History of Penang

On 11 August 1786, Captain Francis Light, an English country trader, landed at the present-day Esplanade where he raised the Union Jack and formally took possession of Pulo Pinang in the name of His Brittanic Majesty, King George III and the Honourable East India Company. This turtle-shaped isle, off the northwest coast of the Kingdom of Kedah, was renamed Prince of Wales Island. Light founded a settlement, George Town, situated on the island's northeast promontory, in honour of George, Prince of Wales, who later became King George IV.

The old name of Pulo Pinang or Pulau Pinang (betel-nut island) is derived from the tall slender betel-nut palms found abundantly on the island. A multi-ethnic immigrant community immediately settled on the island. In less than a decade, the population had reached 7,000. By the beginning of the nineteenth century, the presence of 10,000 inhabitants was recorded

Thus was the auspicious beginning of the first British outpost on Malaysian soil.

Penang flourished on diversity. This is reflected in the various types of trade and commerce transacted since its opening as a port, the eclectic architectural designs of its built-up landscape, its multi-racial settlers pursuing a wide range of livelihood and the varieties of food, clothes, festivals and celebrations.

Penang's cosmopolitan population with its multi-cultural and multi-religious characteristics has been a dominant and familiar trait for more than two centuries.

Get to know Penang's geography, history, culture, economy, weather, people and language