Off the wire
• Urgent: China International Search and Rescue Team Arrives in Nepal to carry out humanitarian rescue  • Women' s semifinal results at FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour Fuzhou Open  • Three countries chinlone teams to take training in Myanmar  • Writethru: Death toll from Nepal earthquake climbs to 1896: government official  • United States Army official to visit New Zealand  • Death toll from Nepal earthquake climbs to 1896: government official  • Curry scores 39 as Warriors sweep  • Over 600 Chinese tourists stranded in quake-hit Nepal  • Interview: Healthy ASEAN-China ties important to world: Malaysian FM  • Venezuelan president says to build new homes in cooperation with Chinese companies  
You are here: 　 Home

Backgrounder: Kuala Lumpur and Langkawi, venues of 26th ASEAN summit

Xinhua, April 26, 2015 Adjust font size:

The two-day 26th ASEAN summit is to kick off on Sunday when leaders from 10 Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries gather to discuss the future development of the group.

This will be the fourth time that Malaysia hosts the summit since the bloc was formed by Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand in 1967. The country chaired ASEAN in 1977, 1997 and 2005 previously.

Malaysia has set the theme for this year's ASEAN Chair as "Our People, Our Community, Our Vision."

The first day of the summit will be held in Kuala Lumpur, while the closing ceremony will be staged in Langkawi. The following are some facts about the two cities.

Kuala Lumpur is the federal capital and most populous city in Malaysia. The city covers an area of 243 square km and has an estimated population of 1.6 million as of 2010.

Kuala Lumpur is the cultural, financial and economic center of Malaysia due to its position as the capital as well as being a key city.

Tourism plays an important role in the city's service-driven economy. Many large worldwide hotel chains have a presence in the city. Kuala Lumpur is the sixth most visited city in the world, with 8.9 million tourists per year.

In addition, Kuala Lumpur is home to the tallest twin buildings in the world, the Petronas Twin Towers, which have become an iconic symbol of Malaysia's futuristic development.

The city has a tropical rainforest climate, which is warm and sunny, along with abundant rainfall, especially during the northeast monsoon season from October to March. Maximum temperatures hover between 32 and 33 degrees Celsius, while minimums hover between 23.4 and 24.6 degrees Celsius.

Langkawi, the other venue of the summit, is an archipelago of 104 islands in the Andaman Sea, some 30 km off the mainland coast of northwestern Malaysia. The islands are a part of the state of Kedah, which is adjacent to the Thai border.

By far the largest of the islands is the eponymous Pulau Langkawi with a population of some 64,792, the only other inhabited island being nearby Pulau Tuba.

Ninety percent of the population in Langkawi are Malays. The other ethnic groups consist mainly of Chinese, Indians and Thais.

Langkawi is a duty-free island. Tourism plays an increasingly important role in local economy. Its beautiful and calm islands are great attractions for tourists.

Langkawi receives more than 2,400 mm of rain annually. It has a true dry season from December until February while March to November is a long raining season. August is the wettest month, when it normally receives more than 500 mm of rainfall. Endi