  We compare the results of the transport and time-resolved
magneto-luminescence measurements in disordered 2D electron systems in
GaAs-AlGaAs heterostructures in the extreme quantum limit, in particular, in
the vicinity of the metal-insulator transition (MIT). At filling factors $\nu
<1$, the optical signal has two components: the single-rate exponentially
decaying part attributed to a uniform liquid and a power-law long-living tail
specific to a microscopically inhomogeneous state of electrons. We interprete
this result as a separation of the 2D electron system into a liquid and
localized phases, especially because the MIT occurs strikingly close to those
filling factors where the liquid occupies ${1\over 2}$ of the sample area (the
percollation threshold condition in two-component media).
