East Malaysia (), or the Borneo States, also known as Malaysian Borneo, is the part of

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 ...

on and near the island of

Borneo Borneo () is the List of islands by area, third-largest island in the world, with an area of , and population of 23,053,723 (2020 national censuses). Situated at the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, it is one of the Greater Sunda ...

, the world's third-largest

island An island or isle is a piece of land, distinct from a continent, completely surrounded by water. There are continental islands, which were formed by being split from a continent by plate tectonics, and oceanic islands, which have never been ...

. East Malaysia comprises the states 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 ...

Sarawak Sarawak ( , ) is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia. It is the largest among the 13 states, with an area almost equal to that of Peninsular Malaysia. Sarawak is located in East Malaysia in northwest Borneo, and is ...

, and the Federal Territory of

Labuan Labuan (), officially the Federal Territory of Labuan (), is an island federal territory of Malaysia. It includes and six smaller islands off the coast of the state of Sabah in East Malaysia. Labuan's capital is Victoria, which is best kno ...

. The small independent nation of

Brunei Brunei, officially Brunei Darussalam, is a country in Southeast Asia, situated on the northern coast of the island of Borneo. Apart from its coastline on the South China Sea, it is completely surrounded by the Malaysian state of Sarawak, with ...

comprises two enclaves in Sarawak. To the south and southeast is the Indonesian portion of Borneo,

Kalimantan Kalimantan (; ) is the Indonesian portion of the island of Borneo. It constitutes 73% of the island's area, and consists of the provinces of Central Kalimantan, East Kalimantan, North Kalimantan, South Kalimantan, and West Kalimantan. The non-Ind ...

. East Malaysia lies to the east of

Peninsular Malaysia Peninsular Malaysia, historically known as Malaya and also known as West Malaysia or the Malaysian Peninsula, is the western part of Malaysia that comprises the southern part of the Malay Peninsula on Mainland Southeast Asia and the list of isla ...

(also known as the States of Malaya), the part of the country on the

Malay Peninsula The Malay Peninsula is located in Mainland Southeast Asia. The landmass runs approximately north–south, and at its terminus, it is the southernmost point of the Asian continental mainland. The area contains Peninsular Malaysia, Southern Tha ...

. The two are separated by the

South China Sea The South China Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean. It is bounded in the north by South China, in the west by the Indochinese Peninsula, in the east by the islands of Taiwan island, Taiwan and northwestern Philippines (mainly Luz ...

. East Malaysia is less populated and has fewer developed settlements than West Malaysia. While West Malaysia contains the country's major cities (

Kuala Lumpur Kuala Lumpur (KL), officially the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur, is the capital city and a Federal Territories of Malaysia, federal territory of Malaysia. It is the largest city in the country, covering an area of with a census population ...

Johor Bahru Johor Bahru, abbreviated as JB, is the capital city of the Malaysian state of Johor. It is the core city of Johor Bahru District, Malaysia's second-largest district by population and the second-largest district economy. Covering an area of ...

, and George Town), East Malaysia is larger and much more abundant in natural resources, particularly oil and gas reserves. In the pan-regional style, city status is reserved for only a few settlements, including

Kuching Kuching ( , ), officially the City of Kuching, is the capital and the most populous city in the States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Sarawak in Malaysia. It is also the capital of Kuching Division. The city is on the Sarawak Ri ...

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 ...

and

Miri Miri () is a coastal city in north-eastern Sarawak, Malaysia, located near the border of Brunei, on the island of Borneo. The city covers an area of , located northeast of Kuching and southwest of Kota Kinabalu. Miri is the second largest ...

. Various other significant settlements are classified as towns, including many with over 100,000 residents. East Malaysia includes a significant portion of the biodiverse Borneo lowland rain forests and

Borneo montane rain forests The Borneo montane rain forests is an ecoregion on the island of Borneo in Southeast Asia. It includes montane tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests, also known as a cloud forests. The ecoregion is partly in East Malaysia (Sabah and S ...

