Johor Bahru

View of Johor Bahru from Puteri Pacific Johor Bahru. (15 September, 2016)


B. Melayu

Johor Bahru (GPS: 1.48848, 103.75762), (Jawi: جوهر بهرو; Chinese: 新山; Pinyin: Xīnshān; Hokkien: Sin3snua1/Sin3san1; Tamil: ஜொகூர் பாரு) is the capital as well as largest city in Johor. It also serves as the administrative centre for Johor Bahru District. Popularly abbreviated as JB, Johor Bahru has a population of approximately 500,000 and a metropolitan area with 1.8 million inhabitants, making it the third largest city¹ in Malaysia and one of the fastest growing in Southeast Asia.

Johor Bahru with Timothy Tye is a comprehensive guide created to help you plan what you get to know and enjoy your visit to this state capital of Johor. All its sights is described here in detail, with GPS coordinates to help you find your way to each of them.

Where to stay when in Johor Bahru

When asked where to stay, I usually suggest only hotels where I myself have stayed before and experienced their hospitality. For Johor Bahru, my suggestion includes Grand Paragon Hotel, KSL Resort and The Puteri Pacific Johor Bahru.

Map of Johor Bahru

What to eat in Johor Bahru

Recommended hotels in Johor Bahru

Places of Interest in Johor Bahru

Sights in Johor Bahru

Places in Johor Bahru

Category of sights in Johor Bahru

Suburbs of Johor Bahru

Transportation Infrastructure in Johor Bahru

Hospitals in Johor Bahru

Utilities in Johor Bahru

Johor Bahru Travel Information

Going to Johor Bahru

By Road
Johor Bahru is linked to Singapore via the Causeway as well as the Second Link. The city is located at the southern end of the North-South Expressway (E2), which links it to most of the major towns and cities in Peninsular Malaysia.

By Bus You can take long-distance buses to Johor Bahru. Buses go to Larkin Sentral, the long-distance bus terminal and taxi stand. If you are coming from Singapore, you can take express buses from the bus stop near the Kranji MRT Station, or from the Queen Street Bus Terminal or at Jurong Point (next to Boon Lay MRT Station). By Plane
Johor Bahru's Senai Airport (JHB), also known as the Sultan Ismail Airport, is located 28 km to the northwest of the city. The airport is served by Malaysia Airlines, which connects it to Kuala Lumpur, Kuching and Kota Kinabalu. AirAsia also flies to Senai, providing air links with Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Kuching, Sibu, Miri, Kota Kinabalu, Bali, Jakarta, Surabaya and Bangkok. Firefly provides connection between Senai and Subang Airport in Kuala Lumpur.

A small mosque at Jalan Dato Setia (14 September, 2016)


JB Sentral (14 September, 2016)


Konsulat Republik Indonesia Johor Bahru (14 September, 2016)

History of Johor Bahru

Johor Bahru was founded by Temenggong Daing Ibrahim in 1855 as his capital. Before that, it was a small Malay fishing village known as Tanjung Puteri. It was his son Temenggong Abu Bakar who renamed it Johor Bahru on 1 January 1866. Temenggong Abu Bakar later ascended the throne as Sultan Abu Bakar in 1885. Many of the historical buildings in Johor Bahru were built by Sultan Abu Bakar, who is regarded as the father of modern Johor.

The railway line connecting the towns in Peninsular Malaysia was extended to Johor Bahru in 1909. With the completion of the Causeway in 1923 allowed the railway to go all the way till Singapore. Sultan Ibrahim Building was constructed as the British government building in 1940, but soon fell into the hands of the Japanese.

The Japanese army arrived in Johor Bahru on 31 January 1942 and took over the town with little resistance. Istana Bukit Serene, residence of the sultan, was made the base for their preparation to conquer Singapore.

After the end of World War II, Johor Bahru became the cradle of Malay nationalism. It was here that the Menteri Besar of Johor, Onn Jaafar, formed the United Malay National Organisation, UMNO, in May 1946 to voice their disenchantment over the granting of citizenship to non-Malays.

Johor Bahru started growing rapidly since the 1960's, helped in some way by its proximity to Singapore. Small towns close to Johor Bahru were absorbed as the metropolitan area expanded outwards. It was given city status on 1 January 1994, and Dataran Bandaraya Johor Bahru was built to commemorate the occasion.

Further Reading on Johor Bahru

On this section, I like to share articles written by my friends related to Johor Bahru.

- My friend Evonne wrote about the Hispter Quarter of Johor Bahru. It appears on Today Online. Here's the article.

References

1. Based on the population of Kuala Lumpur of 1.7 million (2015), by the Department of Statistics, Malaysia, of Penang Island of 678,000 (General Info, by Tourism Penang, 2007), and of Johor Bahru of 497,067 (Statistics Department, Malaysia, 2010).

Back to Johor mainpage; list of Towns in Johor and State Capitals of Malaysia

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About this website

Hello and thanks for reading this page. My name is Timothy and my hobby is in describing places so that I can share the information with the general public. My website has become the go to site for a lot of people including students, teachers, journalists, etc. whenever they seek information on places, particularly those in Malaysia and Singapore. I have been doing this since 5 January 2003, for over twenty years already. You can read about me at Discover Timothy. By now I have compiled information on thousands of places, mostly in Peninsular Malaysia and Singapore, and I continue to add more almost every day. My goal is to describe every street in every town in Malaysia and Singapore.