Johor Bahru

關於Johor Bahru

Johor Bahru (JB) is the capital city of the Malaysian state of Johor. It is the core city of Johor Bahru District, Malaysia's second-largest district by population and economy. Covering an area of 373.18 km2, Johor Bahru had a population of 858,118 people in 2020, making it the nation's largest state capital city by population. It is located at the southern end of the Malay Peninsula, bordering the city-state of Singapore.

As a major financial and business centre in Malaysia, Johor Bahru is Malaysia's second best-performing city behind only Kuala Lumpur, in terms of economic competitiveness, prosperity, and ease of doing business, according to the World Bank. It has the fastest urbanisation growth and internet speed among Malaysian cities. As one of the world's 100 most visited cities, Johor Bahru has the busiest land border crossing globally, via the Johor-Singapore Causeway, KTM Intercity and the future RTS Link to Singapore. Johor Bahru is served by Senai International Airport and the world's 15th-busiest port, Tanjung Pelepas.

During the reign of Sultan Abu Bakar between 1886 and 1895, the city witnessed modernisation from a fishing village, with the construction of administrative centres, offices, schools, and railways to Woodlands, Singapore. Japanese forces occupied Johor Bahru during the Pacific War. Johor Bahru thus became the post-war cradle of Malay nationalism, forming a major political party, UMNO at the Istana Besar in 1946. Granted city status in 1994, Johor Bahru is currently part of the Johor-Singapore Special Economic Zone and Iskandar Malaysia, the nation's largest special economic zone by investment value.

Overview adapted from Wikipedia under CC BY-SA. Photography via Wikimedia Commons.