States and territories

East Malaysia or the Borneo States comprise 2 of the 13 states, and one out of the three federal territories of Malaysia. * The State of

* The State of

* The Federal Territory of

History

Some parts of present-day East Malaysia, especially the coastal regions, were once part of the

thalassocracy A thalassocracy or thalattocracy, sometimes also maritime empire, is a state with primarily maritime realms, an empire at sea, or a seaborne empire. Traditional thalassocracies seldom dominate interiors, even in their home territories. Examples o ...

of the Sultanate of Brunei. However, most parts of the interior region consisted of independent tribal societies. In 1658, the northern and eastern coasts of Sabah were ceded to the

Sultanate of Sulu The Sultanate of Sulu (; ; ) is a Sunni Muslim subnational monarchy in the Philippines, Republic of the Philippines that includes the Sulu Archipelago, coastal areas of Zamboanga City and certain portions of Palawan in today's Philippines. H ...

while the west coast of Sabah and most of Sarawak remained part of Brunei.

James Brooke James Brooke (29 April 1803 – 11 June 1868), was a British soldier and adventurer who founded the Raj of Sarawak in Borneo. He ruled as the first White Rajahs, White Rajah of Sarawak from 1841 until his death in 1868. Brooke was born and ra ...

assumes governorship in Sarawak in 1841. In 1888, Sabah and Sarawak together with Brunei became British protectorates. The Japanese invaded the region in 1941 but they were fought away by the Australians in 1945 and a year later Sabah and Sarawak became separate British colonies. The region will undergo '' konfrontasi'' with Indonesia but join Malaysia in 1963.

Federation

Sabah (formerly

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

) and Sarawak were separate

British colonies A Crown colony or royal colony was a colony governed by England, and then Great Britain or the United Kingdom within the English and later British Empire. There was usually a governor to represent the Crown, appointed by the British monarch on ...

from Malaya, and did not become part of the

Federation of Malaya Malaya, officially the Federation of Malaya, was a country in Southeast Asia from 1948 to 1963. It succeeded the Malayan Union and, before that, British Malaya. It comprised eleven states – nine Malay states and two of the Straits Settleme ...

in 1957. Later on however, the then Federation merged with the self-governing State of Singapore and the British Colonies of North Borneo (now known as

) and

under the

Malaysia Agreement The Malaysia Agreement,; or the Agreement relating to Malaysia between United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Federation of Malaya, North Borneo, Sarawak and Singapore (MA63) was a legal document which agreed to combine Nor ...

as the States of Malaya, the Borneo States of Sabah and Sarawak, and the State of Singapore of the new Federation called

on 16 September 1963, now known as

Malaysia Day Malaysia Day (; Jawi: ) is a public holiday held on 16 September every year nationally since 2010 to commemorate the establishment of the Malaysian federation on that date in 1963. This event saw Malaya (already a sovereign state since 1957 ...

. Singapore left the Federation two years later in 1965 after being expelled by then the Prime Minister of Malaysia,

Tunku Abdul Rahman Tunku Abdul Rahman (8 February 19036 December 1990), commonly referred to as Tunku, was a Malaysian statesman who served as prime minister of Malaysia from 1957 to 1970. He previously served as the only chief minister of Federation of Malaya ...

. Previously, there were efforts to unite

, Sabah, and Sarawak under the North Borneo Federation but that failed after the

Brunei Revolt The Brunei revolt () or the Brunei rebellion of 1962 was a December 1962 insurrection in the British protectorate of Brunei by opponents of its monarchy's proposed inclusion in the Federation of Malaysia. The insurgents were members of the ...

occurred. The Borneo States retained a higher degree of local government and legislative autonomy than the States of Malaya. For example, both states have their own immigration controls, requiring Malaysian citizens from West Malaysia to carry passports or identity cards when visiting East Malaysia. The islands of

were once part of

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 ...

in 1946 before becoming a Federal Territory in Malaysia on 16 April 1984. It was used to establish a centre for offshore finance in 1990. Since 2010, there has been some speculation and discussion, at least on the ground level, about the possibility of secession from the Federation of Malaysia because of allegations of resource mishandling, illegal processing of immigrants, etc.

