Malacca

Malacca: see Melaka, Malaysia.

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Malacca

a state of SW Peninsular Malaysia: rubber plantations. Capital: Malacca. Pop.: 635 791 (2000). Area: 1650 sq. km (637 sq. miles)

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Malacca 

a state in Malaysia, in the southwestern part of the Malay Peninsula on a coastal plain. Area, 1,600 sq km. Population, 403,700 (1970), of which 52 percent is Malaysian and 40 percent is Chinese. Its capital is the city of Malacca, where about one-fourth of the state’s population is concentrated. The cultivation and primary processing of rubber is the basis of Malacca’s economy. Rice, coconuts, and oil palm are also raised. Coastal fishing is an important occupation. Bauxite is mined in the state. The mining of tin ores has been discontinued because the deposits are exhausted.

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Malacca 

a city and port in Malaysia on the coast of the Malay Peninsula; administrative center of the state of Malacca. Population, 99,200 (1970), of which 73 percent is Chinese. Until the 19th century, it was a major Southeast Asian port; it declined in the second half of that century. The freight turnover today is about 200,000 tons. Rubber and copra are exported. Industry includes vegetable-oil mills and enterprises for the initial processing of rubber.

Malacca arose in 1402. Until 1511 it was the capital of the Malacca sultanate and the largest port in Southeast Asia. From 1511 to 1641 it was a colony of Portugal, serving as the most important bastion of Portuguese dominion in Southeast Asia. Malacca was seized by the Dutch in 1641 and by Great Britain in 1795. It was returned to Holland in 1818. In 1824, Malacca was transferred by Holland to Great Britain (in accord with the treaty on division of spheres of influence in Southeast Asia), becoming the administrative center of the Malacca settlement. In 1826 it was included in the British colonial holdings in Malaya (Straits Settlements). From 1946 to 1948 it was part of the British colony of the Malayan Union, which in 1948 was trans-formed into the Federation of Malaya. In 1957, after the declaration of the independent Federation of Malaya, it became the administrative center of the state of Malacca. It has preserved the same status in the state of Malaysia, which was formed in 1963.