George Town, The State's Capital

- Hill-view of George Town -

George Town, capital of Penang, is located on the north-east corner of Penang Island. The estimated area size of this city is 150km² (about 58.59 sq mi) with 200,000 population.

History

George Town, named after Britain's King George III, was founded by Captain Francis Light, a trader for the British East India Company in year 1786. The island was use as base for the company in the Malay States. After he obtain the island from the Sultanof Kedah, he built Fort Cornwallis on the north-eastern corner of the island. Fort Cornwallis is one of the famous tourist destination nowadays.

Fort Cornwallis, the first British settlement on Penang.

The town was first built on swampy land. In the year 1804, the fort became the nexus of a growing trading post and the island's population reached 12,000. By the 1880s, a new waterfront was created at Weld Quay. The commercial centre was segmented into the banking and the trading areas related to the port activities such as the shipping companies, the import and export trading companies and the wholesalers who dominate the southen section Beach Street (one of the Penang's commercial street) until now.

On 7 July 2008, George Town officially recognized internationally by UNESCO World Heritage Site as having unique architecture and cultural townscape in Asia Pacific, together with Malacca, the oldest and most historical city in Malaysia.