Alor Setar

Alor Setar (<a href="/facts/Kedah_Malay/qyPGmRg0">Kedah Malay</a>: Loqstaq) is the state capital of <a href="/facts/Kedah_State/bopDPHka">Kedah</a>, <a href="/facts/Malaysia/8zbUMzCP">Malaysia</a>. It is the second-largest city in the state after <a href="/facts/Sungai_Petani/gmeEE8fD">Sungai Petani</a> and one of the most-important cities on the west coast of <a href="/facts/Peninsular_Malaysia/88WtYx31">Peninsular Malaysia</a>. It is home to the third-tallest tower in <a href="/facts/Malaysia/8zbUMzCP">Malaysia</a>, the <a href="/facts/Alor_Setar_Tower/wAugRhmG">Alor Setar Tower</a>.
Its location along the main travel corridor from Malaysia to Thailand has long made it a major transportation hub in the northern <a href="/facts/Malay_Peninsula/BrBger2u">Malay Peninsula</a>. Alor Setar sits along the country's longest expressway, located 430 km (270 mi) from Kuala Lumpur and 79 km (49 mi) north of <a href="/facts/George_Town,_Penang/HT9NhPGV">George Town</a>, <a href="/facts/Penang/IWJa6K33">Penang</a>. From Thailand, the city is easily accessible via the <a href="/facts/Padang_Besar%E2%80%93Sadao_Highway/nBF98xzr">Padang Besar–Sadao Highway</a>, it is 51.8 km (32.2 mi) from <a href="/facts/Sadao_District/XzaWNckw">Sadao</a> and 106 km (66 mi) from <a href="/facts/Hat_Yai/SUgbl4uB">Hat Yai</a>.
The city was originally founded as Kota Setar in 1785. Owing to the long status as the <a href="/facts/List_of_capitals_in_Malaysia/nIb9K7bk">capital</a> of Kedah, Alor Setar is regarded as one of the core cultural centres for the <a href="/facts/Kedahan_Malays/oTghdxKa">Kedahan Malays</a>. It is also among the key pioneer in the <a href="/facts/British_Malaya/SwMnjlFx">Malayan</a> transportation history, the <a href="/facts/Alor_Setar_railway_station/f9JQLrkj">railway station</a> was commissioned in 1915 followed by its <a href="/facts/Sultan_Abdul_Halim_Airport/QyDwywMa">airport</a> in 1929.
Alor Setar is home to the Central State Administration Centre and is the <a href="/facts/Administrative_centre/jyz1zfzk">administrative centre</a> of <a href="/facts/Kota_Setar_District/B6etSzpv">Kota Setar District</a>. At present, the city covers a land area of 666 km2 (257 sq mi), which is occupied by more than 400,000 inhabitants (as per the 2020 census). At the local-government level, Alor Setar is administered by the Alor Setar City Council.
It is the birthplace of two pivotal <a href="/facts/Prime_Minister_of_Malaysia/AcaKmRcR">prime ministers of Malaysia</a>; namely <a href="/facts/Tunku_Abdul_Rahman/6mwUVTrR">Tunku Abdul Rahman</a>, the founding father of the nation (in office from 1957 to 1970) and <a href="/facts/Mahathir_Mohamad/9tCfj47B">Mahathir Mohamad</a>, the country's longest-serving prime minister of 24 years (in office from 1981 to 2003, from 2018 to 2020).

Alor Setar open-in-new

Alor Setar