The Beluran District () is an administrative district in the

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 ...

n state of

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 ...

, part of the

Sandakan Division Sandakan Division () is an administrative division of Sabah, Malaysia. It stretches diagonally from the northeastern coast of Sabah to the state's central region. With an area of 28,205 square kilometres, it occupies 38.3% of Sabah's territory, ...

which includes the districts of Beluran, Kinabatangan,

Sandakan Sandakan () formerly known at various times as Elopura, is the capital of the Sandakan District in Sabah, Malaysia. It is the second largest city in Sabah after Kota Kinabalu. It is located on the Sandakan Peninsula and east coast of the sta ...

, Telupid and Tongod. The capital of the district is in Beluran Town.

Etymology

The name Beluran was taken after the name of a hill in the district. In the languages of Labuk Dusun, Sungai and Tidong, it is called as "Buludan". Several changes occurred during the British administration as a result of

misnomer A misnomer is a name that is incorrectly or unsuitably applied. Misnomers often arise because something was named long before its correct nature was known, or because an earlier form of something has been replaced by a later form to which the nam ...

ation by British colonial officials who does not speak fluent local languages causing the name "Buludan" became "Beluran" which later maintained until this day.

History

The district is formerly known as the Labuk-Sugut District and has existed since the

North Borneo Chartered 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) ...

administration. It is one of the earliest districts in

North Borneo North Borneo (usually known as British North Borneo, also known as the State of North Borneo) was a British Protectorate, British protectorate in the northern part of the island of Borneo, (present-day Sabah). The territory of North Borneo wa ...

. The Beluran District Administration Office was established as early as 1916 but all records and data of the district were destroyed in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. According to some old sources, B.S Willie was appointed as Beluran District Officer in 1945 with Klagan became the first administrative district of Labuk-Sugut District, but as the area was often flooded, the British authorities transferred the administrative centre to the foothills of present-day Beluran.

Demographics

According to the latest census in 2010, the population of the district is estimated to be around 104,484 inhabitants. The population consists of a mixture of various indigenous ethnic groups, such as

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 ...

, Tidong,

Bajau The Sama-Bajau include several Austronesian ethnic groups of Maritime Southeast Asia. The name collectively refers to related people who usually call themselves the Sama or Samah (formally A'a Sama, "Sama people"); or are known by the exonym ...

, Suluk,

Orang Sungai The Orang Sungei (Malay language, Malay word for "River People") are a group of Indigenous peoples, indigenous people native to the state of Sabah, Malaysia. Groups of communities live along the rivers of Kinabatangan, Labuk, Kudat, Pitas, Saba ...

as well as a significant presence of Chinese. As in other districts of Sabah, there are a significant number of illegal immigrants from the nearby southern

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

, mainly from the

Sulu Archipelago The Sulu Archipelago ( Tausug: Kapū'-pūan sin Sūg Sulat Sūg: , ) is a chain of islands in the Pacific Ocean, in the southwestern Philippines. The archipelago forms the northern limit of the Celebes Sea and southern limit of the Sulu Se ...

and

Mindanao Mindanao ( ) is the List of islands of the Philippines, second-largest island in the Philippines, after Luzon, and List of islands by population, seventh-most populous island in the world. Located in the southern region of the archipelago, the ...

of whom are not included in the population statistics.

Gallery

File:DistrictBeluran-MosqueAtHighway-A1-01.jpg, Beluran District Mosque. File:Kg Bouto Sabah GerejaKatolikStPeter-01.jpg, St. Peter Catholic Church. File:DistrictBeluran-VirginJungle-01.jpg, Beluran virgin jungle.

References

External links

*
Beluran District Council
*
Beluran District Office
{{Sabah-geo-stub