Petaling Jaya is a Malaysian city developed as a satellite city of Kuala Lumpur. It is located in the Petaling district of Selangor. Petaling Jaya has an area of approximately 97.2 km², arguably the state of Selangor's largest city. On 20 June 2006, Petaling Jaya was granted city status.

Until the end of 1954, the town was administered by the Kuala Lumpur District Officer and the Petaling Jaya Town Authority. Administratively and historically, it was considered part of Kuala Lumpur. However, Petaling Jaya ceased to be part of Kuala Lumpur when the latter became a Federal Territory on February 1, 1972. It then became a township in its own right within the state of Selangor.

On 1 January 1977, the Petaling Jaya Town Authority was upgraded to become Petaling Jaya Municipal Council or Majlis

Perbandaran Petaling Jaya (MPPJ). Petaling Jaya progressed rapidly due to the massive rural-urban migration. As more people from rural areas immigrated, Sungai Way and Subang districts along with new areas such as Subang Jaya, Seksyen 52 (New Town or colloquially known as State; the name of the first, former cinema in the area) developed in areas under the jurisdiction of the municipality. Eventually, in a boundary realignment exercise in early 1997, parts of Petaling Jaya such as Subang Jaya, Sunway, Puchong and USJ were placed under the jurisdiction of the newly formed Subang Jaya Municipal Council or MPSJ.

Fondly known as PJ among the locals, it also acts as one of the centre hubs of Klang Valley (comprising of Kuala Lumpur, Petaling Jaya, Shah Alam, Subang Jaya and surrounding areas) for industry. True to its name "Jaya" (Malay for success), Petaling Jaya quickly became the most prosperous municipality in Selangor.

On 20 June 2006, Petaling Jaya was granted its city status and Dato' Ahmad Termizi Puteh, a former Yang di-Pertua MPPJ, automatically became the first mayor (Datuk Bandar) of Petaling Jaya. Petaling Jaya's local authority changed its name to Majlis Bandaraya Petaling Jaya (MBPJ) or Petaling Jaya City Council following the granting of city status. On 15 August, Dato' Ahmad Termizi Puteh retired from the post of mayor [1] and he was later replaced by Tuan Hj. Mohamad Roslan Sikaman.

Demographics

As of 2000, Petaling Jaya claimed 355,530 inhabitants within the area of 51.4 sq.km. The actual population by 2003 would have been a little over 450,000 inhabitants without taking into account the total population of the Kuala Lumpur-Petaling Jaya conurbation which would have resulted in a total population of 1.5 million.Its population is comprised of 55% Chinese, 30% Malays, 13% Indians, whereas the remainder consists of other races. Petaling Jaya residents are served by two Barisan Nasional Member of Parliaments (MP), Datin Paduka Chew Mei Fun - PJ North MP and Dato Donald Lim - PJ South MP.