Federal Territory (Malaysia)
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The Federal Territories (FT), () in
Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...
comprise three territories—
Kuala Lumpur Kuala Lumpur (KL), officially the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur, is the capital city and a Federal Territories of Malaysia, federal territory of Malaysia. It is the largest city in the country, covering an area of with a census population ...
,
Labuan Labuan (), officially the Federal Territory of Labuan (), is an island federal territory of Malaysia. It includes and six smaller islands off the coast of the state of Sabah in East Malaysia. Labuan's capital is Victoria, which is best kno ...
, and
Putrajaya Putrajaya (), officially the Federal Territory of Putrajaya (), is the administrative centre of Malaysia. The Seat of government, seat of the Government of Malaysia, federal government of Malaysia was moved in 1999 from Kuala Lumpur to Putrajay ...
—governed directly by the
Federal Government of Malaysia The Government of Malaysia, officially the Federal Government of Malaysia (; Jawi script, Jawi: ), is based in the Federal Territories of Malaysia, Federal Territory of Putrajaya, with the exception of the legislative branch, which is located in ...
. Kuala Lumpur is the national capital of Malaysia, Putrajaya the administrative capital, and Labuan an offshore international financial centre. Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya are enclaves in the state of
Selangor Selangor ( ; ), also known by the Arabic language, 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 e ...
. Labuan is an island off the coast of the
Sabah Sabah () is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia located in northern Borneo, in the region of East Malaysia. Sabah has land borders with the Malaysian state of Sarawak to the southwest and Indonesia's North Kalima ...
state.


Administrations

The territories fall under the jurisdiction of the Department of Federal Territories. Originally, the Federal Territory (FT) Ministry was established in 1979 and was in charge of planning and administration of Kuala Lumpur and Klang Valley. In 1981, the FT Ministry was re-established under the Prime Minister's Department as the Planning Unit of Klang Valley. In 2004, the FT Ministry was again formed into a full-fledged ministry which focused on the development of Kuala Lumpur, Labuan and Putrajaya. In 2022, under Prime Minister
Anwar Ibrahim Anwar bin Ibrahim (; born 10 August 1947), also known by his abbreviation as DSAI and PMX, is a Malaysian politician who is the 10th prime minister of Malaysia since 2022. A member of the People's Justice Party (Malaysia), People's Justice P ...
's administration, the ministry was scrapped and its functions delegated to other ministries. Currently, the Federal Territories are administered by the Department of the Federal Territories (Jabatan Wilayah Persekutuan) under the Prime Minister's Department.


