George Town is the capital of the Malaysian state of Penang, and the eighth-most populous city proper in Malaysia. The historical core of the city, covering an area of 19 km2 (7 sq mi), has a population of 158,336 in the 2020 census, making it among the densest urban areas in Asia; while the city proper has an estimated population of 794,313 inhabitants, presiding over an area of 306 km2 (118 sq mi). George Town is also the core city of the Greater Penang Conurbation, the second largest metropolitan area in the country with 2.833 million inhabitants, only surpassed by the Klang Valley.
Located next to the Straits of Malacca, George Town was established as an entrepôt by Francis Light of the East India Company in 1786, as the first British settlement in Southeast Asia. It grew rapidly in the early-19 century. With the influx of immigrants from various regions in Asia, George Town's population surpassed 10,000 by the turn of the 19th century and quadrupled within 40 years. In 1826, Penang was incorporated into the Straits Settlements, along with British Singapore and Malacca, with George Town as the territories' administrative capital until 1836. The territories became a British crown colony in 1867. During the Second World War, George Town was subjugated by the Empire of Japan, before being recaptured by the British at war's end. Shortly before Malaya attained independence from the British in 1957, George Town was declared a city by Queen Elizabeth II, making it the first city in the country's modern history. In 1974, the Malaysian federal government revoked George Town's city status after the abolishment of local governments, a position that would not be altered until 2015, when its jurisdiction was reinstated and expanded to cover the entirety of Penang Island.
The port city was historically a regional centre of administration, politics, and finance. During the Napoleonic Wars, George Town was a military outpost, and later spawned the early ground-works of the Malaysian judiciary, and the Royal Malaysian Police. Its municipal council was the first elected local government in Malayan history. Despite losing its prominence to Singapore in trade by the mid-19th century, it remained as a major export hub of spices, agricultural goods, and later tin, achieving immense prosperity throughout the 19th-century. Such successes made George Town the financial centre of Malaya, home to several regional and international banks of the early-20th century, notably Standard Chartered, HSBC, Royal Bank of Scotland, the Netherlands Trading Society, and Ban Hin Lee Bank. George Town also functioned as the headquarters for revolutionary activities by the Tongmenghui in Southeast Asia that eventually launched the Wuchang Uprising, a precursor towards the Xinhai Revolution in Qing China.
In the modern era, George Town is an important hub of arts, culture, manufacturing, transportation, education, healthcare, and media in Malaysia. It is still the financial centre of northern Peninsular Malaysia, and since the 1970s, the Bayan Lepas Free Industrial Zone, a high-tech manufacturing hub regarded as the "Silicon Valley of the East", became the centre of the Malaysian electronics manufacturing industry. George Town also serves as the country's primary medical tourism hub. The Penang International Airport links George Town with several major regional cities, while a ferry service, the Penang Bridge and the Second Penang Bridge connect the city with the rest of Peninsular Malaysia. Meanwhile, George Town's Swettenham Pier has emerged as the busiest port of call in Malaysia for cruise ships. George Town is also the birthplace of Malaysian print media; The Prince of Wales Island Gazette, one of Southeast Asia's oldest newspapers, was first published in George Town in 1805. Stemming from the centuries of intermingling of the various ethnicities and religions that arrived on its shores, George Town acquired its own unique architectural styles and cuisine. It has also gained a reputation as modern Malaysia's gastronomical capital for its distinct and ubiquitous street food. The preservation of these cultures contributed to the city centre's inscription as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2008.
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