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ABOUT
SABAH -
North Borneo |
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Sabah,
known as "the Land Below the Wind"
because geographically it is situated below the typhoon and
monsoon belt, has a uniquely diverse population consisting
of 32 ethnic communities, and boasts some of the world's
greatest wildlife treasures. In Sabah you find the highest
mountain in South East Asia, Mount Kinabalu, located in the
Kinabalu National Park, Malaysia's first World Heritage
Site. And Sipadan and Layang-Layang Islands are amongst the
top 10 diving spots on earth! Sabah's wide variety of
attractions, its stunning beauty, year-round pleasant
climate and friendly people make of it truly "Borneo's
Paradise". |
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Brief
Historical Overview
In 1521, Magellan's fleet visited Brunei and established the
first recorded contact between Westerners and the people of
Borneo. Between 1521 and 1764, changes in the Sultanate of
Brunei eventually let to the handover of North Borneo (first
English name for Sabah) to the British East India Company,
in 1764. In 1881, the Dent brothers of London signed all
rights to a company which was granted a royal charter. Kudat
became the first capital of British North Borneo. The
British North Borneo Chartered Company was officially formed
in 1882 and Sandakan became the first capital capital of
British North Borneo. Jesselton (to-day's capital of Sabah,
Kota Kinabalu) was founded in conjunction with the
construction of the Trans Borneo railroad. It became a
flourishing trading post until the Japanese occupation
during the second world war.
Subsequently Allied bombers
destroyed Jesselton, together with Sandakan and other towns
in Borneo in air raids targeted at the Japanese. In 1946,
after the Second World War the capital of North Borneo was
moved from Sandakan to Jesselton. Sabah became a British
Crown Colony as the Chartered company could not afford to
rebuild the war-devastated country.
In 1963, North Borneo became independent and reverted to its
pre-colonial name, Sabah, on becoming the 13th state of the
Federation of Malaysia. In 1967, Jesselton, originally named
after a director of the North Borneo Company, was renamed
Kota Kinabalu.
Economy
Sabah's economy was heavily dependent on timber export, but
with the depletion of this natural resource and policies to
save the rainforest in order to exploit it on a sustainable
basis palm oil has become a major player in Sabah economy,
next to tourism. Other agrarian products include rubber and
cacao.
Population
2,449,389 (Housing Census of Malaysia, 2000); mainly
concentrated on coastal areas and divided into 32 ethnic
entities. The main ethnic groups are the Kadazandusun (ca
20% of the total population); the Bajau (ca 15%); and the
Murut (ca 3%); the largest non-indigenous group are the
Chinese, who make up for about 30% of Sabah's population.
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