Pangkor Island is located just off the coast of North West Malaysia. This Malaysian island is about 300 km North from the country capital Kuala Lumpur. Pangkor island is about 200 km South of Penang and 70 km South-West of Perak's capital Ipoh. A brief history of Pulau Pangkor There is not much known about the origins of the inhabitants of Pangkor. The local inhabitants believed that the island was protected by the spirits, so they called Pulau Pangkor the Spirit Island. Another name for Pulau Pangkor in the old days was Dinding, which means 'screen' or 'partition'. This was in reference to the position of the island as it protects the mainland's estuary.Over the years the island was frequently visited by pirates who were roaming the seas around the island. They robbed boats in the Straits of Malacca and hide themselves on the hills on the island. The names of Batu Lanun meaning Pirates' Cave and Batu Perompak meaning Pirates' Rock echo the memory of the pirates.
When the Dutch came in 1670, they build a Fort of which the remains still stand. Dutch records referred to it as the Dindings fort ('Dingdingh') - named after the Dindings River which it faced on the coast of the Peninsula. Read more on the history of the Dutch Fort Despite the presence of the fort the tin-smuggling continued. In 1690 the Dutch left since local leaders frequently attacked the fort. In 1743 the fort was rebuilt but the Dutch did not stay long. Soon after, early 19th century, the British came. With their arrival, the island was renamed to Pulau Kera meaning Monkey Island. There's still many monkeys on the Pangkor. Later Pulau Kera was renamed into Pulau Aman (Peaceful Island) and then into Pulau Pangkor (Beautiful island).