Kuala Lumpur

Capital of Malaysia: population, location, elevation, climate and landmarks.

Kuala Lumpur with Petronas Towers

Kuala Lumpur with Petronas Towers: thomasgl, Public domain (Wikimedia Commons)

Overview

Kuala Lumpur is the capital of Malaysia. About 1.5 million people live in the city proper, making it the 1st largest city of Malaysia in our atlas.

It lies at 3.14° N, 101.69° E, about 56 m (184 ft) above sea level, and keeps time on the Asia/Kuala_Lumpur time zone. It sits inside the tropics.

Location

Red dot: Kuala Lumpur. Green dots: other major cities of Malaysia. Map data: Natural Earth.

Climate

Kuala Lumpur has a tropical rainforest climate (Köppen Af). The warmest month is usually Apr, with average highs near 30°C (86°F); the coolest nights come in Feb at about 21°C (70°F). Around 2,522 mm (99 in) of rain and snow falls in a typical year, spread fairly evenly through the year.

28°21°Jan20629°21°Feb15730°22°Mar19430°23°Apr25030°23°May17229°23°Jun15528°22°Jul16928°22°Aug18429°22°Sep19529°22°Oct26328°22°Nov31428°22°Dec263mm

Bars: average daily high and low (°C) for each month; blue columns and figures: average precipitation (mm). Gridded 2001-2025 averages from NASA POWER, so mountain and coastal spots can differ from local station records.

Landmarks and places to see

Petronas Towers
Petronas TowersTwin skyscrapers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Kuala Lumpur Tower
Kuala Lumpur TowerTower in Kuala Lumpur
Merdeka 118
Merdeka 118Skyscraper in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Telekom TowerSkyscraper
Independence Square
Independence SquareSquare in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Stadium Merdeka
Stadium MerdekaAssociation football stadium in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Islamic Arts Museum Malaysia
Islamic Arts Museum MalaysiaArt museum in Kuala Lumpur
The Exchange 106
The Exchange 106Supertall skyscraper in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Popular sights within a few kilometres of the city centre, ranked by how widely they are documented on Wikipedia.

What to eat in MalaysiaNational dishes, street food, desserts and drinks on Intercontinental Chef.

Nearby major cities

← MalaysiaAll cities

Sources

Text written by Geographical Effect from these sources.

Photo credits
  • Kuala Lumpur with Petronas Towers: thomasgl, Public domain (Wikimedia Commons)
  • Kuala Lumpur - panoramio (18): AwOiSoAk KaOsIoWa, CC BY-SA 3.0 (Wikimedia Commons)
  • KL tower1: Formulax, CC BY-SA 2.0 (Wikimedia Commons)
  • Merdeka Tower 20241022 - full 2: Ahmad Ali Karim, CC0 (Wikimedia Commons)
  • Dataran Merdeka 1: Haakon S. Krohn, CC BY-SA 3.0 (Wikimedia Commons)
  • StadiumMerdeka GrandstandFromNorth Sep2024 2: Fazley01, CC BY 4.0 (Wikimedia Commons)
  • Islamic Arts Museum Malaysia Exterior (May 2022) - img 02: Chainwit., CC BY-SA 4.0 (Wikimedia Commons)
  • The Exchange 106 skyline Nov of 2021: LegendaryLim, CC BY-SA 4.0 (Wikimedia Commons)