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50 free Kuala Lumpur trivia questions with answers — geography quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
This Kuala Lumpur trivia quiz covers Malaysia's capital from muddy confluence to megacity: the tin miners of 1857, Yap Ah Loy and Frank Swettenham, the Selangor Civil War, brick-and-tile shophouses, the Japanese occupation, the flag-raising at the Padang in 1957, the 13 May riots and the move of government to Putrajaya. It also takes in the skyline and streets — the Petronas Towers and their skybridge, Merdeka 118, KL Tower, the Sultan Abdul Samad Building, Jamek and National mosques, Sri Mahamariamman and Thean Hou temples, Batu Caves and Thaipusam, Bukit Bintang, Petaling Street, the world's largest aviary, the 1998 Commonwealth Games and the birthplace of hashing. Questions run from easy to expert with the difficulty shown on each one. Every answer has been checked against a primary reference and each question carries its citation. Enjoy this one? Try our Malaysia and Singapore quizzes next.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Which of these is a Federal Territory of Malaysia?
Kuala Lumpur
It is one of three Federal Territories, an enclave inside the state of Selangor, along with Putrajaya and Labuan.
Q 02What does the name Kuala Lumpur mean in Malay?
Muddy confluence
Kuala is where two rivers meet and lumpur means mud; some argue it should really be called Kuala Gombak.
Q 03At the confluence of which two rivers does Kuala Lumpur lie?
The Klang and the Gombak
The Jamek Mosque of 1909 stands right at the meeting point.
Q 04What industry led to the founding of Kuala Lumpur around 1857?
Tin mining
Raja Abdullah of Klang sent Chinese miners upriver; the first mine opened at Ampang and exported tin in 1859.
Q 05Which Malay chief is officially credited with founding Kuala Lumpur?
Raja Abdullah of Klang
He raised funds from Malaccan Chinese businessmen to hire miners from Lukut.
Q 06Who is remembered as the 'father of Kuala Lumpur' and its third Kapitan Cina?
Yap Ah Loy
Appointed in 1868, he rebuilt the town after war, fire and flood, and set up the brickworks at Brickfields.
Q 07Which British Resident, appointed in 1882, ordered that KL be rebuilt in brick and tile?
Frank Swettenham
His 1884 rules created the shophouse streets with 'five-foot ways' that still define the old centre.
Q 08In which conflict was Kuala Lumpur captured and burned to the ground in 1872?
The Selangor Civil War
Yap Ah Loy fled to Klang, raised a new force and retook the town in March 1873.
Q 09Why is the KL district of Brickfields so named?
Yap Ah Loy's brick factory for rebuilding the town
The demolished thatch buildings were replaced with brick and tile after the fire of 1881.
Q 10Kuala Lumpur was the state capital of Selangor from 1880 until which year?
1978
Shah Alam took over as state capital after KL became a Federal Territory in 1974.
Q 11On what date did the Imperial Japanese Army capture Kuala Lumpur?
11 January 1942
At least 5,000 Chinese were killed in the first weeks of occupation, which lasted until August 1945.
Q 12Where was the Malayan flag raised for the first time at midnight on 30 August 1957?
The Padang, now Merdeka Square
The formal Declaration of Independence followed the next morning at the newly built Merdeka Stadium.
Q 13Who read the Declaration of Independence at Merdeka Stadium on 31 August 1957?
Tunku Abdul Rahman
He was Malaya's first prime minister; the stadium later hosted a 1975 exhibition bout between Muhammad Ali and Joe Bugner.
Q 21On which floors does the Petronas skybridge connect the two towers?
41st and 42nd
The double-decker bridge was lifted into place over three days in July 1995 and doubles as an escape route.
Q 22Which 1999 heist film starring Sean Connery has its climax on the Petronas skybridge?
Entrapment
CGI was used to add slums to the base of the towers, to local annoyance.
Q 23What is Merdeka 118, opened in January 2024?
The world's second-tallest building
At 678.9 metres it trails only the Burj Khalifa; the name means 'independence', after the nearby stadium.
Q 14What was the date of the worst race riots in Malaysian history, in Kuala Lumpur?
13 May 1969
Violence between Malay and Chinese communities followed the general election of that year.
Q 15In which year did Kuala Lumpur become a Federal Territory?
1974
It had received city status two years earlier, the first Malaysian settlement so honoured after independence.
Q 16To which planned city did the federal government move from Kuala Lumpur in 1999?
Putrajaya
It is named after first prime minister Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra; parliament and the king remain in KL.
Q 17How tall are the Petronas Towers?
451.9 metres
They were the world's tallest buildings from 1998 to 2004 and remain the tallest twin towers.
Q 18How many storeys do the Petronas Towers have?
88
Their cross-section is based on the Rub el Hizb, an eight-pointed Islamic star.
Q 19Which architect designed the Petronas Towers?
César Pelli
The Argentine-American chose a postmodern style to give KL a 21st-century icon; planning began on 1 January 1992.
Q 20Which building overtook the Petronas Towers as the world's tallest in 2004?
Taipei 101
The Petronas Towers were also Malaysia's tallest until 2019.
Q 24How tall is the KL Tower (Menara Kuala Lumpur)?
421 metres
It stands on Bukit Nanas and hosts an annual international BASE jump; Mahathir opened it in 1996.
Q 25Which Hindu deity is honoured by the giant golden statue at Batu Caves?
Murugan
Unveiled in 2006, the 42.7-metre figure is the tallest statue in Malaysia; the caves are the focus of Thaipusam.
Q 26Roughly how far north of central Kuala Lumpur are the Batu Caves?
13 km
They sit on a 325-metre limestone outcrop in Gombak, Selangor, formed from rock over 400 million years old.
Q 27Which Tamil festival sends a silver chariot through KL to the Batu Caves?
Thaipusam
The chariot carries Lord Muruga with his consorts Valli and Teivayanni.
Q 28The Sultan Abdul Samad Building of 1897 was built in which architectural style?
Moorish or Neo-Mughal
It housed the colonial government offices and faces the Padang across Jalan Raja.
Q 29What was Merdeka Square originally used for?
The Selangor Club's cricket green
Known as the Padang, it now holds a 95-metre flagpole, one of the world's tallest.
Q 30How tall is the flagpole at the southern end of Merdeka Square?
95 metres
A round black marble plaque marks where the Malayan flag was first raised in 1957.