Malacca City

Sister cities

• Yangzhou
• Valparaíso
• Jiangsu
• Nanjing
• Hoorn
• Sawahlunto
• Padang Panjang
• Kuala Lumpur
• Lisbon
• Shiraz
• Changsha
• Kashgar

History

Malacca was established when Parameswara, who had escaped from Palembang in Sumatra, decided to build a new kingdom following Malay Srivijaya's fall in 1377 after being attacked by Javanese Majapahit. Before he reached the site, he arrived in Temasek, which he decided to make the centre of the new Malay Kingdom's administration. But when Parameswara lived there, he killed Temagi, a Regent of Singapura who served under the Siamese King to take over the throne from Temagi. Fearing further reprisals by Siam when the news reached the Siamese Kingdom, Parameswara decided to move to a new place. After he left Temasek, it was attacked by Majapahit. Parameswara continue his journey to the north, where he reportedly visited Sening Ujong (now Sungai Ujong) before arriving at a Malay fishing village at the mouth of Bertam River (now Malacca River). He decided to stop there to rest. While he was resting under a tree, he saw his follower's hunting dogs fighting with a small mouse deer before they were kicked into a river by the deer. Soon, the site became the centre of the Malay world in the 15th and 16th centuries and the most prosperous entrepôt in the Malay Archipelago. In 1403, the first official Chinese trade envoy led by Admiral Yin Qing arrived in Malacca. Later, Parameśwara was escorted by Zheng He and other envoys in his successful visits. Malacca's relationships with Ming granted protection to Malacca against attacks from Siam and Majapahit and Malacca officially submitted as a protectorate of Ming China. This encouraged the development of Malacca into a major trade settlement on the trade route between China and India, Middle East, Africa and Europe. To prevent the Malaccan empire from falling to the Siamese and Majapahit, he forged a relationship with the Ming dynasty…

Geography

The city is located on both sides of the Malacca River near its mouth on the Straits of Malacca. The city is approximately 152 kilometres from Malaysia's capital city, Kuala Lumpur. Due to large-scale land reclamation, it has grown in size, especially in the south. Its physical features are characterised by flat and gently undulating land stretching from its coast. The historic central area of the city is located near the old coastline; it includes St Paul's Hill with the ruins of the Portuguese fortress and the Dutch Square on the right (eastern) bank of the river, and the old Chinatown on the left (western) bank. The Chinese Hill (Bukit Cina), where a large old Chinese cemetery is located, was formerly located to the northeast of the city, but is now surrounded by new buildings on all sides. Malacca's weather is hot and humid throughout the year with rainfall, the intensity of which depends on the time of the year. It is one of the driest cities in Malaysia, receiving just under of rainfall while most areas in Peninsular Malaysia receive an average of around of rainfall annually. However, Malacca has no dry season as average rainfall is more than for each month. Malacca is classified as having a tropical rainforest climate (Af) under the Köppen climate classification system, more subject to the Intertropical Convergence Zone than the trade winds and with no cyclones so a pure equatorial climate. The relatively stable weather allows Malacca to be visited year-round.

Most-observed species

• Javan Myna

  Acridotheres javanicus Cabanis, 1851 · Aves
  400
• House Crow

  Corvus splendens Vieillot, 1817 · Aves
  379
• Zebra Dove

  Geopelia striata (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  311
• Yellow-vented Bulbul

  Pycnonotus goiavier (Scopoli, 1786) · Aves
  292
• Black-naped Oriole

  Oriolus chinensis Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  286
• Spotted Dove

  Spilopelia chinensis (Scopoli, 1786) · Aves
  270
• Eurasian Tree Sparrow

  Passer montanus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  266
• Asian Glossy Starling

  Aplonis panayensis (Scopoli, 1786) · Aves
  235

Most recent

• M 4 — 2025-08-23
  13 km ESE of Segamat, Malaysia