Kudat is a town in Sabah

Sabah

Sabah is one of 13 member states of Malaysia. It is located on the northern portion of the island of Borneo. It is the second largest state in the country after Sarawak, which it borders on its southwest. It also shares a border with the province of East Kalimantan of Indonesia in the south...

, East Malaysia

East Malaysia

East Malaysia, also known as Malaysian Borneo, is the part of Malaysia located on the island of Borneo. It consists of the Malaysian states of Sabah and Sarawak, and the Federal Territory of Labuan. It lies to the east from Peninsular Malaysia , which is located on the Malay Peninsula. The two are...

, on the northern tip of Borneo

Borneo

Borneo is the third largest island in the world and is located north of Java Island, Indonesia, at the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia....

 island. It serves as the administrative center for the Kudat Division

Kudat Division

Kudat Division is an administrative division of Sabah, east Malaysia, on the island of Borneo. It occupies the northern tip of Sabah. With an area of 4,623 Square kilometers , it is the smallest of the five divisions of Sabah....

, which includes the towns of Kudat, Pitas, Kota Marudu

Kota Marudu

Kota Marudu is a tiny district of Kudat Division, Malaysia with approximately 19.17 square kilometres of land and a population in 2000 of more than 58,841 people, made up mainly by Dusun , Rungus, Bajau, Orang Sungai, Suluk, and Chinese .Located in the northern region of Sabah, bordered by the...

, and some offshore islands.

Kudat is located on the northern part of Sabah, some 190 kilometers north of Kota Kinabalu

Kota Kinabalu

Kota Kinabalu , formerly known as Jesselton, is the capital of Sabah state in East Malaysia. It is also the capital of the West Coast Division of Sabah. The city is located on the northwest coast of Borneo facing the South China Sea. The Tunku Abdul Rahman National Park lies on one side and Mount...

, the state capital. On the west, it faces the South China Sea

South China Sea

The South China Sea is a marginal sea that is part of the Pacific Ocean, encompassing an area from the Singapore and Malacca Straits to the Strait of Taiwan of around...

, and on the east the Sulu Sea

Sulu Sea

The Sulu Sea is a body of water in the southwestern area of the Philippines, separated from the South China Sea in the northwest by Palawan and from the Celebes Sea in the southeast by the Sulu Archipelago. Borneo is found to the southwest and Visayas to the northeast.Sulu Sea contains a number of...

. It is at latitude 6°55'north, longitude 116°50'east.

Kudat's population (2000) was 68,242. The ethnic composition is mainly Rungus, a sub-group of the indigenous Kadazan

Kadazan

The Kadazans are an ethnic group indigenous to the state of Sabah in Malaysia. They are found mainly on the west coast of Sabah, the surrounding locales, and various locations in the interior. Due to similarities in culture and language with the Dusun ethnic group, and also because of other...

. About 10% of the population is ethnic Chinese (predominantly Hakka

Hakka

The Hakka , sometimes Hakka Han, are Han Chinese who speak the Hakka language and have links to the provincial areas of Guangdong, Jiangxi, Guangxi, Sichuan, Hunan and Fujian in China....

 Chinese) and there are minorities of Bajau

Bajau

The Bajau or Bajaw , also spelled Bajao, Badjau, Badjaw, or Badjao, are an indigenous ethnic group of Maritime Southeast Asia...

, Dusun

Dusun

Dusun is the collective name of a tribe or ethnic and linguistic group in the Malaysian state of Sabah of North Borneo. Due to similarities in culture and language with the Kadazan ethnic group, a new unified term called "Kadazan-Dusun" was created. Collectively, they form the largest ethnic group...

, Murut

Murut people

The Murut is the warrior tribe of indigenous ethnic groups inhabiting northern inland regions of Borneo. The Murut comprise several people groups that are scattered in parts of Borneo Island including Brunei, Kalimantan...

, Bugis

Bugis

The Bugis are the most numerous of the three major linguistic and ethnic groups of South Sulawesi, the southwestern province of Sulawesi, Indonesia's third largest island. Although many Bugis live in the large port cities of Makassar and Parepare, the majority are farmers who grow wet rice on the...

