Tambunan () is the capital of the

Tambunan District The Tambunan District () is an administrative district in the Malaysian state of Sabah, part of the Interior Division which includes the districts of Beaufort, Keningau, Kuala Penyu, Nabawan, Sipitang, Tambunan and Tenom. The capital of t ...

in the

Interior Division The Interior Division () is an administrative division of the state of Sabah, Malaysia. It occupies the southwest portion of Sabah, bordered by the neighbouring state of Sarawak on its west. With an area of 18,298 square kilometres, it covers 24 ...

Sabah Sabah () is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia located in northern Borneo, in the region of East Malaysia. Sabah has land borders with the Malaysian state of Sarawak to the southwest and Indonesia's North Kalima ...

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

. Its population was estimated to be around 35,667 in 2010. It is located 80 kilometres east of the state capital,

Kota Kinabalu Kota Kinabalu (; formerly known as Jesselton), colloquially referred to as KK, is the state capital of Sabah, Malaysia. It is also the capital of the Kota Kinabalu District as well as the West Coast Division of Sabah. The city is located on the ...

(to which is connected by the Kota Kinabalu-Tambunan-Keningau Highway), 48 kilometres south of

Ranau Ranau Town () is the capital of the Ranau District in the West Coast Division of Sabah, Malaysia. Its population was estimated to be around 87,500 in 2023. The federal constituency represented in the Dewan Rakyat is Ranau (federal constituen ...

and 48 kilometres north of

Keningau Keningau () is the capital of the Keningau District in the Interior Division of Sabah, Malaysia. It is the fifth-largest town in Sabah, as well one of the oldest. Keningau is between Tambunan and Tenom. The town had an estimated population ...

. At an average altitude of 750 metres, this valley town, which is part of the

Crocker Range The Crocker Mountains () form a range that separates the West Coast and Interior divisions of Sabah, Malaysia. At an average height of , it is the highest mountain range in the state. It is named after a 19th century British administrator of ...

, experiences a mild tropical climate all year long. The valley is peppered with terraced paddy fields and 70 villages. The dense forests of

bamboo Bamboos are a diverse group of mostly evergreen perennial plant, perennial flowering plants making up the subfamily (biology), subfamily Bambusoideae of the grass family Poaceae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family, in th ...

around Tambunan town are a legacy of the British colonial period, during which an edict stated that 20 bamboo sprouts had to be planted for every bamboo cut.

Etymology

The name of this area is taken from the word "Tamadon" and "Gombunan" which combined into "Tambunan".

Demographics

According to the last census in 2010, the population of the district is estimated to be around 35,667 inhabitants. The district of Tambunan is populated mainly by the indigenous group of

Kadazan-Dusun Kadazandusun (also written as Kadazan-Dusun or Mamasok) are the largest ethnic group in Sabah, Malaysia, an amalgamation of the closely related indigenous peoples, indigenous Kadazan people, Kadazan and Dusun people, Dusun peoples. "Kadazandus ...

(86%), while the rest of the population are Malay, Chinese and other indigenous groups.

Gallery

File:Tambunan Sabah Mosque-01.jpg, Nurul Iman Mosque File:Tambunan Sabah HolyCrossCatholicChurch-01.jpg, Holy Cross Catholic Church. File:Tambunan Sabah Battlefield-Battle-of-Tambunan-04.jpg, Tambunan paddy field.

Attractions

The Mat Salleh Memorial, located in the middle of paddy fields at Kampung Tibabar (Tibabar Village), is a concrete structure erected by the state government in memory of Datu Paduka Mat Salleh. Better known as Mat Salleh, he led a rebellion against the

British North Borneo Company The North Borneo Chartered Company (NBCC), also known as the British North Borneo Company (BNBC), was a British chartered company formed on 1 November 1881 to administer and exploit the resources of North Borneo (present-day Sabah in Malaysia ...

in the late 19th century in response to the locals' dissatisfaction with alleged exploitation by the company. He was killed in a gun battle with the British police on 1 February 1900. The memorial was erected on the spot where Mat Salleh was killed after Sabah became part of Malaysia. Tambunan is noted for the quality of its ''lihing'' and ''tapai''. These are

rice wine Rice wine is an alcoholic beverage fermentation, fermented from rice, traditionally consumed in East Asia, Southeast Asia and South Asia, where rice is a quintessential staple crop. Rice wine is made by the fermentation of rice starch, during wh ...

s traditionally made by the Kadazan and Dusun peoples of Sabah. Just outside the town is the

Rafflesia Forest Reserve The Rafflesia Forest Reserve is a Virgin Jungle Reserve (VJR) that covers an area of in Tambunan District of Sabah, Malaysia. The reserve was first established in 1967 as part of the Crocker Range Forest Reserve (now Crocker Range National Park ...

, devoted to the world's largest flower, the ''

Rafflesia ''Rafflesia'' (), or stinking corpse lily, is a genus of Parasitic plants, parasitic flowering plants in the family Rafflesiaceae. The species have enormous flowers, the buds rising from the ground or directly from the lower stems of their host p ...

''. East of Tambunan is Sabah's second highest mountain, Trus Madi (2642 metres). Other than that, here is a list of few places that you can visit in Tambunan; * Mahua Waterfall * Tambunan Village Resort Club * Sinurambi Tambunan * Sungai Pampang * Golf Club * Batu Gong *Gunung sinsing Kaingaran *Gunung Trus Madi *Gua Kaingaran *Tagal Kaingaran *Kilang Halia

Economy

Tambunan is an agricultural based district. Most of the citizen of Tambunan earn their living through the plantation of paddy, vegetables, fish farm, rubber plantation,

palm oil Palm oil is an edible vegetable oil derived from the mesocarp (reddish pulp) of the fruit of oil palms. The oil is used in food manufacturing, in beauty products, and as biofuel. Palm oil accounted for about 36% of global oils produced from o ...

plantation, working as public servant and so on. As of 2021, there is no big industry in Tambunan. This is mainly due to the location of Tambunan which is a bit far from Kota Kinabalu and also it was shadowed by

which is a larger City around 40 km from Tambunan. Tambunan host the only Kilang Tapai (Rice wine Factory) in Sabah. Tambunan also known for large plantation of ginger in the state in which the plantation mostly located at Kampung Tikolod Tambunan.

Climate

Politics

* Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) was established in Tambunan in 1985. * Pairin Kitingan who was the Chief Minister of Sabah from 1985 to 1994 and the former president of PBS is a Tambunan native. * Parti Solidariti Tanah Airku (STAR) was established in Tambunan in 2016. * Jeffery Kitingan who is the current Deputy Chief Minister II (2020-now) and president of

STAR A star is a luminous spheroid of plasma (physics), plasma held together by Self-gravitation, self-gravity. The List of nearest stars and brown dwarfs, nearest star to Earth is the Sun. Many other stars are visible to the naked eye at night sk ...

is a Tambunan Native * Maximus Johnity Ongkili who is the current Minister in Prime Minister's Department of Sabah & Sarawak and the current Parti Bersatu Sabah president is a Tambunan Native

References

External links

*
Tambunan District Council
*
Tambunan District Office
{{Districts of Malaysia Tambunan District Towns in Sabah