Kulim (Tamil: கூலிம்) is the third largest town in Kedah after Sungai Petani and Alor Star (state capital). It is located on the southeast of Kedah, bordering Penang on the west. Kulim evolved from a small settlement in the 1950s to a successful city which is the focus of many industrial complexes. The house of representative of Kulim is Bandar Baharu.

Kulim is a district consisting of 15 smaller sub-districts also known as "mukim".

Kulim as a town was started in mid-18th century by 100 Malays from Pattani. By mid-19th century Kulim experienced a boom due to the discovery of tin ore. By 1890, there were 400 Chinese miners operating in Kulim. One of Kulim’s earliest settlements was a place called Belakang Tebok.^{[citation needed]}

The biggest tin mining facilities in kulim were Taman Tunku Putra, Kg. Bukit Besar, Karangan, Terap and Kelang Lama. Archived records show that by 1854 there were 8 tin mining companies that were active in Kulim with a total workforce of 1500 people.^{[citation needed]}