TAHAN, MOUNT

Malay Gunung Tahan highest peak of the Malay Peninsula (7,175 feet ), in the Tahan Range, West Malaysia. Mount Tahan is the central feature of Taman Negara National Park and a destination for mountaineers who begin their ascent from nearby Kuala Tahan, headquarters of the park. The Tahan Range parallels the Main Range (about 60 miles west) and extends south from Mount Tahan for about 75 miles (120 km) across the tablelands of Terengganu (formerly Trengganu). Its quartzite and shale soils allow only a sparse vegetation cover. Interrupted by the Rompin River, the range continues as isolated hills along the south-central part of the Malay Peninsula and as the Mount Faber Ridge in Singapore.