Sipitang is a town, district and also a parliamentary constituency located in Interior Division

Interior Division

Interior Division is an administrative division of Sabah, east Malaysia, on the island of Borneo. It occupies the southwest portion of Sabah, bordering on Sarawak...

 of 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 on the island 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....

. The population of the district was 12,076 in 1980 and 24,349 in 1991. In 2000, the population is 29,256 while in 2010, 34,680. It is the closest town in Sabah to the Sarawak

Sarawak

Sarawak is one of two Malaysian states on the island of Borneo. Known as Bumi Kenyalang , Sarawak is situated on the north-west of the island. It is the largest state in Malaysia followed by Sabah, the second largest state located to the North- East.The administrative capital is Kuching, which...

 border, and is 44 kilometers south of Beaufort and 144 kilometers south 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. Sipitang is made of many villages and towns such as;

Sipitang's village	Kampung Banting	Kampung Pengiran Omar	Kampung Merintaman	Kuala Mengalong	Bandar Sipitang

History

Sipitang was a territory of the Brunei sultanate before 1884. On November 5, 1884, the Brunei Sultan ceded his territory, from Sipitang to Kuala Penyu

Kuala Penyu

Kuala Penyu is a town located in Interior Division of Sabah, east Malaysia on the island of Borneo. Its population was estimated to be around 16,511 in 2000, with ethnic Kadazan or Dusun Tatana forming the largest single ethnic group. Kuala Penyu is located on the Klias Peninsula, which was once...

, to 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...

 (BNBC). It is alleged that this agreement was met after excessive bribery by the BNBC Governor, William Treacher

William Hood Treacher

Sir William Hood Treacher, K.C.M.G. was born on 1 December 1849 and died on 3 May 1919. Sir William was the fourth son of Rev. Joseph Skipper Treacher, MA, Vicar of Sandford-on-Thames, by his 1st wife Pauline Louise Pierret. He was the sixth British Resident of Perak and the first Governor of...

 to the Sultan's court.

Sultan of Brunei granted his territory, from River Sipitang to River Trusan, to BNBC on September 7, 1901. In relation to that, BNBC acquired the area of Mengalong and Merantaman (now in Sipitang district) on September 12, 1901, through a grant by Pangiran Tengah Damit ibni al-Marhum Pangiran Anak Bongsu, of his tulin right on those areas. The acquisition of these areas was done separately because lands such as these are owned individually by Pangirans (prices and nobles) through their tulin right and therefore are independent of the authority of the sultan.

Up til 1900, Sipitang (River Sipitang) marked the frontier between British North Borneo and the Brunei sultanate. The acquisition of land from River Sipitang to River Trusan in 1901, led to the creation of a station in Sipitang under the administrative name Province Clarke (named after Sir Andrew Clarke

Andrew Clarke (administrator)

Lieutenant-General Sir Andrew Clarke, GCMG, CB, CIE was a British soldier and governor as well as a politician in Australia.-Background and education:...

). This station came into being mainly for the purpose of a search for further cession of territories. Nevertheless, complications in the following years led to the reselling of some lands, and the demarcation receded to the present day Sabah-Sarawak border, near Mengalong (now Sindumin

Sindumin

Sindumin previously known as "Mengalong" in the 60's, is a town in Sabah, Malaysia. It is situated on the Sabah-Sarawak border in the Interior Division of Sabah along the Mengalong river. It is also one of the towns within the Brunei Bay....

).

Geography

The geography of Sipitang depends on the area;

Kampung Banting	Kampung Merintaman	Kampung Pengiran Omar	Kuala Mengalong	Bandar Sipitang
Rain forest and village	Forest and small village	Forest which is near the river bank and a village	Unknown	Town and forest

Economy

The major economic activities in Sipitang district are timber related. A pulp and paper mill plant was constructed in 1987 and is operated by Sabah Forest Industries, currently a subsidiary of Indian company, Ballarpur Industries Limited

Ballarpur Industries Limited

Ballarpur Industries Limited is a flagship of the US$ 4 bn Avantha Group and India's largest manufacturer of writing and printing paper. The current chairman of the company is Gautam Thapar, who succeeded his late uncle L.M...

. Generally, these activities does not directly benefit the locals. Most of the locals are involved in subsistence farming and fishing.

The town is set to become one of Sabah's oil and gas industry centre following the state government's decision to build an oil and gas industrial park in Sipitang and the national oil company - Petronas

Petronas

PETRONAS, short for Petroliam Nasional Berhad, is a Malaysian oil and gas company that was founded on August 17, 1974. Wholly owned by the Government of Malaysia, the corporation is vested with the entire oil and gas resources in Malaysia and is entrusted with the responsibility of developing and...

's decision to build Sabah ammonia and urea plant in this town.

Culture

Sipitang town hosts the biennial GATA (Gasing and Tamu Besar) festival since 2003. This festival features cultural events such as traditional games, music and dance performances, mainly of the predominant indigenous group in Sipitang district, that is the Kedayan

Kedayan

The Kedayan are an ethnic group residing in Brunei, Labuan, Sabah, and parts of Sarawak on the island of Borneo. They are also known as Kadayan, Kadaian or simply badly spelled as Kadyan by British. The Kedayan language is the de facto national language of Brunei...

, Lundayeh, Murut

Murut

Murut may refer to:* Murut people, an ethnic group of the northern inland regions of Borneo* Murutic languages or Murut languages, spoken by those people* Tagol Murut language, the most widely spoken of the Murutic languages* Murut, Azerbaijan, a village...

 and Brunei Malay.

Leisure and Conservation area

A 10 million project for the construction of an esplanade and a welcoming arch in Sipitang district was launched in 2007.. The esplanade and arch was completed in 2011.

The villages of Long Pasia and Long Mio and their surrounding conservation area are located in Sipitang district. The Long Pasia area is one of the popular tourist destination in Sabah, which places among others, the Maga waterfall and Kerangas park.

Demographics

Ethnic composition of Sipitang district in 2010

• KadazanDusun - 3988
• Bajau - 972
• Murut - 4825
• Malay - 5756
• Other Bumiputra - 13724
• Chinese - 1265
• Indian - 59
• Others - 1419
• Non-Malaysian Citizens - 3756

A more localized demographic is given in Sidik (2004), which states that Sipitang district's population is 60% Kedayan

Kedayan

The Kedayan are an ethnic group residing in Brunei, Labuan, Sabah, and parts of Sarawak on the island of Borneo. They are also known as Kadayan, Kadaian or simply badly spelled as Kadyan by British. The Kedayan language is the de facto national language of Brunei...

, 30% Murut

Murut

Murut may refer to:* Murut people, an ethnic group of the northern inland regions of Borneo* Murutic languages or Murut languages, spoken by those people* Tagol Murut language, the most widely spoken of the Murutic languages* Murut, Azerbaijan, a village...

 and Lundayeh, 10% Brunei Malay, and the remaining Chinese.