Kuala Lumpur
243 km²
Sydney
12,368 km²
Malaysia
Australia
Area Comparison
Kuala Lumpur is 50.9x smaller than Sydney
Population Comparison
Kuala Lumpur has 2.7x fewer people than Sydney
In terms of area, Sydney is 50.9x the size of Kuala Lumpur. Sydney spans 12,368 km² (4,775 mi²) while Kuala Lumpur covers 243 km² (94 mi²) — a difference of 12,125 km². You could fit Kuala Lumpur inside Sydney approximately 50 times.
To put Kuala Lumpur's size in perspective, its area of 243 km² is about 1.1x the size of Amsterdam. Meanwhile, Sydney at 12,368 km² is about 2.0x the size of Shanghai.
Picture Kuala Lumpur another way: its area is large enough to fit about 34,000 American football fields, 120 times the area of Monaco, or 71 times the area of Central Park. For Sydney, that's about 1,700,000 American football fields, 120 times the area of Paris, or 100 times the area of San Francisco.
Kuala Lumpur (KL), officially the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur, is the capital city and a federal territory of Malaysia. It is the most populous city in the country, covering an area of 243 km2 (94 sq mi) with a population of 2,075,600 as of 2024. Greater Kuala Lumpur, which itself includes the Klang Valley, is an urban agglomeration of 8.8 million people as of 2024. It is among the fastest growing metropolitan regions in Southeast Asia, in terms of both population and economic development.
Known as "KL", Kuala Lumpur covers 243 km² with a population of 2.0 million. The city was established in 1857. Kuala Lumpur is known for Petronas Twin Towers, Batu Caves, Merdeka 118, among other attractions. The city's main transit system is the RapidKL (LRT, MRT & Monorail).
Kuala Lumpur packs 2.07 million people into just 243 km2, making it Malaysia's most populous city by far
Sydney is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and is the most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about 80 kilometres (50 mi) from the Pacific Ocean in the east to the Blue Mountains in the west, and about 80 kilometres (50 mi) from Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park and the Hawkesbury River in the north and north-west, to the Royal National Park and Macarthur in the south and south-west.
Often called "Sydneysiders", Sydney has an area of 12,368 km² and is home to 5.3 million people. It was established in 1788. Visitors come for Sydney Opera House, Sydney Harbour Bridge, Bondi Beach, and much more. Getting around is easy with the Sydney Trains.
Sydney stretches roughly 80 km from the Pacific Ocean in the east to the Blue Mountains in the west.
Looking beyond city limits, the Sydney metropolitan area covers 12,368 km², which is 4.4x larger than greater Kuala Lumpur at 2,793 km². The Kuala Lumpur metro area is also more populous, with 8.4 million people compared to 5.3 million.
Kuala Lumpur has a population density of 8,148 people per km² — a densely populated city. Sydney, with 429 people per km², is a low-density, sprawling urban area. Kuala Lumpur is dramatically more crowded, with 19.0x the population density.
This comparison spans continents — Kuala Lumpur in Asia versus Sydney in Oceania. Despite the geographic distance, comparing their sizes reveals surprising insights about how cities grow worldwide.
Kuala Lumpur has a tropical rainforest climate while Sydney experiences humid subtropical conditions. When it's noon in Sydney, it's 10:00 AM in Kuala Lumpur — a 2-hour time difference.
Size Ratio
Kuala Lumpur fits inside Sydney ~50 times
Density Gap
Kuala Lumpur is 19.0x more densely populated
Kuala Lumpur covers 243 km². Cities with a similar urban footprint include Boston (232 km²), Edinburgh (259 km²), Osaka (225 km²), Amsterdam (219 km²), or Taipei (272 km²).
Sydney covers 12,368 km². Cities with a similar urban footprint include Chengdu (14,378 km²), Xi'an (10,097 km²), Melbourne (9,993 km²), Brisbane (15,826 km²), or Beijing (16,411 km²).
The straight-line distance from Kuala Lumpur to Sydney is 6,615 km (4,110 miles), with an estimated flight time of ~8h 17m.
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