Sabah
Sabah is one of the two Malaysian states on the island of Borneo. Situated on the north-east of the island, Sabah is smaller than its sister state, Sarawak. The southern part of the island called Kalimantan belongs to neighbour country Indonesia. The state capital is Kota Kinabalu.
It was taken over by the British North Borneo Company in 1881, and became a protectorate of the British Empire with internal affairs still administered by the company in 1888. In 1946 the Company's rule ended and it became the colony of British North Borneo until it was admitted into the Malaysian federation in 1963.
See Demographics of Malaysia for some details about the population.
Tourism
Sabah is a frequent tourist destination. Its most popular tourist destinations are:
- several huge caves, populated with millions of swallows and/or bats, such as the Gomantong cave
- Southeast Asia's highest mountain, Kinabalu.
- a large number of excellent locations for scuba diving, including the famous island of Sipadan.
- Another famous city of the state is Sandakan, the City of Nature. Major attractions include the Orang Utan sanctuary Sepilok, the Labuk Probocis Centre, and the largest crocodile farm of Borneo.
Philippine Claim
The Philippines claims the whole of Sabah as part of the country's territory, based upon the Sultanate of Brunei's cession of its north-east territories to the Sultanate of Sulu in 1704, because of military assitance given by the latter to the former.
Malaysia insists that Sabah is under the sovereignty of Malaysia based on the fact that Baron von Overbeck and Alfred Dent secured agreements with the Brunei Sultanate on December 29, 1877 and the Sulu Sultanate on January 22, 1878, both sultanates consenting to the transfer of all sovereignty over the territory that is known as Sabah today. The sovereignty was then transferred to the British Crown on July 15, 1946, and ceded to Malaysia on September 16, 1963.
Malaysian control was further strenghtened by two referendums: the first facilitated by the Cobbold Commission, from February to April 1962 and the second before the formation of Malaysia in September 1963. Both referendums recorded 70% of Sabahan population voting for Sabah to be part of Malaysia. Sabah's position within Malaysia was reinforced by the ruling made by the International Court of Justice that Pulau Sipadan and Pulau Linggitan came under the jurisdiction and sovereignty of Malaysia rather than Indonesia.
Arts and Entertainment
Sabah is not known for producing many well-known media figures, but the few it has produced have made their mark. Noteworthy mentions include filmmaker Tony Francis Gitom; Malaysian National Service blogger Kim; and Malaysian Idol participant Nicolette Palikat.
Some films and shows filmed in Sabah include the first season of reality show Survivor, The Amazing Race, Eco-Challenge Borneo, Bat*21, and Sacred Planet. Sabah's first homegrown film was Orang Kita, starring Abu Bakar Ellah.
Sabah's first established newspaper was the New Sabah Times. The newspaper was founded by Donald Stephens, who later became the First Chief Minister of Sabah.
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