Historic Cities of the Straits of Malacca

Melaka and George Town, Historic Cities of the Straits of Malacca

UNESCO World Heritage Site
Melaka, above, George Town, below
Location	Malaysia
Includes	Historic City of Melaka Historic City of George Town
Reference	1223bis
Inscription	2008 (32nd Session)
Extensions	2011
Area	218.76 ha (540.6 acres)
Buffer zone	392.84 ha (970.7 acres)
Historic City of George Town Historic City of Melaka

Melaka and George Town, Historic Cities of the Straits of Malacca is a UNESCO World Heritage listing^[1] comprising the historic urban centres of two cities, Melaka and George Town, that illustrate 500 years of cultural and trade exchange between East and West.

This World Heritage site illustrates the development of maritime urban settlements in the region over time and the contributions of diverse ethnic and cultural groups in developing these cities. The government buildings, churches, squares and fortifications of Melaka demonstrate the early stages of this history originating in the 15th-century Malay sultanate, which was followed by Portuguese and Dutch periods of control beginning in the early 16th century. George Town represents the British era from the end of the 18th century and features residential and commercial buildings of the period. In both cities, the cultural and architectural contributions of local Malays as well as Chinese and South Asian immigrants can be seen, and their own evolutions traced over times as well.

Melaka was inscribed in the listing using the Malay language spelling of the name, as opposed to the more traditional English language spelling of its name, "Malacca".