Melbourne takes Sydney's crown as biggest city or does it?

For decades, Sydney has been viewed as Australia's biggest city with over five-point-three million residents. But the Australian Bureau of statistics says that has now changed, as Melbourne overtakes Sydney as Australia's biggest state capital.

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Key Points

• Sydney’s population dominated Melbourne’s in 1902 and has remained so for more than a hundred years - until now.
• Currently, Melbourne has approximately 19,000 more people than Sydney, with a total of about 4.9 million.
• Both international and net migration has enabled Melbourne to grow as a city.