Map - Segamat (Daerah Segamat)

Segamat (Jawi: سڬامت Chinese: 昔加末) is a town located in the Segamat District, Johor, Malaysia. It is 95 km travel distance via North–South Expressway from Johor Bahru to Yong Peng, and another 77 km from Federal Route 1.

Strategically situated between Kuala Lumpur and Johor Bahru, Segamat is a fast-growing agricultural oil palm and rubber district, famous for its durians, hence its recent slogan to attract tourists: Selamat Datang ke Segamat - Tanah Raja Buah-buahan (Malay: Welcome to Segamat - The Land of the King of Fruits). Several recreational sites sit nearby to the town, namely Mount Ledang, Air Panas Waterfall and Bekok Waterfall.

According to local historian, Hassan bin Muhammad, the area used to be known as Rantau Panjang. In around 1511, a Bendahara of Malacca, Bendahara Tepok and his troops were retreating to Johor after the fall of Malacca to the invading Portuguese forces led by Afonso de Albuquerque. The Bendahara and his troops stopped and rested by a river in the area and drank water from the river. After the drink, the Bendahara exclaimed, "Segar amat!" (Malay: "Very refreshing!"), and named the river Segar Amat, in which over time evolved into Segamat. The name Segamat was initially applied only to the river, whereas the settlement nearby was still called Rantau Panjang. The town assumed the river's name only at the turn of the 20th century.

Buyong Adil in his Sejarah Alam Melayu Penggal V (Natural History of Malay Chapter V) wrote that Segamat comprises one of the nine states of Negeri Sembilan. Martin Lister, the British Resident of Negeri Sembilan in 1895–1897 also mentioned that Segamat was one of the states that Negeri Sembilan, which was once ruled by Temenggong Abd Rahman and appointed Temenggong Konit to administer Segamat/Muar from 1801. By 1900, Segamat, along with Klang and Naning were seceded to neighbouring states by Negeri Sembilan. Of these three towns, Segamat was annexed by Johor.

By the end of the 19th century, the four original districts includes several minor subdistricts, for example the previous Muar District has 4 minor districts – Parit Jawa, Chohong, Lenga and Segamat. The first District Officer of Segamat Minor District was Encik Menthol bin Haji Ahmad. In 1933, the district of Segamat was formed after a major district boundary realignment was made by the government of Johor to split the original 4 districts (Muar, Batu Pahat, Johor Bahru and Sedili) into 8 districts (before the 2008 realignment which added the Kulai and Tangkak districts to form 10 districts in Johor).

After the formation of Segamat District, the government began to develop Segamat, mainly with agricultural activities to boost the economy of Segamat. This included the construction of the national railroad system passing the town of Segamat and also the construction of the main road known today as Federal Route 1.

In the 1970s, Tun Razak Highway was constructed to boost the economy of Segamat as an agricultural hub, to shorten the travelling time to Kuantan and to speed up the development progress of the poorly developed areas in southern Pahang.

The Johor branch campus of Universiti Teknologi MARA was constructed at Jementah in the end of the 1980s and started its operation in 1991. The construction of UiTM campus in Segamat district turned Segamat into another important educational hub in Johor besides Skudai, which houses Universiti Teknologi Malaysia.

In 1996, the Segamat Land Port was constructed to make Segamat an important transport hub like Nilai, Negeri Sembilan. By constructing the land port, manufacturers may just transport their goods to Segamat Land Port which then will be transported to the nearest sea ports such as Pasir Gudang by train. However, the plan did not materialise as planned; the space was subsequently rendered largely vacant as of latest February 2012.

In 1999, the second bridge of Segamat, funded mainly by private developers, was constructed to reduce congestion at the main bridge. The second bridge was included as a part of Segamat Inner Ring Road package consisting the road upgrade to 4-lane road at Jalan Pemuda, Jalan Hassan, Jalan Pee Kang Hai and Jalan Chia Chin Koon, which was completed in August 2005. The inner ring road package is useful to divert the traffic flow when the main roads at the town center are closed for special occasions and events such as National Day.