Alor Star, formerly known as Alor Setar is the state capital of Kedah, Malaysia, and Kota Setar District's Administrative Centre. It is also a distribution center for manufacturing and agricultural products such as paddy, and the royal seat of the Kedah state since the establishment of this city. The city, which has an urban population of approximately more than 300,000, is one of the region’s oldest cities.
It is located 93 kilometers north of Butterworth, Penang and 45 km south of the Thai-Malaysia border, with the latitude of 6°7' 0N and longitude of 100°22' 0E. Its time zone is UTC+8. As a transportation hub in the northern region of Peninsular Malaysia, many places can be easily reached from Alor Star, such as Phuket, Kota Bahru, Langkawi and etc, either by air, rail, road or sea.
It is also the birth place of a few famous personalities in Malaysia, including two former Prime Ministers, YTM Tunku Abdul Rahman, Malaysia's first Prime Minister, and Tun Dr. Mahathir bin Mohamad, Malaysia's fourth Prime Minister. Alor Star was granted city status on 21 December 2003.