List of cities in Malaysia
This is a list of cities of Malaysia. In Malaysia, there are 18 areas granted city status ("bandar raya") by law. However, there are also highly urbanised and populated areas that do 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 . 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 after that 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, the Penang Island Municipal Council, 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. Most residents disagreed with this view, who held that as George Town's city status has never been revoked, it remains a city to this day.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Fazal, George Town "legally has been and is still a city  because the City of George Town Ordinance 1957 had not been repealed"". 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, the Malaysian federal government upgraded the Penang Island Municipal Council into the present-day Penang Island City Council, thereby expanding the city limit of George Town to encompass the entirety of Penang Island, as well as a handful of surrounding islets. Subsequent cities. The royal charters for Kuala Lumpur, Kuching , Kota Kinabalu, Shah Alam, Malacca City, Alor Setar and Miri were from the Malaysian head of state, the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, while Ipoh, Johor Bahru, Iskandar Puteri and Subang Jaya were granted by their respective state sultans. Malacca City was declared a "historical city" prior to being granted city status in 2003. Kuala Lumpur, the largest city, is the national capital and a federal territory, but as of 2012, most government ministries have relocated to the new administrative capital 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. Population. Kuala Lumpur is by far the largest urban area as well as the largest metropolitan area in Malaysia. George Town, the capital city of Penang, is the second-largest city in Malaysia and the heart of Malaysia's second-largest conurbation. To the south, the twin cities of Johor Bahru and Iskandar Puteri form the core of 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.