| Johor Bahru 新山 |
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| — City — | |||
| Clockwise from top left: Johor Bahru Night View, Sultan Ibrahim Building, Tebrau Highway, Johor–Singapore Causeway | |||
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| Nickname(s): JB, Bandar Raya Selatan (Southern City) | |||
| Motto: 'Berkhidmat, Berbudaya, Berwawasan' (English: 'Servicing, cultured, visionary') |
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Johor Bahru
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Johor Bahru
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| Coordinates: | |||
| Country | Malaysia | ||
| State | Johor | ||
| Establishment | 1855 | ||
| Granted city status | 1994 | ||
| Government | |||
| • Mayor | Haji Mohd Jaffar Bin Awang | ||
| Area | |||
| • City | 185 km2 (72.27 sq mi) | ||
| Elevation | 36.88 m (121 ft) | ||
| Population (2009) | |||
| • City | 1,463,800 (2nd) | ||
| • Density | 7,409/km2 (18,967/sq mi) | ||
| • Metro | 1,800,000 | ||
| Time zone | MST (UTC+8) | ||
| • Summer (DST) | Not observed (UTC) | ||
| Website | http://www.johordt.gov.my/ | ||
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Johor Bahru (also spelled Johor Baharu, Johor Baru,[nb 1] or Johore Bahru; abbreviated as JB) is the capital city of Johor in southern Malaysia. Johor Bahru is the southernmost city of the Eurasian mainland.[1] Pasir Pelangi, the royal village, is located within Johor Bahru.
With a population of approximately 900,000 in the city, and nearly 2 million in the metropolitan area, Johor Bahru is the second largest urban area in Malaysia, after the national capital, Kuala Lumpur, and its associated Klang Valley region.[2] The total population of the Singapore-Johor Bahru conurbation is 7 million; it is also part of the 8-million-person metropolitan area of the Sijori Growth Triangle, one of the largest in Southeast Asia.[3][4] Johor Bahru is easily reached from Singapore, and receives 49.9 percent of the country's annual 22.5 million foreign tourists via its bridges and road links to Singapore. The city is an important industrial, tourism and commercial hub for southern Malaysia and one of the biggest industrial centres of the country.
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The city council administers the highly developed southern central coast of the metropolitan area, with a total area of 185 square kilometres (71 sq mi). It is situated on the Straits of Johor (also known as the Straits of Tebrau), which separate Malaysia and Singapore. Metropolitan Johor Bahru occupies extensive coastal land, consisting of ecologically rich swamp lands and important river systems such as Sungai Johor, Sungai Pulai and Sungai Tebrau.
Johor Bahru was founded in 1855 when the sovereign ruler of Johor, Temenggong Daeng Ibrahim, established his administrative headquarters there. That time Johor Bahru was known as Tanjung Puteri, was a small Malay fishing village. Temenggong Ibrahim renamed Tanjung Puteri as Iskandar Puteri in 1858; [5] His son and successor, Temenggong Abu Bakar (Sultan from 1885) renamed it Johor Bahru from Iskandar Puteri during the grand opening of Istana Besar Johor on 1 January 1866. [6][7][8]
Johor Bahru quickly expanded into a town under Abu Bakar's direction. Many of the town's buildings were constructed during Abu Bakar's reign, notably the State Mosque, Istana Besar, and the Menteri Besar's residence—many of which were built by Wong Ah Fook, a Toisanese-Chinese contractor who became a close patron of Abu Bakar.[9] The town also saw an influx of Chinese immigrants.[10]
Under Sultan Ibrahim's reign, Johor Bahru continued to develop; the Malay Peninsula railway extension was completed in 1909,[11] and the completion of the Causeway in 1923 linked the railway and road systems between Singapore and Malay Peninsula.[12] Johor Bahru developed at a modest rate between the First and Second World Wars. The state secretariat building—Sultan Ibrahim Building—was completed in 1940 as the British colonial government attempted to streamline the state's administration.[13]
The Japanese army invaded Johor Bahru on 31 January 1942, during the Battle of Malaya; the Sultan's residence at Istana Bukit Serene became the Japanese military's preparatory base for their conquest of Singapore.[14][15][16]
Shortly after the war ended in 1946, Johor Bahru became a hotspot for Malay nationalism in the state. Onn Jaafar, a local politician who later became the Menteri Besar of Johor, formed the United Malay National Organisation in May 1946 after the Malays expressed widespread disenchantment with the British government for granting lax citizenship laws to non-Malays.[17]
Johor Bahru expanded in size from the 1960s onwards. During the 1970s and 1980s, new townships and industrial estates were built in villages and hamlets north and east of Johor Bahru, such as Tebrau and Plentong.[18] By the early 1990s, Johor Bahru had considerably expanded in size, and was officially granted recognition as a city on 1 January 1994. Majlis Bandaraya Johor Bahru, the city council, was formed and the city's current main square, Dataran Bandaraya Johor Bahru, was constructed to commemorate this event.[19]
A central business district was developed in the centre of the city from the mid-1990s in the area around Jalan Wong Ah Fook and the Johor-Singapore Causeway. The state and federal government channelled considerable funds for the development of the city—particularly more so after 2006, when the Iskandar Malaysia development region blueprint was formalised.[20] Johor government decided to moved their administrative headquarters since 1859 from Bukit Timbalan to Nusajaya, Gelang Patah, and renames it as Kota Iskandar.[21]
The Johor Bahru metropolitan area covers several districts and is jointly managed by the following local councils:
The Ninth Malaysia Plan, announced in May 2006, identified the area as a national priority for focused development, which called for government investment of over 12 billion Malaysian ringgit between 2006 and 2010.
