisory services through research and analysis, such as monthly country reports, five-year country economic forecasts ...
's survey on liveability.
Cities/towns/areas within Greater Kuala Lumpur
List of Greater KL
districts
A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions ...
by population
See also
Metropolitan areas of Malaysia
*
George Town Conurbation
The George Town Conurbation, known officially as the Northern Conurbation, is the metropolitan area within and surrounding the States and federal territories of Malaysia, Malaysian state of Penang, including parts of neighbouring Kedah and Perak. ...
*
Johor Bahru Conurbation
*
Kinta Valley
The Kinta Valley (Malay language, Malay: ) is a geographical feature and conurbation in central Perak, Malaysia, surrounding and including the state capital Ipoh. Historically the Kinta Valley was very rich in tin, and their mines have been among ...
*
Greater Kuching
Greater Kuching refers to the urbanised areas surrounding the metropolitan city of Kuching in Malaysia. Kuching is the capital of the state of Sarawak and is the largest city in the state. The area comprising a total area of 2030.94 square kilome ...
*
Greater Kota Kinabalu
Greater Kota Kinabalu refers to the dense clusters of regional populated areas surrounding the city of Kota Kinabalu in Malaysia. It comprises the districts of Kota Kinabalu (also the largest city and capital of Sabah), Penampang District, Penam ...
References
{{coord missing, Malaysia
Geography of Malaysia
K