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City guide · Malaysia
Kuala Lumpur covers 243 square kilometres and held 2,111,536 people in 2026, with 8.81 million across the Klang Valley around it. It is a young capital: a settlement grew here from about 1857 to supply the tin mines, and the federal government it later housed mostly left again in 1999 for Putrajaya, leaving parliament and the royal residence behind. What the city put up instead is legible from any high window — the Petronas Towers, and three of the ten largest shopping malls in the world. Mastercard's 2019 index ranked it the sixth most-visited city anywhere.
Ranked by importance — sitelinks, pageviews and heritage status, not editor preference.
Bangunan Sultan Abdul Samad stands on Jalan Raja on the eastern edge of Dataran Merdeka, and for almost all of its life it was a working office building rather than a sight to be visited.
The Islamic Arts Museum Malaysia opened in December 1998 on Jalan Lembah Perdana, on the edge of the Perdana Botanical Garden and immediately next to Masjid Negara, the national mosque.
Set your days, your pace and the hours you actually want to be out. The planner works around closing days and travel time, and leaves room to eat.
