The federal constituency was created in the 1966 redistribution and is mandated to return a single member to the Dewan Rakyat under the first past the post voting system.

For Parliamentary sittings (1971–1974), member of Parliament of this area was referred as Kota Kinabalu[5].

According to the gazette issued on 31 October 2022, the Kota Kinabalu constituency has a total of 22 polling districts.

[6] "His Majesty's Government Gazette - Notice of Contested Election, Parliament for the State of Sabah [P.U.

[permanent dead link‍] "Federal Government Gazette - Notice of Contested Election, Parliament for the State of Sabah [P.U.