Tanah Merah District

Tanah Merah District (meaning Red Land or Laterite) is a territory (jajahan) and town in the state of Kelantan in northeast Malaysia. The capital and main town is Bandar Tanah Merah situated nearby Sungai Kelantan. It is bordered by Pasir Mas in the north, Machang to the East, Kuala Krai to the South East, Jeli to the South West and Thailand in the West.

Tanah Merah is practically flat lowland consisting of alluvial soil suitable for planting in paddy fields. Many people work in the rice fields.

History

Historically it used to be a capital of a kingdom called Chi Tu. Chinese Sui Dynasty annals of the 7th century describes an advanced kingdom called Chi Tu ("Red Earth") in the area now called Kelantan. The ancient name for Kelantan was "Raktamrittika", meaning "Red Earth" — this was later changed to "Sri Wijaya Mala".

Demographics

Total population in 2009 was about 130,000, the majority being Malays, with small numbers of Chinese, Indian and immigrants from neighbouring Thailand.

Most of the population be distributed among various villages (or "kampung" in Malay) and suburb areas, while only a small proportion is located in the town.

Tanah Merah used to be a small town, but has seen major changes in last decade when the younger generation started to migrate to the cities in the Malaysian west coast for higher paying jobs. Money sent back to their families has catalyzed growth, expansion and development of the town.

Transport

Tanah Merah, station, residents can commute to Kuala Lumpur, Gemas, Singapore and others. Local trains from Tumpat to Gua Musang will also stop here.

Attractions

Tourist attractions include the availability of a variety of foods, and cultural attractions. For those who want cheap and local products, they can go to Bukit Bunga. There is variety of choices of clothes, house equipment and food, and customers can negotiate prices when shopping. It is estimated that there are approximately 20 to 29 mosques around Tanah Merah.

Geography

The landscape of Tanah Merah is greatly influenced by the Kelantan River (Malay: Sungai Kelantan) which supplies much needed water to its agricultural plantations. Mt. Kemahang (876 m or 2,874 ft) and Mt. Kusial (723 m or 2,372 ft) are both located in the western part of Tanah Merah.

source https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tanah_Merah_District