69 Facts About Sarawak

The largest among the 13 states, with an area almost equal to that of Peninsular Malaysia, Sarawak is located in northwest Borneo Island, and is bordered by the Malaysian state of Sabah to the northeast, Kalimantan to the south, and Brunei in the north.

Sarawak has an equatorial climate with tropical rainforests and abundant animal and plant species.

Sarawak is the only state of Malaysia with a Christian majority.

The coastal regions of Sarawak came under the influence of the Bruneian Empire in the 16th century.

On 22 July 1963, Sarawak was granted self-government by the British and subsequently became one of the founding members of Malaysia, established on 16 September 1963.

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Sarawak is divided into administrative divisions and districts, governed by a system that is closely modelled on the Westminster parliamentary system and was the earliest state legislature system in Malaysia.

Under the Malaysian constitution, Sarawak has greater autonomy than the states of Peninsular Malaysia.

Sarawak has eight of the world's fifty-four species of hornbills, and the Rhinoceros hornbill is the state bird of Sarawak.

Sarawak was involved in a wide range of businesses in Sarawak including trade, banking, agriculture, mineral exploration, and development.

Under his rule, Sarawak gained Limbang and the Baram and Trusan valleys from the Sultan of Brunei, later becoming a protectorate in 1888 with Britain handling foreign affairs but the Brooke government retaining administrative powers.

Charles Vyner Brooke, the last Rajah of Sarawak, had already left for Sydney, Australia; his officers were captured by the Japanese and interned at the Batu Lintang camp.

Sarawak remained part of the Empire of Japan for three years and eight months.

Sarawak was immediately placed under British Military Administration and managed by Australian Imperial Forces until April 1946.

Sarawak was only allowed to return 17 years later after Sarawak had become part of Malaysia.

In 1950 all anti-cession movements in Sarawak ceased after a clamp-down by the colonial government.

On 23 October 1962, five political parties in Sarawak formed a united front that supported the formation of Malaysia.

Sarawak was officially granted self-government on 22 July 1963, and became federated with Malaya, North Borneo, and Singapore to form a federation named Malaysia on 16 September 1963.

The governments of the Philippines and Indonesia opposed the new federation, as did the Brunei People's Party and Sarawak-based communist groups, and in 1962, the Brunei Revolt broke out.

Natives in Sarawak enjoy special privileges such as quotas and employment in public service, scholarships, university placements, and business permits.

Local governments in Sarawak are exempt from local council laws enacted by the Malaysian parliament.

The opposition in Sarawak has consistently alleged that the ruling coalition uses various types of vote-buying tactics in order to win elections.

Sarawak originally held state elections together with national parliamentary elections.

Sarawak is the only state in Malaysia where West Malaysia-based component parties in the BN coalition, especially the United Malays National Organisation, have not been active in state politics.

Unlike states in Peninsular Malaysia, Sarawak is divided into 12 divisions, each headed by an appointed resident.

In 1961, Sarawak including neighbouring Sabah, which had been included in the International Maritime Organization through the participation of the United Kingdom, became joint associate members of the IMO.

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Sarawak is separated from Kalimantan Borneo by ranges of high hills and mountains that are part of the central mountain range of Borneo.

Sarawak has a tropical geography with an equatorial climate and experiences two monsoon seasons: a northeast monsoon and a southwest monsoon.

Miri has the lowest average temperatures in comparison to other major towns in Sarawak and has the longest daylight hours, while other areas receive sunshine for five to six hours a day.

Beaches in Sarawak include Pasir Panjang and Damai beaches in Kuching, Tanjung Batu beach in Bintulu, and Tanjung Lobang and Hawaii beaches in Miri.

The oldest rock type in southern Sarawak is schist formed during the Carboniferous and Lower Permian times, while the youngest igneous rock in this region, andesite, can be found at Sematan.

The Miri Division in eastern Sarawak is the region of Neogene strata containing organic rich rock formations which are the prolific oil and gas reserves.

Significant quantities of Sarawak soil are lithosols, up to 60 per cent, and podsols, around 12 per cent, while abundant alluvial soil is found in coastal and riverine regions.

Limestone with well-developed karst topography and cave systems is found scattered from west to east Sarawak, but concentrated in certain regions such as in the Bau district in the west and southwards near the Kalimantan border.

Sarawak contains large tracts of tropical rainforest with diverse plant species, which has led to a number of them being studied for medicinal properties.

Bako National Park, the oldest national park in Sarawak, is known for its 275 proboscis monkeys, and Padawan Pitcher Garden for its various carnivorous pitcher plants.

Under the Wild Life Protection Ordinance 1998, Sarawak natives are given permissions to hunt for a restricted range of wild animals in the jungles but should not possess more than 5 kilograms of meat.

