Penang
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| Bersatu dan Setia | |||||
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| Capital | George Town | ||||
| governor | Abdul Rahman bin Haji Abbas | ||||
| Prime Minister | Lim Guan Eng | ||||
| surface | 1,031 km² (2011) | ||||
| population | 1,561,383 inhabitants (2010) | ||||
| Population density | 1,514.4 inhabitants / km² | ||||
| languages | Malay | ||||
| License Plate | P | ||||
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Penang ( Malay Pulau Pinang ; Jawi :بينانج, Pronunciation: [puˈlaʊ̯ piˈnaŋ] ) denotes both the 292 km² large island in the Strait of Malacca and the homonymous state of Malaysia , to which, in addition to the island itself, the coastal strip Seberang Perai (formerly Province Wellesley ) belongs. The capital of the state and the island is the city of George Town , which is located in the northeast of the island.
Location and geography
The state of Penang is located on the west coast of the Malay Peninsula on the Strait of Malacca . In the north and east it borders on the state of Kedah and in the south on Perak .
The island of Penang is off the coast. The closest point to the mainland is in the northeast of the island, near Fort Cornwallis ; the distance to the mainland is only around two kilometers there.
The west and east coast of the island are covered by large alluvial plains , only in the north the tropical rainforest has been preserved.
population
The island of Penang is predominantly inhabited by Malaysians of Chinese descent, including the Baba-Nyonya (or Peranakan) group, descendants of mixed Chinese-Malay couples who have their own ethnic identity and cultural traditions, as well as their own Creole languages - Baba-Malay and Penang - Hokkien - have developed. Here also live the Malays and Malaysians of Indian origin.
According to the official population statistics from 2010, 94.2% of the 1,561,383 inhabitants were Malaysian citizens - including 42.9% ethnic Chinese, 41.1% " Bumiputera " (predominantly Malay), 9.8% ethnic Indians - and 5, 8% foreigners. 44.6% of the population were registered as Muslims, 35.6% as Buddhists, 8.7% as Hindus, 5.1% as Christians, and 4.6% as followers of Taoism, Confucianism or Chinese folk religions.
history
Like all of Malaysia , Penang was subject to a succession of different cultural influences, starting with Indians, Chinese, Arabs, Portuguese and Dutch, and finally the British. Penang was ceded as a British foreign trade post by the Sultan of Kedah Francis Light in 1786 and thus received its name Pulau Pinang ( betel nut island) among residents . It was later renamed Prince of Wales Island by the English .
At the beginning of the Second World War in East Asia, Penang, like all of Malaysia today, was a target of the Japanese armed forces due to its strategic location. Although Penang was officially a "fortress," the British Army did not defend it. On December 11, 1941, Japanese aircraft launched a heavy air raid on Georgetown, killing hundreds of civilians; in total there were 2,000 to 3,000 dead and wounded. As a result, all Europeans were evacuated from the city before the advancing Japanese, while Malay and Chinese residents were left to their fate. During the Japanese occupation, Penang was administered by parts of the local Chinese and Malay upper classes under the supervision of the Japanese. In 1957 the island became independent and in 1963 went to Malaysia.
During the Japanese occupation there was also a German submarine base in Penang. It had been handed over by the Japanese to the Germans. The base was used by the German submarine group Monsun for operations in the Indian Ocean.
Lim Chong Eu , Prime Minister of Penang from 1969 to 1990, is considered the father of industrialization in Penang. He ensured that numerous companies in the electronics industry settled in Penang, which then developed into the "Silicon Island" of Asia. The construction of the Penang Bridge, which opened in 1985, can also be traced back to his initiative .
From the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami also Penang was affected. The tidal waves tore several people into the sea.
Administrative division
Administratively, the state of Penang is divided into five districts, three of which are on the mainland and two on the island of Penang. The capital, George Town, is located in the Timur Laut district .
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economy
In addition to tourism, the electronics industry is one of the important economic factors in Penang. The settlement is in several free zones ( free trade zones promoted) by control benefits.
On the mainland strip Seberang Perai in the city of Butterworth , part of the state of Penang , Continental produces automotive accessories for vehicle manufacturers such as Proton . Among others, the semiconductor companies Osram Opto Semiconductors and AMD operate a production facility here. Bosch produces car multimedia, power tools and automotive steering there. Along with Kuala Lumpur and Johor Bahru , Penang is the third most important trading center in Malaysia.
