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Kota Bharu, 
Malaysia
460,445 people lived in Kota Bharu in 2025. It is the 1210th largest of the world's 12,138 cities, and the 9th largest in Malaysia.
That figure counts the whole built-up area, not the area Kota Bharu 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 Kota Bharu grew
For every 10 people in Kota Bharu in 1975, there were 90.3 in 2025.
On the UN's projection it will have 805,722 people in 2050. It passed 250,000 people between 2000 and 2005.
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
Kota Bharu through your family’s years
Put in the years your family were born. You’ll see how many people lived in Kota Bharu in each of those years, and when each of them turned 30.
Malaysia · every city · 2025
Where it is
How to read this: Kota Bharu is the dot in colour with a ring around it. The grey dots are the other cities of Malaysia in 2025, 42 in all, led by Kuala Lumpur, each drawn with an area that matches its people. Countries next door are outlines only.
Area and built-up land · km²
How much land it covers
In 2025, Kota Bharu covered 150 km², and buildings, roads and other built-up land covered 28 km² of it. That is 61 m² of built-up land for each person, about a square 8 by 8 metres. Since 1975, its built-up land has grown to 7.8 times its size, and its people are 9 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, 1 lived in Kota Bharu, which is 460,445 people.
How to read this: 100 squares, one for every 100th person in Malaysia; the coloured squares live in Kota Bharu. The grey rest live in other cities, in towns or in the countryside.
Ranked by people · 2025
Cities of a similar size
In the world, 2025
- 1206 Zhanghua City Taiwan461,552
- 1207 Kismayo Somalia461,302
- 1208 Purnia India461,043
- 1209 Nagercoil India460,826
- 1210 Kota Bharu460,445
- 1211 Elenga Bangladesh459,645
- 1212 Atlanta United States458,225
- 1213 Jhelum Pakistan457,793
- 1214 Al Abbasa al Sharqiya Egypt457,678
In Malaysia, 2025
- 697 George Town765,884
- 931 Kuching586,880
- 986 Malacca City555,703
- 1071 Bukit Mertajam517,326
- 1210 Kota Bharu460,445
- 1287 Seremban434,530
- 1412 Sandakan400,980
- 1515 Tawau375,573
- 1527 Kuantan373,353
How to read this: names are in order of size, the leading number being each city's rank among all 12,138 in 2025; the bars share a scale within a list. A jump in the ranks means a city under 300,000 people, which is not given a page here.
Apparatus
Sources and method
The figures for Kota Bharu 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 Kota Bharu 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