Geography of Klang, Selangor

Klang or Kelang, is a royal town and former capital of the state of Selangor, Malaysia. It is located within the Klang District. It was the civil capital of Selangor in an earlier era prior to the emergence of Kuala Lumpur and the current capital, Shah Alam (Definitions.net, n.d.). Port Klang, which is located in the Klang District, is the 12th busiest transshipment port and the 12th busiest container port in the world (WikiMili, 2021). It was previously named Port Swettenham until 1972 when it was renamed Port Klang. Port Klang is located at Klang South.

Klang is situated at the Centre of the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia and covers five major areas such as the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur, Gombak, Hulu Langat, Klang and Petaling, where they cover an approximate area of 2,832 km 2. Klang itself has an area of 573km2.

As of 2010, Klang City has a total population of 240,016 (10,445 in the city centre), while the population of Klang District is 842,146, and the population of all towns managed by Klang Municipal Council is 744,062 (Alchetron, 2018).

Klang is divided into North Klang and South Klang, which are separated by the Klang River (Wikipedia, 2020). North Klang is divided into three sub-districts: Kapar (Located at the north of North Klang), Rantau Panjang (situated at the west of North Klang) and Meru (at the east of North Klang) (Wikipedia, 2020).

In Selangor, mangrove forests cover around 18,088ha (Alias, 2015). They are mostly located in the west coast of Selangor, from Sabak Bernam in the northern part to Kuala Selangor, Klang in the central to Pulau Carey (concentrated in the islands and river mouth area of the Klang and Langat River) to Sepang in the down south. The Klang Islands consist of seven major islands, with two of them are actively inhabited, which are Pulau Ketam, Pulau Tengah, Pulau Selat Kering, Pulau Selat Gedong, Pulau Che Mat Zin, Pulau Kelang and Pulau Indah, formerly known as Pulau Lumut. Actively, only Pulau Indah and Pulau Ketam are inhabited by humans. Almost 72% of mangrove forest reserves in Selangor are located in the Klang district. As well as this, the district covers the most mudflat and mangrove areas in the country, allowing Malaysia to be listed as the third largest mangrove forest ecosystem in the Asia Pacific region, after Indonesia and Australia (Alias, 2015). The mangrove forest has rich sources of fruits of the inhabited animal species. As a biodiversity forest, the mangrove hosts some of the wildlife species, which have lived and adapted their habitats to the surrounding (Mohamed Zakaria, et.al, 2009).

Collared Kingfisher (Todiramphus chloris) or Mangrove Kingfisher is one among hundreds of species of birds that can be found in Pulau Indah Klang, Selangor, Malaysia (Tjoe, 2021). Collared Kingfishers are resident birds to Pulau Indah. The birds can be found on the beach along the main roads of the island. Pulau Indah Klang is a wonderful birding destination in Selangor, Malaysia as it houses many exotic birds and has become a migratory birds' destination too. There are large areas of mangrove forest, seashore, streams and lowland forest on the island. It is also popular among the locals as a weekend destination for family get away, fishing, sailing, kite flying and drone flying. Along the Island’s seashore, there are a variety of accommodations, local food and recreational activities. As the island has a large bird population and varieties, it entices many birders to visit. The different bird species include woodpeckers, kingfisher, kites, land birds, herons, pigeons, shrikes, and egrets just to name a few (Tjoe, 2021).

References

Alchetron. (2018, August 14). Klang (City). Retrieved from Alchetron: https://alchetron.com/Klang-(city)

Alias U. (2015, November 1). Klang Mangrove forest reserve management. Retrieved from Slideshare: https://www.slideshare.net/umairahalias/klang-mangrove-forest-reserve-management

Definitions.net. (n.d.). Definitions for Klang. Retrieved from Definitions.net: https://www.definitions.net/definition/klang

Tjoe, S. (2021, February 5). Collared Kingfisher aka. Mangrove Kingfisher @ Kelanang, Selangor, Malaysia. Retrieved from The life Journey in Photography: https://suntorophotolibrary.blogspot.com/2021/02/collared-kingfisher-kelanang-selangor.html

WikiMili. (2021, May 28). Port Klang. Retrieved from WikiMili: https://wikimili.com/en/Port_Klang

Wikipedia. (2020, June 27). Klang (city). Retrieved from Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Klang_(city)

By Elyas Alam 0348464 and Ferdo Castillo 0346856