Sepang

Sepang is a small border town, known in Malay as a pekan, and a mukim in Sepang District in the Malaysian state of Selangor. Its western part is the best known, because it contains Kuala Lumpur International Airport, the largest airport in Malaysia, and the Sepang International Circuit, which hosted the Malaysian Formula One Grand Prix and still hosts the Malaysian motorcycle Grand Prix. The town is said to be named after the sepang tree, Biancaea sappan. Before the airport was built, Sepang relied heavily on rubber, and in 1991 three large plantations, Ladang Sepang, Ladang Sopic and the Lo Thiam Estate, covered 3,415 hectares between them. Wild tigers were often met on these plantations and hunts were mounted in the 1910s and 1920s, and sun bears also threatened rubber tappers. The mukim covers 198.08 square kilometres and contains six Malay villages, two Chinese new villages and thirty one neighbourhoods.