The issue of human rights of the Penan and deforestation in Sarawak became an international environmental issue when Swiss activist Bruno Manser visited Sarawak regularly between 1984 and 2000.

In 2001 the High Court of Sarawak fully reinstated the NCR land claimed by the Rumah Nor people, but this was overturned partially in 2005.

The per capita GDP in Sarawak was lower than the national average from 1970 to 1990.

Sarawak is abundant in natural resources, and primary industries such as mining, agriculture, and forestry accounted for 32.

Electricity in Sarawak, supplied by the state-owned Sarawak Energy Berhad, is primarily sourced from traditional coal fired power plants and thermal power stations using LNG, but diesel based sources and hydroelectricity are utilised.

The entire central region of Sarawak is covered under SCORE, including areas such as Samalaju, Tanjung Manis, and Mukah.

Foreign visitors to Sarawak are predominantly from Brunei, Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Germany, Australia, Belgium, South Korea, and United Kingdom.

The public and private bodies in Sarawak hold a biannual event to award the Sarawak Hornbill Tourism Award, an award for achievements within various categories, to recognise businesses and individuals for their efforts in the development of tourism within the state.

Major shopping complexes in Sarawak include The Spring, Boulevard, VivaCity, Plaza Merdeka, and City One shopping malls in Kuching, and Bintang Megamall, Boulevard, Imperial Mall, and Miri Plaza shopping malls in Miri.

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Infrastructure development in Sarawak is overseen by the Ministry of Infrastructure Development and Transportation, successor to the Ministry of Infrastructure Development and Communications after it was renamed in 2016.

Much like many former British territories, Sarawak uses a dual carriageway with the left-hand traffic rule.

The primary route in Sarawak is the Pan Borneo Highway, which runs from Sematan, Sarawak, through Brunei to Tawau, Sabah.

In 2017, the Sarawak government proposed a light rail system connecting Kuching, Samarahan and Serian divisions with anticipated completion in 2020.

Sarawak is served by a number of airports with Kuching International Airport, located south west of Kuching, being the largest.

Sarawak has four primary ports located at Kuching, Sibu, Bintulu, and Miri.

For centuries, the rivers of Sarawak have been a primary means of transport as well as a route for timber and other agricultural goods moving downriver for export at the country's major ports.

Hospitals in Sarawak typically provide the full gamut of health care options, from triage to palliative care for the terminally ill.

However, this population is distributed over a large area resulting in Sarawak having the lowest population density in the country with only 20people per km.

Sarawak has six major ethnic groups, Iban, Chinese, Malay, Bidayuh, Melanau, and Orang Ulu, as well as a number of ethnic groups with smaller but still substantial populations, such as the Kedayan, Javanese, Bugis, Murut, and Indian.

In 2015, the Bidayuh and Iban, both indigenous ethnic groups of Sarawak, were officially recognised by the government of Malaysia as comprising the Dayak people.

Sarawak Chinese are primarily Buddhist and Christian, and speak a multitude of dialects: Cantonese, Foochow, Hakka, Hokkien, Teochew, and Henghua .

Melanau are a native people of Sarawak that lived in areas primarily around the modern city of Mukah, where they worked as fishermen and craftsmen as well renowned boatbuilders.

Bahasa Sarawak is the most common language of Sarawak Malays and other indigenous tribes.

The earliest Christian missionaries in Sarawak were Church of England in 1848, followed by Roman Catholics a few years later, and Methodists in 1903.

However, during the chieftainship of Abdul Rahman Ya'kub, the Constitution of Sarawak was amended to make the Yang di-Pertuan Agong as the head of Islam in Sarawak and empower the state assembly to pass laws regarding Islamic affairs.

Location and history of Sarawak has resulted in a broad diversity of ethnicity, culture and languages.

The Iban tribal culture in Sarawak centred on the concept of the warrior and the ability to take heads from other tribes in battle.

Indigenous tribes of Sarawak traditionally used oratory to pass on their culture from one generation to the next; examples of these traditional practices include the Iban's Ngajat dances, Renong, Ensera, and epic storytelling by the Kayan and Kenyah.

The Sarawak Gazette, published by the Brooke government, recorded a variety of news relating to economics, agriculture, anthropology, archaeology, began circulation in 1870 and continues in modern times.

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Orang Ulu's Sapeh is the best known traditional musical instrument in Sarawak and was played for Queen Elizabeth II during her official visit to Sarawak in 1972.

Sarawak is the only state in Malaysia to declare the Gawai Dayak celebration a public holiday.

Sarawak has been overall champion for 11 consecutive years at the Malaysia Para Games since 1994.

However, Sarawak didn't have its own true TV station until 10 October 2020, when it launched TV Sarawak, thus becoming the first region in Malaysia to own its TV station and marking the comeback to the broadcasting world 15 years after.