Topics
George Town, 
Malaysia
765,884 people lived in George Town in 2025. It is the 697th largest of the world's 12,138 cities, and the 5th largest in Malaysia.
That figure counts the whole built-up area, not the area George Town governs, so it may be far from the number the city publishes about itself. How the UN measures a city.
Verified 2026-09-30 · 73 canaries
People · every five years · 1975 to 2050
How George Town grew
For every 10 people in George Town in 1975, there were 26.1 in 2025.
On the UN's projection it will have 825,879 people in 2050.
projected (after 2025) · how sure the UN is: high moderate low
How to read this: each column is one of the UN's five-yearly estimates, 1975 through 2050, and taller means more people. Where a column is hatched the year has not happened yet. The strip under the columns is the UN's own confidence in each figure, palest where it is least sure; where it is blank the city was not on the list at all.
People · your family's years · 1975 to 2050
George Town through your family’s years
Put in the years your family were born. You’ll see how many people lived in George Town in each of those years, and when each of them turned 30.
Malaysia · every city · 2025
Where it is
How to read this: every dot is one of the 42 cities in Malaysia in 2025, and a dot's area is how many people live there, the biggest being Kuala Lumpur. The ringed dot in colour is George Town; the grey dots are the rest. The outlines around them are neighbouring countries.
Area and built-up land · km²
How much land it covers
In 2025, George Town covered 137 km², and buildings, roads and other built-up land covered 27 km² of it. That is 35 m² of built-up land for each person, about a square 6 by 6 metres. Since 1975, its built-up land has grown to 2 times its size, and its people are 2.6 times as many.
How to read this: pale is the whole of the city's land; the stronger square inside it is what is actually built on. The three are drawn to the same scale, so a larger square really is more land, and hatching means the year is the UN's projection rather than a count.
Of every 100 people in Malaysia
Its share of Malaysia
Of every 100 people in Malaysia in 2025, 2 lived in George Town, which is 765,884 people.
How to read this: 100 squares stand for everyone in Malaysia, one square for every 100th person. Count the coloured ones and you have George Town's share; the grey remainder live somewhere else in the country.
Ranked by people · 2025
Cities of a similar size
In the world, 2025
- 693 Nanded India770,215
- 694 Eskisehir Türkiye766,333
- 695 Yiwu China766,253
- 696 Liupanshui China766,243
- 697 George Town765,884
- 698 Hermosillo Mexico765,445
- 699 Sangli India761,451
- 700 Newcastle upon Tyne United Kingdom760,969
- 701 Yangzhou China759,812
In Malaysia, 2025
- 41 Kuala Lumpur8,443,731
- 288 Johor Bahru1,695,838
- 638 Ipoh823,097
- 672 Kota Kinabalu789,885
- 697 George Town765,884
- 931 Kuching586,880
- 986 Malacca City555,703
- 1071 Bukit Mertajam517,326
- 1210 Kota Bharu460,445
How to read this: the figure in front of a name is where that city stands among the 12,138 cities the UN counted in 2025, and each bar is its people, on one scale per list. Numbers are missing where a city has fewer than 300,000 people and so has no page of its own.
Apparatus
Sources and method
The figures for George Town are the UN's own, at five-year steps: an estimate for each of 1975 to 2025, then projection to 2050. Projected years are drawn hatched, and the UN publishes no range of uncertainty for a city. What a city means here, how the UN measures one, and why that number can differ from the one George Town publishes about itself: how the figures here are put together.
Sources: UN WUP 2025 · Natural Earth · flag-icons. Every source, its licence and how to cite it →
Verified 2026-09-30 · 73 canaries