Rawang, Selangor

Rawang is a town (bandar) of Gombak district in the state of Selangor, Malaysia.

History

Rawang was founded in the early-19th century and was one of the earliest satellite towns of Kuala Lumpur. During the initial tin mining growth of Kuala Lumpur, many tin mines were explored and opened north of Kuala Lumpur, starting initially at the Ulu Kelang area and gradually moving northwards past Selayang and towards Rawang.

The earliest estimates of Rawang's founding date back to 1825. It was the second area in Selangor to be explored for tin mining. The tin mining industry in Rawang developed concurrently at around the same time as the larger tin mines Perak.

During the Selangor Civil War of the 1860s and 1870s, Yap Ah Loy's gangs who were aligned with Tengku Kudin repelled Syed Mashor's troops away from Kuala Lumpur and pushed them further north. During the Battle of Rawang in 1871, Syed Mashor's followers and Chinese gangs loyal to him (led by Chong Chong) ended up being pushed up towards Serendah and Kuala Kubu Bharu, with Yap Ah Loy's men (led by Chung Piang) holding their ground at Rawang. Thus, Rawang became an unofficial boundary of Tengku Kudin's dominance at the northern Klang Valley during the war.

Selangor

Selangor /səˈlæŋə/ also known by its Arabic honorific, Darul Ehsan, or "Abode of Sincerity" is one of the 13 states of Malaysia. It is on the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia and is bordered by Perak to the north, Pahang to the east, Negeri Sembilan to the south and the Strait of Malacca to the west. It surrounds the federal territories of Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya, both of which were once under Selangor's territorial sovereignty.

The state capital is Shah Alam, however the first city in Selangor, and the royal capital is Klang. Another major urban centre is Petaling Jaya which was awarded city status on 20 June 2006. Selangor is one of only two Malaysian states with more than one city; the other is Sarawak. Selangor has the largest city in Malaysia and it is growing rapidly due to modernisation in the Klang Valley.

The state of Selangor has the largest economy in Malaysia in terms of gross domestic product (GDP) with RM 128.815 billion (roughly USD 42 billion) in 2010 making up 23% of the total GDP of Malaysia. This state is also the most developed in Malaysia with good infrastructure such as highways and transport. The state also has the largest population in Malaysia, with a high standard of living and the state's poverty rate is the lowest in the country.