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SELANGOR

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Originally appearing in Volume V17, Page 480 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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SELANGOR is situated between the See also:

parallels 2° 32' and 3° 37' N. and See also:loo° 38' and 102° E., on the western See also:side of the See also:Malay See also:Peninsula. It is bounded on the N. by the protected native See also:state of See also:Perak, on the S. by the protected states of the See also:Negri Sembilan, on the E. by Pahang and the Negri Sembilan, and on the W. by the Straits of Malacca. The See also:coast-See also:line is about loo m. in length, greatest length about 104 m., and greatest breadth about 48 m., See also:total See also:area estimated at about 3000 sq. m. The state consists of a narrow See also:strip of See also:land between the See also:mountain range which forms the backbone of the peninsula and the Straits of Malacca. Compared with other states in the peninsula, Selangor is poorly watered. The See also:principal See also:rivers are the Selangor, the Klang and the Langat. The principal See also:port of the state is Port Swettenham, situated at the mouth of the Kiang See also:River, and is connected with the See also:capital, Kuala Lumpor, by a railway. The See also:geology of the state closely resembles that of Perak. The state is possessed of most valuable deposits of alluvial See also:tin, and See also:mining for this See also:metal is the See also:chief See also:industry of the See also:population. Kuala Lumpor is also the federal capital of the Malay States. According to native tradition, the ruling See also:house of Selangor is descended from a See also:Bugis See also:raja, who, with two of his See also:brothers, settled See also:History. in the state in 1718, the son of the youngest See also:brother eventually becoming ruler of the See also:country. In 1783 the then See also:sultan of Selangor joined with the Iang-di-per-Tuan Muda of Riau in an unsuccessful attack upon the Dutch who then held Malacca.

In See also:

retaliation the Dutch, under See also:Admiral See also:Van Braam, invaded Selangor and drove the sultan out of his country. In 1785, aided by the Bendahara of Pahang, Sultan See also:Ibrahim of Selangor reconquered his state; but the Dutch blockaded his ports, and eventually forced him to enter into a treaty whereby he consented to acknowledge their See also:sovereignty. The earliest See also:British See also:political communication with Selangor began in 1818, when a commercial treaty was concluded with the See also:governor of See also:Penang. In 1867 Sultan Abdul Samad of Selangor appointed his son-in-See also:law, Tungku Dia Udin, to be See also:viceroy; and this gave rise to a See also:civil See also:war which lasted almost without intermission till 1873, when the enemies of Tungku Dia Udin were finally vanquished, largely by the agency of the Bendahara of Pahang, who, at the invitation of the governor of the Straits Settlements, sent a warlike expedition to the assistance of the viceroy. In 1874 the occurrence of an atrocious See also:act of piracy off the mouth of the Langat River led to the governor, See also:Sir See also:Andrew See also:Clarke, appointing, at the See also:request of the sultan, a British See also:Resident to aid him in the See also:administration of his See also:kingdom. Since that date there has been no further See also:breach of the.See also:peace, and the prosperity of Selangor has increased annually. By the See also:census taken on the 5th of See also:April 1891 the population of Selangor was given at 81,592 souls, of whom 67,051 were See also:males and only 14,541 were See also:females. The census taken on the 5th of April 1901 gave a total population of 168,789 souls, of whom 136,823 were males and 31,966 females. Of these 108,768 were See also:Chinese, 33,997 were See also:Malays, 16,748 were See also:Tamils, and only 487 were Europeans. The returns See also:deal with nearly a See also:score of different nationalities. Since 1901 the population has been much increased and now certainly exceeds 200,000 souls. Now, however, that instead of a single port of entry there exist easy means of See also:access to the state by See also:rail both from the See also:north and the See also:south, it is no longer possible to estimatethe See also:annual increase by See also:immigration with any approach to accuracy.

It will be noted that the inhabitants of this erstwhile Malayan state were, even at the See also:

time of the census of 1901, over 64% Chinese, while the Malays were little more than 20 % of the population. In Selangor, as elsewhere in the Malay Peninsula, the deaths annually far outnumber the births recorded (e.g. in 1905 births 8293, deaths 12,500). The disproportion of the See also:female to the male sections of the population is greater in Selangor than in any other See also:part of the See also:colony or Malay States. The development of planting enterprise in Selangor, and more especially the cultivation of See also:rubber, has led during See also:recent years to the immigration of a considerable number of Tamil coolies, but the Tamil population is still insignificant as compared with the Chinese. The See also:revenue of Selangor in 1875 amounted to only $115,656; in 1905 it had increased to $8,857,793. Of this latter sum $3,195,318 was derived from See also:duty on tin exported, $1,972,628 from See also:Finance, federal receipts, and $340,360 from land revenue. The See also:Trade i4c. See also:balance [is chiefly derived from the revenue farms, which include the right to collect import duty on See also:opium and See also:spirits. The See also:expenditure for 1905 amounted to $7,186,146, of which sum $3,717,238 was on See also:account of federal charges and $1,850,711 for public See also:works. The value of the imports in 1905 was $24,643,619 and that of the exports was $26,683,316, making a total of $51,326,935, See also:equivalent to £5,988,000. Tin is the principal export. The amount exported in 1905 was 17,254 tons. The total area of alienated mining land at the end of 1905 amounted to 65,573 acres, and it was estimated that over 6o,000 Chinese were employed in the mines.

The See also:

main See also:trunk line of the Federated Malay States See also:railways passes through Selangor. It enters the state at Tanjong Malim on the Perak boundary, runs southward through Kuala Lumpor and so into the Negri Sembilan. It runs for 81 m. in Selangor territory. A See also:branch line 27 m. See also:long connects Kuala Lumpor with Port Swettenham on the Klang Straits where extensive wharves, capable of accommodating ocean-going vessels, have been constructed. A second branch line, measuring rather more than 4 m. in length, has been opened to See also:traffic. It connects the caves at See also:Batu with Kuala Lumpor. Frequent communication is maintained by steamer between Port Swettenham and See also:Singapore, and by See also:coasting vessels between the former port and those on the shores of the Straits of Malacca. All the principal places in the state are connected with one another by See also:telegraph. For administrative purposes Selangor is divided into six districts: Kuala Lumpor, in which the capital and the principal tin-See also:fields are situated; Ulu Selangor, which is also a prosperous mining See also:district; Kuala Selangor, which is agricultural, and poorly populated by Malays; Ulu Langat, mining and agricultural; Kuala Langat, the See also:residence of the See also:late sultan Abdul Samad, agricultural; and Klang, the only prosperous port of the state. Much See also:money has been expended upon the capital, Kuala Lumpor, which possesses some See also:fine public buildings, waterworks, &c., and where the principal residence of the Resident-See also:General is situated. In some sort Kuala Lumpor is the capital not only of Selangor, but also of the whole federation. Its scenery is very attractive.

End of Article: SELANGOR

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