Following a boundary change, Melbourne has surpassed Sydney as Australia's most populated city for the first time since the 19th-century gold rush. Sydney has proudly maintained the position for over 100 years, reports BBC. However, as the population in Melbourne's outskirts grows, the city borders have been stretched to cover the Melton region, it said. According to the most recent government figures, Melbourne has a population of 4,875,400, which is 18,700 higher than Sydney. Read More: Australian lawmaker breaks ranks to support Indigenous Voice The Australian Bureau of Statistics defines a city's "significant urban area" as any linked suburb having a population of more than 10,000 persons. "Until the 2021 census definition, the Sydney significant area had a higher population than Melbourne. However, with the amalgamation of Melton into Melbourne in the latest... classification, Melbourne has more people than Sydney - and has had since 2018,” Andrew Howe of Australian Bureau of Statistics told the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper, which described the redrawn boundary as "a technicality". Greater regions of a city, according to the Bureau of Statistics, take into consideration its "functional area" and include individuals that routinely socialize, shop, or work inside the city but may live in small towns or rural areas around it, the report also said. The federal government, on the other hand, anticipated that Greater Melbourne will surpass Greater Sydney in 2031-32. Read More: Ten journalists visiting Australia for skills, capacity building in mass media It is not the first time Melbourne has held the title of Australia's largest city. Melbourne grew rapidly and outnumbered Sydney until 1905 as a result of the late 19th century gold rush, which saw people flock to the state of Victoria.