List of cities in Malaysia

This is a list of cities of Malaysia. In Malaysia, there are populated areas which are granted city status (bandar raya) by law. However, there are also highly urbanised and populated areas which does not have city status, but are sometimes colloquially also referred to as cities. City status is granted to a place within a local government area. Other populated areas which do not have city status are legally categorised as municipalities or towns.

Cities of Malaysia

The following is a list of places in Malaysia in order by the date they were granted city status.

Name	State/FT	Local government(s)	Chartered	Population (2010 Census)	Ref.
George Town Penang Island	Penang	Penang Island City Council	1957-01-011 January 1957 1 January 2015	708,127	renewed city status as Penang Island
Kuala Lumpur	Kuala Lumpur	Kuala Lumpur City Hall	1972-02-011 February 1972	1,588,750
Ipoh	Perak	Ipoh City Council	1988-05-2727 May 1988	657,892
Kuching	Sarawak	Kuching North City Hall Kuching South City Council	1988-08-011 August 1988	325,132	Kuching officially consists of two local government entities
Johor Bahru	Johor	Johor Bahru City Council	1994-01-011 January 1994	497,067
Kota Kinabalu	Sabah	Kota Kinabalu City Hall	2000-02-022 February 2000	452,058
Shah Alam	Selangor	Shah Alam City Council	2000-10-1010 October 2000	641,306
Malacca City	Malacca	Historical Malacca City Council	2003-04-1515 April 2003	484,885
Alor Setar	Kedah	Alor Setar City Council	2003-12-2121 December 2003	405,523
Miri	Sarawak	Miri City Council	2005-05-2020 May 2005	234,541
Petaling Jaya	Selangor	Petaling Jaya City Council	2006-06-2020 June 2006	613,977
Kuala Terengganu	Terengganu	Kuala Terengganu City Council	2008-01-011 January 2008	337,553

Former city within Malaysia

Name	State	Local government	Chartered	Ref.
City of Singapore	Singapore	City Council of Singapore	22 September 1951	expelled from the Federation on 9 August 1965

Penang

George Town became a city on 1 January 1957 by a royal charter granted by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, becoming the first town in the Federation of Malaya to become a city (Singapore became a city in 1951). The royal charter stated that :

"... the said Municipality of George Town shall on the First Day of January in the year of Our Lord One thousand nine hundred and fifty seven and forever thereafter be a city and shall be called and styled the CITY OF GEORGE TOWN instead of the Municipality of George Town and shall thenceforth have all such rank, liberties, privileges and immunities as are incident to a City."

However, local government elections were abolished by the federal government in 1965, and the functions of the City Council were transferred to the Chief Minister of Penang in 1966. A Municipal Council for the whole of Penang island was set up between 1974 and 1976.

Although the city status of George Town was never officially revoked, George Town's existence as a corporate entity was in doubt, let alone as a city. This is similar to the position of the former city of Rochester in England, the site of England's second-oldest cathedral, which had been a city from 1211 until 1998, when it was merged with a neighbouring borough. As the new council was not granted city status, and the city through oversight failed to appoint charter trustees to inherit the city charter, the city ceased to exist.

This view was disagreed with by most local residents, who held that as George Town's city status has never been revoked, it remains a city to this day. According to lawyer, Datuk Anwar Fazal, George Town "legally has been and is still a city because the City of George Town Ordinance 1957 had not been repealed".^[3] As city status is a matter of law, the actual legal position will depend on an analysis of the City Council of Penang (Transfer of Functions) Order 1966 and the Local Government Act 1976.

On 1 January 2015, Penang island, on which George Town is located, was awarded city status by the Malaysian government.^[1] Thus, George Town is the only city in Malaysia to have been conferred city status twice.

Subsequent cities

Kuala Lumpur, Kuching, Kota Kinabalu, Shah Alam, Malacca City, Alor Setar and Miri's royal charters were from the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, while Ipoh and Johor Bahru were granted by their respective state sultans. Malacca was declared a "historical city" prior to being granted city status in 2003.

Kuala Lumpur, the largest city, is the federal capital and a federal territory, but as of 2003, most government executive bodies are moving to the new administrative capital and federal territory of Putrajaya.

Criteria

Among the latest (2008) basic criteria for granting City status on a local government is that it has a minimum population of 500,000 and an annual income of not less than RM 100 million.^[2]

Population

Kuala Lumpur is by far the largest urban area as well as the largest metropolitan area in Malaysia. Penang Island, which includes George Town, is the second largest city in Malaysia as well as having the second largest conurbation in Malaysia, while Johor Bahru has the third largest metropolitan area in the country. Other metropolitan areas with a population of more than 500,000 include Ipoh, Kuching and Kota Kinabalu.

The following table shows the largest cities by population in Malaysia.

Largest cities of Malaysia (2010)^[3]
Kuala Lumpur George Town	Rank	City	State	Population	Ipoh Petaling Jaya
	1	Kuala Lumpur	Federal Territory	1,475,337
	2	George Town	Penang	708,127
	3	Ipoh	Perak	657,892
	4	Petaling Jaya	Selangor	613,977
	5	Shah Alam	Selangor	541,306
	6	Johor Bahru	Johor	497,067
	7	Melaka	Melaka	484,885
	8	Kota Kinabalu	Sabah	452,058
	9	Alor Setar	Kedah	405,523
	10	Kuala Terengganu	Terengganu	337,553

Locations of cities

Locations of cities in Malaysia

References

↑ Looi Sue-Chern (24 March 2015). "George Town a city again". The Malaysian Insider. Archived from the original on 26 March 2015. Retrieved 10 July 2015.
↑ "Criteria Status for Local Authority". Local Government Department. 30 June 2011. Archived from the original on 15 July 2015. Retrieved 24 April 2012.
↑ "Population Distribution by Local Authority Areas and Mukims, 2010 (page 1 & 8)" (PDF). Department of Statistics, Malaysia. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 February 2015. Retrieved 19 July 2013.

External links

Map at Archive.is (archived 2013-01-05)
Population of cities in Malaysia from World Gazetteer at Archive.is (archived 2012-12-09)

Cities in Malaysia
Alor Setar George Town (Penang Island) Ipoh Johor Bahru Kota Kinabalu Kuala Lumpur Kuala Terengganu Kuching Malacca City Miri Petaling Jaya Shah Alam

List of cities in Asia
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