Johor

Johor or Johore (jōhôr`, jə–), state (1991 pop. 2,074,297), 7,360 sq mi (19,062 sq km), at the southern extremity of the Malay Peninsula, Malaysia, opposite Singapore. It is largely covered with rain forests and swamps. The principal rivers and communication routes are the Muar and the Johor; the capital is Johor Baru, across the strait from Singapore. The Chinese and the Malays are the two largest groups in the population, and there is a significant Indian minority. Johor has extensive rubber plantations; other agricultural products are rice, copra, pineapples, gambier, and palm products. Tin and bauxite are mined. After the fall of Malacca (Melaka) to the Portuguese (1511), the former sultan of Malacca continued to rule over Johor and the Riau Archipelago. In the 18th cent. the Bugis, a Malay people from Sulawesi, became dominant in Johor. In 1819 a British-installed sultan granted the site of Singapore to the British East India Company and became for practical purposes an independent ruler. Thereafter relations with Great Britain were friendly; Johor remained one of the most peaceful of the Malay states. In 1885, Johor and Great Britain established formal treaty relations, and in 1914 Johor became a British protectorate. Until 1948, when it entered the Federation of Malaya, Johor was classified as one of the Unfederated Malay States (see Malaysia). In the 1970s Johor Tenggara became the site of a major resettlement and agricultural development project.