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Prince of Wales Island

an island belonging to Great Britain, lying at the N. entrance of the Straits of Malacca, off the W. coast of the Malay Peninsula, from which it is separated by a channel 2 to 5 miles across; area, 107 square miles. Two-fifths of Penang is plain, and the rest hills, which rise to a height of 2,734 feet in the peak now used as a sanatorium. The climate is hot, but very healthy. The scenery is charming.

The island produces cocoanuts and areca nuts, nutmegs and cloves, rice, sugar, coffee, and pepper. Georgetown, or Penang, the capital and port (Pop. 1915 about 105,000) has a large commerce.

The harbor is the strait between island and mainland. Penang was made over by treaty to the East India Company in 1786 by the Rajah of Quedah, and with province Wellesley, a long strip of the Malay Peninsula opposite (area, 270 square miles), it forms one of the Straits Settlements, having a resident councillor to control administration. Pop. (1915) 294,858.