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World Measure
The population almanac240 countries · 31,365 cities · UN WPP 2024
City profile · Malaysia · Asia

Kota Kinabalu

Sabah · Malaysia
City population
500,421
#18
in Malaysia
#1
in Sabah
#1,143
worldwide
Kota Kinabalu
5.975, 116.072 · 1,625 km from Kuala Lumpur
City population
500,421
Within the city boundary, not a metro area
Rank in Malaysia
#18
of 350 cities of 15,000+
World rank
#1,143
of 31,365 cities listed
Share of Malaysia
1.4%
of the national population

About Kota Kinabalu

The largest city in Sabah, Kota Kinabalu has a population of 500,421. It sits 1,625 km from Kuala Lumpur and accounts for 1.4% of Malaysia's national population. Several smaller cities lie nearby: Putatan (78,340 people) and Donggongon (78,086) are each within 8 km, while Petagas (35,844) is 7 km away.

This summary is AI-generated from the figures on this page. The figures themselves come from the sources cited beside each value.

Position in Malaysia
#18of 350
LargestSmallest
Position in Sabah
#1of 19
LargestSmallest

Key Facts

Country
Malaysia
Region
Sabah
Rank in region
#1of 19
Distance to capital
1,625 km
to Kuala Lumpur
Elevation
5 m
Approximate — modelled, not surveyed
Time zone
Asia/Kuching
Coordinates
5.975, 116.072
Record updated
2026-04-14
Entry edited, not measured

City population, GeoNames. GeoNames publishes no year for its population figures, so “record updated” is when the entry was last edited — not the date the population was measured. Elevation is modelled from a digital elevation model rather than surveyed, so it is approximate.

Nearby Cities

All 350 in Malaysia

Closest listed cities by great-circle distance from the city centre.

6KMPutatan78K people8KMDonggongon78K people17KMKinarut16K people31KMPapar19K people46KMTambunan29K people

Compared with the World's Largest Cities

City-proper population against the fifteen largest cities in the dataset.

  1. Shanghai24.9M
  2. Beijing19M
  3. Shenzhen17.5M
  4. Guangzhou16.1M
  5. Kinshasa16M
  6. Istanbul15.7M
  7. Lagos15.4M
  8. Ho Chi Minh City14M
  9. Chengdu13.6M
  10. Lahore13M
  11. Mumbai12.7M
  12. São Paulo12.4M
  13. Mexico City12.3M
  14. Karachi11.6M
  15. Tianjin11.1M
  16. Kota Kinabalu500K
City-proper figures only. Administrative boundaries differ between countries, so these are not directly comparable to metropolitan-area estimates.
Kota Kinabalu compared with the fifteen largest cities
NameCity population
Shanghai24.9M
Beijing19M
Shenzhen17.5M
Guangzhou16.1M
Kinshasa16M
Istanbul15.7M
Lagos15.4M
Ho Chi Minh City14M
Chengdu13.6M
Lahore13M
Mumbai12.7M
São Paulo12.4M
Mexico City12.3M
Karachi11.6M
Tianjin11.1M
Kota Kinabalu500K

Kota Kinabalu Population FAQ

What is the population of Kota Kinabalu?

Kota Kinabalu has a city population of 500,421. That is the population within the city's own boundary, not its wider metropolitan area. City population, GeoNames.

Where is Kota Kinabalu?

Kota Kinabalu is in Sabah, Malaysia, 1,625 km from the capital, Kuala Lumpur. Its coordinates are 5.975, 116.072.

How big is Kota Kinabalu compared with other cities in Malaysia?

It is the 18th largest of the 350 cities of 15,000 or more listed in Malaysia, holding 1.4% of the national population.

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