Administration

The Borneo States of Sabah and Sarawak joined the Federation of Malaysia as equal partners with Malaya and Singapore. Sabah and Sarawak retained their rights covered under the Malaysia Agreement of 1963 and their degree of autonomy compared to the other states in Peninsular Malaysia. For example, the Malaysian Borneo States have separate laws regulating the entry of citizens from other states in Malaysia (including the other East Malaysian state), whereas, in Peninsular Malaysia, there are no restrictions on interstate travel or migration, including visitors from East Malaysia. There are also separate

land law Land law is the form of law that deals with the rights to use, alienate, or exclude others from land. In many jurisdictions, these kinds of property are referred to as real estate or real property, as distinct from personal property. Land use ...

s governing Sabah and Sarawak, as opposed to the National Land Code, which governs Peninsular Malaysia. In December 2021, constitutional amendments were passed to restore the status of Sabah and Sarawak as equal partners to Malaya, with 199 members of Parliament backing the amendment bill without opposition. Apart from restoring Article 1(2) to its pre-1976 wording, the bill defines

for the first time and redefines the federation with the inclusion of Malaysia Agreement (MA63). Previously, only Merdeka Day (independence day of the Federation of Malaya) was defined, and the federation was defined merely by the Malaya Agreement 1957. The Constitution (Amendment) Act 2022 received royal assent on 19 January 2022 and came into force on 11 February 2022. With regard to the administration of justice, the courts in East Malaysia are part of the federal court system in Malaysia. The Constitution of Malaysia provides that there shall be two High Courts of co-ordinate jurisdiction. The High Court in Malaya and the High Court in Sabah and Sarawak (formerly the High Court in Borneo). The current Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak is Abang Iskandar Abang Hashim from Sarawak. His office is the fourth highest in the Malaysian judicial system (behind the Chief Judge of Malaya, President of the

Court of Appeal An appellate court, commonly called a court of appeal(s), appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to Hearing (law), hear a Legal case, case upon appeal from a trial court or other ...

, and Chief Justice of Malaysia).

Politics

Compared to West Malaysia, political parties in Sarawak and Sabah started relatively late. This first political party in Sarawak emerged in 1959 while the first political party in Sabah emerged in August 1961. Sarawak held its first local authorities election in 1959 and did not have any directly elected legislature until

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 1970 Tonghai earthquake, Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli ...

. Sabah only held its first district council election in December 1962 and first direct election in April 1967. Both the states were new and had little experience in organised, competitive politics. Therefore, there had been the appearance and rapid disappearance of political parties in Sarawak and Sabah within a short period of time, with some parties took opportunistic moves to form alliances without a definite loyalty to a certain political alignment. The ethnic composition of East Malaysia is also different from West Malaysia. The indigenous people in both Sarawak and Sabah do not form an absolute majority, while the non-native population in East Malaysia mainly consisting of entirely Chinese. Political parties in Sarawak and Sabah were formed largely based on communal lines and can be categorised roughly into native non-Muslim, native Muslim, and non-native parties. With the support of the Malaysia federal government, native Muslim parties in Sabah and Sarawak were strengthened. In Sabah, the native Muslim party

United Sabah National Organisation The United Sabah National Organisation (; abbreviation, abbrev: USNO) was a political party in Crown Colony of North Borneo, North Borneo and later Sabah, Malaysia. The widely known Sabah's Muslim Orang Asal, indigenous especially Tausūg peopl ...

(USNO) first clinged on the chief minister post in 1965 and later consolidated its power in 1967. In Sarawak, native Muslim party named Parti Bumiputera (which later regrouped into Parti Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu (PBB) held the chief minister post since 1970. In 1976, all the Sabah and Sarawak MPs (except 4 absentees) supported the Malaysian parliament bill which downgraded both the states from being equal partners to Malaya as a whole, to one of the 13 states in the federation. Since 2008, East Malaysia played a more significant role in the national political landscape. The loss of two-thirds majority of

Barisan Nasional Barisan Nasional (BN; ) is a political coalition of Malaysia that was founded in 1974 as a coalition of centre-right and right-wing political parties to succeed the Alliance Party. It is the third largest political coalition with 30 seats in ...

(BN) government in the West Malaysia caused the BN to rely on East Malaysian politicians to cling on power. After the conclusion of 2013 Malaysian general election, there was an increase in ministers and deputy ministers allocation for East Malaysia in the Malaysian Cabinet from 11 out of 57 portfolios in 2008 election to 20 out of 61 portfolios. There had been no prime minister or deputy prime minister coming from East Malaysia until 2022, when Fadillah Yusof became the first deputy prime minister from East Malaysia. On several occasions, the federal government chaired its weekly cabinet meetings in Kuching instead of

Putrajaya Putrajaya (), officially the Federal Territory of Putrajaya (), is the administrative centre of Malaysia. The Seat of government, seat of the Government of Malaysia, federal government of Malaysia was moved in 1999 from Kuala Lumpur to Putrajay ...

