Malaysia images

MLocated on the west coast of peninsular Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur lies at the confluence of the Klang and Gombak Rivers. KL is a fairly sprawling city with residential suburbs that seem to go on forever. The adjacent towns of Petaling Jaya (originally developed as KL's dormitory suburb), Subang Jaya, Shah Alam, Klang and Port Klang, have merged with KL to create a huge metropolis called the Klang Valley.
Weather
Protected by the Titiwangsa mountains in the east and the Indonesian island of Sumatra to the west, Kuala Lumpur has a year-round equatorial climate which is warm and sunny. Rainfall is plentiful-usually more than 93 inches a year-and especially heavy during the southwest monsoon from September to April. Temperatures tend to remain constant. Maximums hover between 88°-99°F and have never exceeded 99°F, while minimums hover between 71-74°F and have never fallen below 66°F.
People
Kuala Lumpur has a mix of different cultures. Unlike the whole of Malaysia, where Malays comprise the ethnic majority, the majority of Kuala Lumpur residents are Chinese. Additional major ethnic groups represented include Indians, Eurasians, as well as other indigenous races from East Malaysia and the Malaysian peninsula.
Malay (Bahasa Melayu) is the official language but English is widely spoken in the city, especially in business and tourism, and is a required subject in all schools. Malays form the bulk of the members of parliament and dominate the political scene in Malaysia.

In the late 18th century, with Europe in the midst of the Industrial Revolution, large groups of Chinese from Fujian and Guangdong in southern China were brought to Malaysia (then called Malaya) to work in the booming tin mining industry. The Chinese in Kuala Lumpur mostly speak Cantonese with some speaking the Hakka dialect. Like all residents, the Chinese have benefited from Kuala Lumpur's excellent public school system and can communicate in English and Bahasa Malaysia as well as Mandarin.
Indians formed 10% of the population in Kuala Lumpur in 2000. First brought in by the British during their colonization of Malaysia, most Indians practice Hinduism and speak Tamil or Hindi and English. The majority of their customs and traditions are intricately tied with their religion. Hence, during the Hindu festivals such as Deepavali, Indians perform colorful rites and visit temples

Founded only in 1857 as a tin mining outpost, Kuala Lumpur is fairly new as far as Malaysian cities go and lacks the rich history of Georgetown or Malacca. After rough early years marked by gang fighting, Kuala Lumpur started to prosper and was made capital of the Federated Malay States in 1896. Malaysia's independence from Britain was declared in 1957 in front of huge crowds at what was later named Stadium Merdeka (Independence Stadium), and Kuala Lumpur continued as the new nation's capital. The economic boom of the 1990s brought KL the standard trappings of a modern city, including towering skyscrapers and efficient transportation systems.