History

The federal territories were originally part of two states:
Selangor Selangor ( ; ), also known by the Arabic language, 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 e ...
and
Sabah Sabah () is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia located in northern Borneo, in the region of East Malaysia. Sabah has land borders with the Malaysian state of Sarawak to the southwest and Indonesia's North Kalima ...
. Both Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya were part of Selangor and Labuan was part of Sabah. Kuala Lumpur, the state capital of Selangor, became the national capital of the
Federation of Malaya Malaya, officially the Federation of Malaya, was a country in Southeast Asia from 1948 to 1963. It succeeded the Malayan Union and, before that, British Malaya. It comprised eleven states – nine Malay states and two of the Straits Settleme ...
(and later Malaysia) in 1948. Since independence in 1957, the federal as well as the Selangor state ruling party had been the Alliance (later the
Barisan Nasional Barisan Nasional (BN; ) is a political coalition of Malaysia that was founded in 1974 as a coalition of centre-right and right-wing political parties to succeed the Alliance Party. It is the third largest political coalition with 30 seats in ...
). However, in the 1969 elections the Alliance, while retaining control of the federal government, lost its majority in Selangor to the opposition. The same election resulted in a major
race riot This is a list of ethnic riots by country, and includes riots based on Ethnic conflict, ethnic, Sectarian violence, sectarian, xenophobic, and Racial conflict, racial conflict. Some of these riots can also be classified as pogroms. Africa A ...
in Kuala Lumpur. It was realised that if Kuala Lumpur remained part of Selangor, clashes between the federal government and Selangor state government might arise when they are controlled by different parties. The solution was to separate Kuala Lumpur from the state and place it under direct federal rule. On 1 February 1974, the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur Agreement was signed, and Kuala Lumpur became the first federal territory of Malaysia. The cession of Kuala Lumpur had the effect of securing the Selangor state government for the Barisan Nasional until the 2008 general election. The separation of Kuala Lumpur meant that Kuala Lumpur voters lost representation in the
Selangor State Legislative Assembly The Selangor State Legislative Assembly () is the unicameral Dewan Undangan Negeri, state legislature of the Malaysian Malay states, state of Selangor. The State Assembly is composed of 56 members representing single-member constituencies througho ...
and could only vote for representation in the
Parliament of Malaysia The Parliament of Malaysia (; Jawi script, Jawi: ) is the national legislature of Malaysia, based on the Westminster system. The bicameral parliament consists of the Dewan Rakyat (House of Representatives, Literal translation, lit. "People's As ...
. Labuan, an island off the coast of mainland Sabah, was chosen by the federal government for development into an offshore financial centre. Labuan became the second federal territory in 16 April 1984. Putrajaya is a
planned city A planned community, planned city, planned town, or planned settlement is any community that was carefully planned from its inception and is typically constructed on previously undeveloped land. This contrasts with settlements that evolve ...
, designed to replace Kuala Lumpur as the seat of the federal government. Sultan Salahuddin of Selangor, who was serving as the
Yang di-Pertuan Agong The King of Malaysia, officially ''Yang di-Pertuan Agong'' ( Jawi alphabet, Jawi: ), is the constitutional monarch and Figurehead, ceremonial head of state of Malaysia. The office was established in 1957, when the Federation of Malaya gained ...
at that time, was asked again to cede land to the federal government. Putrajaya became the third federal territory on 1 February 2001. In recent years, efforts have been made to forge a common identity for the three federal territories. A flag of the Federal Territories was introduced in 2006 to represent the federal territories as a whole. During the 2006
Sukma Games The Sukma Games (, lit.: Malaysian Games) is a biennial national multi-sport event involving young athletes from Malaysia's 13 states and 3 Federal Territories. The games are regulated by the National Sports Council of Malaysia, the state spo ...
in
Kedah Kedah (), also known by its honorific Darul Aman (Islam), Aman (دار الأمان; Arabic for 'The Safe Abode') and historically as Queda, is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia, located in the northwestern part of ...
, Kuala Lumpur, Labuan, and Putrajaya's teams merged into the unified Federal Territories team.


Symbols

Maju dan Sejahtera Maju dan Sejahtera ''(Progress and Prosper)'' is the official anthem of the Federal Territories of Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federatio ...
() is the official anthem of the Federal Territories. In addition to the flag of Federal Territories, each federal territory also has its own flag. Image:Flag of Kuala Lumpur Malaysia.svg, Flag of Kuala Lumpur Image:Flag of Labuan.svg, Flag of Labuan Image:Flag of Putrajaya.svg, Flag of Putrajaya


Sports

Since 2006, sport activities in all three Federal Territories are governed and coordinated by the Federal Territory Sports Council (, WIPERS), a federal statutory body.


Holidays

In addition to federal public holidays, all three Federal Territories celebrate Federal Territory Day. Labuan, with a significant
Kadazan-Dusun Kadazandusun (also written as Kadazan-Dusun or Mamasok) are the largest ethnic group in Sabah, Malaysia, an amalgamation of the closely related indigenous peoples, indigenous Kadazan people, Kadazan and Dusun people, Dusun peoples. "Kadazandus ...
community, celebrates Kaamatan with the neighbouring state of Sabah.


Federal Parliament seats

The Federal Territories representatives in the Federal Parliament (Dewan Rakyat) since the 15th general election are:


See also

* Federal Territories


References


External links


Malaysian Ministry of Federal Territories
{{States and Federal Territories of Malaysia