Balakong (GPS: 3.02568, 101.73814) is a township in Selangor, with Cheras in the north, Kajang in the south, Seri Kembangan to the west and Bandar Sungai Long to the east. The town began as a tin-mining settlement prior to the 20th century. By the turn of the century, rubber plantation took over from tin mining as the mainstay of the local industry. The Balakong area was settled mostly by Chinese of Hakka and Cantonese ethnic groups. During the Communist Emergency Period, the settlement was relocated into a new village to prevent contact with communist guerrillas.
By the final decade of the 20th century, Balakong has transformed into an urban suburb of Kuala Lumpur. Increased population density in the area resulted in traffic congestions, leading to the widening of Balakong Road and transforming it into the present Kajang Dispersal Link Expressway, commonly called the SILK Highway. That highway forms the main artery for Balakong.
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