page_title: George Town, Penang
section_title: Street names
hierarchical_section_title: George Town, Penang / Geography / Cityscape / Street names
caption_attribution_description: English: New street sign: Victoria St, George Town, Penang
context_page_description: George Town is the capital city of the Malaysian state of Penang. George Town is Malaysia's third most populous city with 708,127 inhabitants as of 2010, while Greater Penang is the nation's second largest conurbation with a population of 2,412,616. The historical core of George Town has been inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2008.
  Established as an entrepôt by Francis Light of the British East India Company in 1786, George Town was the first British settlement in Southeast Asia. Together with Singapore and Malacca, George Town formed part of the Straits Settlements, which became a British crown colony in 1867. It was subjugated by Japan during World War II, before being recaptured by the British at war's end. Shortly before Malaya attained independence from the British in 1957, George Town was declared a city by Queen Elizabeth II, making it the first city in the country's modern history.
  Due to the intermingling of the various ethnicities and religions that arrived on its shores, George Town acquired a large eclectic assortment of colonial and Asian architectural styles.
context_section_description: Unlike other cities in Malaysia, George Town still retains most of its English street names. Even for roads that have been renamed in Malay, such as Jalan Masjid Negeri, Penangites in general still prefer to use the road's former colonial name, which in this particular case is Green Lane. This is partly because the new names are often unwieldy (e.g. Pitt Street vs Jalan Masjid Kapitan Keling, Northam Road vs Jalan Sultan Ahmad Shah), but also reflects a strong conservatism in the local population, who see Penang's colonial history as part of their local identity.
  Since 2008, multi-lingual road signs have been in use throughout Penang Island. Each of the new road signs shows the street's official Malay name and either the street's English, Chinese, Tamil or Arabic name.
caption: A bilingual road sign at Victoria Street
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