Johor Bahru

The present area of Johor Bahru was originally known as Tanjung Puteri, and was a fishing village of the Malays. Temenggong Daeng Ibrahim then renamed Tanjung Puteri to Iskandar Puteri upon his arrival to the area in 1858, after acquiring the territory from Sultan Ali. It was renamed to Johor Bahru by Sultan Abu Bakar following the Temenggong's death. The word "Bah(a)ru" means "new" in Malay; thus, Johor Bahru means "New Johor". Bahru is normally written as "baru" in English (Roman) characters, today, although the word appears in other place names with several English spelling variants, such as in Kota Bharu, Kelantan, and Pekanbaru, Riau (Indonesia). The British preferred to write it as Johore Bahru or Johore Bharu, though the currently-accepted western spelling is Johor Bahru—Johore is only spelt Johor, without the letter "e" at the end of the word, in the Malay language. …

Due to a dispute between the Malays and the Bugis, the Johor-Riau Sultanate was split in 1819 with the mainland portion of the Johor Sultanate coming under the control of Temenggong Daeng Ibrahim while the Riau-Lingga Sultanate came under the control of the Bugis. The Temenggong intended to create a new administration centre for the Johor Sultanate to create a dynasty under the entity of Temenggong. As the Temenggong already had a close relationship with the British and the British intended to have control over trade activities in Singapore, a treaty was signed between Sultan Ali and Temenggong Ibrahim in Singapore on 10 March 1855. According to the treaty, Ali would be crowned as the Sultan of Johor and receive $5,000 (in Spanish dollars) with an allowance of $500 per month. …

Johor Bahru is located along the Straits of Johor at the southern end of Peninsular Malaysia with mostly flat landscape, save for some hills dotted around the city area. The city has an equatorial climate with consistent temperatures, a considerable amount of rain, and high humidity throughout the course of the year. An equatorial climate is a tropical rainforest climate more subject to the Intertropical Convergence Zone than the trade winds and with no cyclone. Daily average temperatures range from 26.4 °C (79.5 °F) in January to 27.8 °C (82.0 °F) in April with an average annual rainfall of around 2,350 mm (93 in). The wettest months, with 19 to 25 per cent more rain than average, are April, November and December. …

Johor Bahru was ranked the world's 39th most visited city by international tourists, according to Euromonitor International in 2019, making it Malaysia's second most visited city by international tourists, only after Kuala Lumpur. There are a number of cultural attractions in Johor Bahru. The Royal Abu Bakar Museum located within the Grand Palace building is the main museum in the city. The Johor Bahru Kwong Siew Heritage located in Wong Ah Fook Street housed the former Cantonese clan house that was donated by Wong Ah Fook. The Foon Yew High School houses many historical documents of the city history with a Chinese cultural heritage. The Johor Bahru Chinese Heritage Museum on Ibrahim Road includes the history of Chinese migration to Johor along with a collection of documents, photos, and other artefacts. …

Johor Bahru is the fastest-growing city in terms of urbanisation in Malaysia, according to Euromonitor International. It is the main commercial centre for Johor and is located in the Indonesia–Malaysia–Singapore Growth Triangle. Johor Bahru is also the core city of Johor Bahru District, the second-largest district economy in Malaysia. It ranks second in the nation behind the capital, Kuala Lumpur, in terms of economic competitiveness and prosperity, according to the United Nations and Resonance, and is currently the 29th best Asian city, second in Malaysia after Kuala Lumpur. It is classified as Zone A of Iskandar Malaysia, the nation's largest special economic zone by investment value. Under this flagship zone, Johor Bahru has been designated by the government to develop various economic activities, such as finance, commerce and retail, and hospitality. …

The internal roads linking different parts of the city are mostly federal roads constructed and maintained by the Malaysian Public Works Department (JKR). There are five major highways linking the Johor Bahru Central Business District to outlying suburbs: the Tebrau Highway and Johor Bahru Eastern Dispersal Link Expressway in the northeast, Skudai Highway in the northwest, Iskandar Coastal Highway in the west and the Johor Bahru East Coast Highway in the east. The Pasir Gudang Highway and the connecting Johor Bahru Parkway both cross the Tebrau and Skudai Highways, which serve as the middle ring road of the metropolitan area. The Johor Bahru Inner Ring Road, which connects with the Southern Integrated Gateway, aids in controlling the traffic in and around the central business district. …