, and Malay. However, there is also a considerable number of unregistered illegal immigrants from the nearby Philippines

Philippines

The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...

, notably from the Sulu regions and Mindanao

Mindanao

Mindanao is the second largest and easternmost island in the Philippines. It is also the name of one of the three island groups in the country, which consists of the island of Mindanao and smaller surrounding islands. The other two are Luzon and the Visayas. The island of Mindanao is called The...

.
The town was founded by A H Everett of the British North Borneo Company

British North Borneo Company

The North Borneo Chartered Company or British North Borneo Company was a chartered company assigned to administer North Borneo in August 1881. North Borneo became a protectorate of the British Empire with internal affairs administered by the company until 1946 when it became the colony of British...

 on December 7, 1881 to be the first capital of British North Borneo, due to its strategic geographic location. However, after being repeatedly raided by Bajau, Sulu and Illanun

Illanun

The Iranun are an ethnic group of Mindanao, Philippines and the west coast of Sabah, Malaysia, in 25 villages around the Kota Belud and Lahad Datu districts; also in Kudat and Likas, Kota Kinabalu. Their current population is estimated to be around 1,000,000-1,500,000 .For centuries, the Illanun...

 pirates, in 1883 the capital was shifted to the more secure port of Sandakan

Sandakan

Sandakan is the second-largest city in Sabah, East Malaysia, on the north-eastern coast of Borneo. It is located on the east coast of the island and it is the administrative centre of Sandakan Division and was the former capital of British North Borneo...

, on the east coast.

It is not a well known location for foreign visitors, however, there is a notable modern beach resort near the town, Kudat Golf & Marina Resort, which offer good foods and accommodation. The resort and the adjoining golf course was built on reclaimed land done in 70s by the then Chief Minister of Sabah Tun Datu Mustapha

Tun Datu Mustapha

Tun Datu Haji Mustapha bin Datu Harun or Tun Mustapha for short, was the first governor of the Malaysian state of Sabah. He was also the third Chief Minister of the state from 1967 to 1975, and was the president for the political party United Sabah National Organization...

. The late Tun Mustapha was from Limau-limauan, a village across the bay from Kudat town. The golf club is the oldest golf club in Borneo, Kudat Golf Club, founded in 1906, currently a 18 holes par 72 championship course. Other attractions include tours to nearby Rungus longhouses, where traditional brass

Brass

Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc; the proportions of zinc and copper can be varied to create a range of brasses with varying properties.In comparison, bronze is principally an alloy of copper and tin...

 gong

Gong

A gong is an East and South East Asian musical percussion instrument that takes the form of a flat metal disc which is hit with a mallet....

s are made, and where honey

Honey

Honey is a sweet food made by bees using nectar from flowers. The variety produced by honey bees is the one most commonly referred to and is the type of honey collected by beekeepers and consumed by humans...

 is produced and to Tanjung Simpang Mengayau, the northernmost point on the island of Borneo.

During World War II, the Japanese Imperial Army built and maintained an air field here. The airfield was built by locals and forced labour from Java, Indonesia using coral stones as base. Many Indonesian died from disease and hunger. In 1945, B25 bombers of the United States Far East Air Force repeatedly bombed the air field and put it out of action. The current airfield (Kudat Airport

Kudat Airport

-External links:* at Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad...

), is operated by Malaysia Airport Berhad is built on part of the former military air field.

Places to eat

• Esplanade Sidek(only open at night), Pasar Malam (open at night - about 5 minutes walking distance from Ria Hotel)
• Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) restaurant

Supermarket

Milimewa (Just below the Upper Deck Hotel), Tai Fong (open on morning only), Sony Bumi (open on morning only), Pasar Segar, Ekonomi Marketing

Hotels

Marina Resort,
Ria Hotel,
Dream Garden,
Borneo Hotel,
Kian Dai Hotel,
Kinabalu Hotel,
Upper Deck Hotel,
Rest House

External links

• Local government website