Малайзия қалалары: мәртебе, тарих және қазіргі жағдай

none

This article discusses the list of cities within Malaysia. In Malaysia, cities (Malay: bandaraya) are officially designated under the governance of city councils (Malay: Majlis bandaraya), although there are several exceptions. as of 2024, 20 areas in the country are officially termed cities by law. Among them, 16 are from Peninsular Malaysia, while 3 are from East Malaysia. George Town, the capital city of Penang, was declared a city on 1 January 1957 by Elizabeth II, Queen of the United Kingdom, making it the first city in the country, and the only city declared before Malayan independence. George Town remained the sole city of Malaya until 1963, when Singapore was formally incorporated into Malaysia. However, Singapore's expulsion in 1965 meant that George Town would remain Malaysia's only city until Kuala Lumpur's declaration as a city in 1972, by Abdul Halim of Kedah, the fifth Yang di Pertuan Agong of Malaysia. In 1988, Kuching was chartered as the first city in East Malaysia. Klang is the most recent municipality in the country declared a city, doing so on 5 February 2024. There are also highly urbanised and populated areas across the country that did not attain city status, but are sometimes referred as cities. Officially, these areas are classified as municipalities or townships.

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 and 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, 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.

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.

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, forms the core of the country's second largest conurbation. To the south, Johor Bahru is the heart of Johor Bahru Conurbation, the nation's third largest urban area. 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.