Malacca, usually spelt Melaka, is the name of both a small city and a state in the centre of Peninsular Malaysia. Melaka is the oldest and most historic city in Malaysia, having been formed in the 15th century, before other larger cities such as Kuala Lumpur and Penang. Melaka as we know it today is substantially different from Melaka as it was even fifty years ago. The most extreme transformation occurred in the 1990s, when the period's economic boom fueled a vast, poorly-balanced land reclamation that not only altered the nature of Melaka's coastline, but also impacted the livelihood of the fishing villages who dwell along the beach.