George Town

Georgetown, the capital of the island Penang, is named after the British King George III. The city is located at the northeast side of the island and has, suburbs included, about 550.000 inhabitants. After Penang was handed over by the sultan of Kedah to the English, Sir Francis Light founded the city Georgetown. He immediately started the construction of Fort Cornwallis. Over the years this first settlement evolved into a big city (in that time). In 1957 Georgetown got permission to be called a city and until 1972 it was the only city in Malaysia with this permission.

The city is characterized by the colonial architectures. The English influenced - during their colonial times - the construction of Georgetown very much. The city is not a modern metropolis like Kuala Lumpur; some quarters are fairly modern, others are old fashioned. You can compare Georgetown best to those typical and hectic Asian cities. You clearly sense that authentic Asian atmosphere. For that matter I think Georgetown resembles the Thai capital city of Bangkok over Kuala Lumpur in many ways.