The population of the District of Johor Bahru was around 1,200,000 people in 2000.[nb 2] The population is 44 percent Malay, 41.5 percent Chinese, 9.1 percent Indian and 5.4 percent other minorities.[23]
The Chinese community is represented by several dialect groups: Teochew, Hakka, Hokkien, Cantonese, Hainanese, and Hokchew (Foochow) are the major dialect groups in Johor Bahru. Teochew was the lingua franca of the Chinese community until the 1970s, and a large proportion of the Chinese trace their ancestry to the Chaoshan region.[24] Economic development from the 1970s brought many people of Chinese ancestry, generally from other dialect groups, from other parts of the state to resettle in Johor.[25]
The Indian community consists of Tamils, Malayalees, Telugus, Punjabis, and other smaller groups, and includes a large number of migrants from states like Perak, Selangor, Negeri Sembilan, Penang, and Kedah, lured by the availability of jobs in manufacturing and services in Johor Bahru and Singapore.
As one of the three main urban centres on peninsular Malaysia,[nb 3] Johor Bahru is an important industrial, logistical, and commercial centre. Its major industries include electronics, resource and petrochemical refinery, and shipbuilding.
The presence of Singapore-owned companies and tourists is significant. Johor Bahru's many shopping complexes cater to tourists from Singapore who visit the city for shopping and entertainment, taking advantage of the stronger Singapore dollar. As such, Johor Bahru's retail scene is highly developed for a city of its size. The main shopping districts are located within the city, with a number of large shopping malls located in the suburbs.[26]
The heavy industrial areas are Pasir Gudang and Tanjung Langsat, located east of the metropolitan area. They contain clusters of refineries, chemical processing plants, and shipbuilding factories. Light to medium industrial areas are mainly located north and north-west of the metropolitan area in Tebrau, Tampoi, Senai, Skudai, and Kulai.
Johor Bahru enjoys a close economic relationship with Singapore. A large number of residents in Johor Bahru work in Singapore, where salaries for equivalent jobs are higher than in Malaysia. This is partially because of the strong Singapore dollar, which was worth about 2.47 Malaysian Ringgit as of 16 July 2011[ref]. For the same reason, many Singaporeans live in Johor Bahru or visit the city for shopping, entertainment, and dining. Many Singaporeans own property, businesses, and factories in Johor Bahru.[4][27]
The Johor Bahru Central Business District (Daerah Sentral Johor Bahru) is located at the southern tip of the metropolitan area. Two major highways link the district to outlying suburbs: Tebrau Highway to the northeast, and Skudai Highway to the northwest. Pasir Gudang Highway and the connecting Johor Bahru Parkway cross Tebrau Highway and Skudai Highway, and serve as the middle ring road of the metropolitan area.[28]
The Johor Bahru Inner Ring Road, which connects with the Sultan Iskandar customs complex, aids in controlling the traffic in and around the central business district.[29]
Issues with transportation congestion are currently being addressed under the Iskandar Development Region master plan.
Access to the national expressway system is possible via the North-South Expressway.
The Johor-Singapore Causeway links the city to Singapore with a six-lane road and a railway line terminating at the Southern Integrated Gateway, constructed in 2008. The Malaysia-Singapore Second Link, located west of the metropolitan area, was constructed in 1997 to alleviate congestion on the Causeway. It is linked directly to the Second Link Expressway, Johor Bahru Parkway, Johor Bahru Railway Station, and the North-South Expressway.
Johor Bahru connects to regional and international centres: The Senai International Airport, located north-west of the metropolitan area, serves regional and national airlines.
To the west of the metropolitan area, in Nusajaya, is the Port of Tanjung Pelepas, which currently ranks as Malaysia’s largest container port since 2004, and ranked as 16th busiest container ports in the world in 2010.
Johor Port is located on the eastern side of the metropolitan area in the industrial area of Pasir Gudang. It is the country's most important commodity and mineral resources seaport, as Johor is home to a large number of major commercial plantations, and Pasir Gudang is home to a majority of Malaysia's resources refineries.[30] In addition, Singapore's seaports and airport also serve Johor Bahru's transportation or logistics needs, as they are less than an hour's drive from the city.
Johor Bahru is home to three radio stations:
Johor Bahru is able to received all the radio station of Singapore.
| TV Station | Slogan | Website | Owned Company |
| TV1 | Saluran Informasi / Information Channel | Official Website | Radio Television Malaysia (RTM) |
| TV2 | Dunia Ria / Entertainment World | Official Website | Radio Television Malaysia (RTM) |
| TV3 | Inspirasi Hidupku / My Life's Inspiration | Official Website | Media Prima |
| ntv7 | 感觉美好 / Feel Good | Official Website | Media Prima |
| 8TV 八度空间 |
我们是不同的 / We're Different | Official Website | Media Prima |
| TV9 | Dekat di Hati / Close to the heart | Official Website | Media Prima |
| Astro 寰宇卫视 |
缤纷世界 充实人生 / Making Your Life Richer | Official Website | Satellite TV Astro Holdings Sdn Bhd |
Johor Bahru is able to received all the TV station of Singapore and two TV Station of Indonesia.
The city has completed a number of urban development projects aimed at making the city centre friendlier to pedestrians:
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