The Malaysian-German Society is based in Penang.
traffic
Road traffic
The 13.5 km long Penang Bridge to the mainland opened in 1985 and was the longest bridge in Southeast Asia. Due to the steadily growing car traffic, the old ferry connection will continue to operate in parallel. A second bridge with a length of 24 km was opened on March 1, 2014.
Rail transport
The station is located on the mainland in Butterworth, from where there are long-distance connections to Bangkok in the north and Kuala Lumpur and Singapore in the south. There is no longer a rail network on the island itself; the tram network, which originated from the colonial era, was shut down before the Second World War . However, the island still has a delightful funicular to Penang Hill , the Penang Mountain Railway .
air traffic
The Penang International Airport (also Bayan Lepas International Airport , IATA code PEN) is located approximately 16 km south from the center of Georgetown near the village Bayan Lepas .
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Attractions
The Penang Hill (also Bukit Bendera , Flag Hill ) with a height of 830 meters, the highest point on the island and offers excellent views of Georgetown and the mainland. A funicular that was inaugurated in 1923 - making it one of the oldest in Asia - runs from the base station in Air Itam to the top station on Penang Hill. Necessary repair work that had already started a few years earlier was temporarily suspended in 2005. Renovation work began in February 2010 and the lift has been in operation again since the beginning of 2011. Penang Hill can also be reached by hikes lasting several hours through the jungle. Popular starting points are the so-called Moon gate near the Botanical Gardens, as well as the Forestry Museum in Teluk Bahang , from where the Penang Forest Trail begins.
Also worth seeing are the butterfly farm , the botanical garden , the many temples such as Ke Lok Si (Buddhist), the Kuan Yin ( Goddess of Mercy ) temple, the snake temple with poisonous snakes , Wat Chaiya Mangkalaram with its 33 m long reclining Buddha and the captain -Keling- Mosque or Khoo Kongsi , the home of the Chinese Khoo family clan.
There are numerous mosques, churches, Hindu and Chinese Buddhist temples in downtown George Town . The old town houses historical buildings as well as well-preserved ensembles. In addition to the British colonial administrative buildings, the Protestant cemetery is also worth seeing.
Sons and daughters
- David Choong (1929–2011), badminton player and politician
- Eddy Choong (1930-2013), badminton player
- Anwar Ibrahim (* 1947), politician
- Martin Khor (1951–2020), journalist and economist
- Jimmy Choo (* 1961), shoe designer
- Ong Beng Hee (* 1980), squash player
- Nicol David (* 1983), squash player
Climate table
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Average monthly temperatures and rainfall for Penang
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literature
- Barbara Farkas: Chinese immigrants in Penang . Peter Lang, Frankfurt am Main 2009, ISBN 978-3-631-58327-2 .
Web links
- Penang government website (Malay, English)
- Penang Heritage Trust
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c Statistics Yearbook Malaysia 2011: Tables. (PDF; 2.64 MB) Department of Statistics Malaysia, December 14, 2012, accessed on October 11, 2013 (Malay, English; page 2, PDF page 2).
- ↑ a b Statistics Yearbook Malaysia 2011: Tables. (PDF; 2.64 MB) Department of Statistics Malaysia, December 14, 2012, accessed on October 11, 2013 (Malay, English; page 18, PDF page 17).
- ^ Jean DeBernardi: Penang. Rites of Belonging in a Malaysian Chinese Community. NUS Press, Singapore 2009, p. 22.
- ↑ Taburan Penduduk dan Ciri-Ciri Asas Demografi - Population Distribution and Basic Demographic Characteristics 2010 , Department of Statistics, Malaysia, p. 91.
- ↑ Christopher Bayly, Tim Harper: Forgotten Armies. Britain's Asian Empire & the War with Japan, Penguin Books, London 2005, pp. 119–121 and 223.
- ↑ Clay Blair: The Submarine War. Volume 2: The Hunted, 1942–1945. Heyne, Munich 1999, ISBN 3-453-16059-2 , pp. 475-479.
- ↑ New Straits Times November 24, 2010 Lim Chong Eu - Penang's father of industrialization ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as broken. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. and the obituary in the same issue Man who transformed Penang into modern state ( Memento of the original from November 28, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ About the Malaysian-German Society
Coordinates: 5 ° 23 ' N , 100 ° 15' E