. As of 2012, Sarawak, Sabah and Labuan held a total of 57 out 222 seats (25.68%) in the

Malaysian parliament The Parliament of Malaysia (; Jawi script, Jawi: ) is the national legislature of Malaysia, based on the Westminster system. The bicameral parliament consists of the Dewan Rakyat (House of Representatives, Literal translation, lit. "People's As ...

. Since 2014, Sarawak have been actively seeking for devolution of powers from the Malaysian federal government. In October 2018, both

and

chief ministers met to discuss common goals in demanding from the Malaysian federal government regarding the rights stipulated inside the

. In December 2021, constitutional amendments were passed to restore the status of Sabah and Sarawak as equal partners to Malaya, with 199 members of Parliament backing the amendment bill without opposition. Apart from restoring Article 1(2) to its pre-1976 wording, the bill defines

Physical geography

The landscape of East Malaysia is mostly lowland rain forests with areas of mountain rain forest towards the hinterland. The total area of East Malaysia is 198,447 km², representing approximately 60% of the total land area of

and 26.4% of the total area of

, which is 50% bigger than

at , comparable with

South Dakota South Dakota (; Sioux language, Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state, state in the West North Central states, North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Dakota people, Dakota Sioux ...

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

. East Malaysia contains the five highest mountains in Malaysia, the highest being

Mount Kinabalu Mount Kinabalu ( Dusun: ''Gayo Ngaran'' or ''Nulu Nabalu'', ) is the highest mountain in Malaysia and Borneo. With a height of , it is the third-highest peak of an island on Earth, the 28th highest peak in Southeast Asia, and 20th most prom ...

at 4095 m, which is also the highest mountain in Borneo and the 10th highest mountain peak in Southeast Asia. It also contains the two longest rivers in Malaysia –

Rajang River The Rajang River () is a river in Sarawak, northwestern Borneo, Malaysia. The river originates in the Iran Mountains, flows through Kapit, and then towards the South China Sea. At approximately , the river is the seventh-longest in Borneo and th ...

and Kinabatangan River. Banggi Island in

and Bruit Island in

are the two largest islands that are located entirely within Malaysia. The largest island is Borneo, which is shared with

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

and

. The second largest island is

Sebatik Island Sebatik Island (Indonesian language, Indonesian/Malay language, Malay: ''Pulau Sebatik'') is an island off the eastern coast of Borneo, Divided island, split between Indonesia and Malaysia. It is one of the 92 officially listed List of outlyi ...

, in Sabah, which is shared with Indonesia. Sarawak contains the Mulu Caves within Gunung Mulu National Park. Its Sarawak Chamber is the largest (by area) known cave chamber in the world. The Gunung Mulu National Park was declared a

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...

in November 2000. Sabah's attractions include World Heritage Site Kinabalu Park (which includes

), and Sipadan Island (a diving and bio-diversity hot-spot).

Geology

Several oil and gas fields have been discovered offshore, including the Samarang

oil field A petroleum reservoir or oil and gas reservoir is a subsurface accumulation of hydrocarbons contained in porous or fractured rock formations. Such reservoirs form when kerogen (ancient plant matter) is created in surrounding rock by the prese ...

(1972) offshore Sabah, the Baronia oil field (1967) offshore Sarawak, and the Central Luconia

natural gas field A petroleum reservoir or oil and gas reservoir is a subsurface accumulation of hydrocarbons contained in porous or fractured rock formations. Such reservoirs form when kerogen (ancient plant matter) is created in surrounding rock by the prese ...

s (1968), also offshore Sarawak.Scherer, F.C., 1980, Exploration in East Malaysia Over the Past Decade, in Giant Oil and Gas Fields of the Decade, AAPG Memoir 30, Halbouty, M.T., editor, Tulsa, American Association of Petroleum Geologists, , p. 424 The Baronia Field is a domal

structural trap In petroleum geology, a trap is a geological structure affecting the reservoir rock and caprock of a petroleum system allowing the accumulation of Hydrocarbon, hydrocarbons in a petroleum reservoir, reservoir. Traps can be of two types: stratigra ...

between two east–west growth faults, which produces from late

Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first epoch (geology), geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and mea ...

sandstone Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...

s interbedded with

siltstone Siltstone, also known as aleurolite, is a clastic sedimentary rock that is composed mostly of silt. It is a form of mudrock with a low clay mineral content, which can be distinguished from shale by its lack of fissility. Although its permeabil ...

s and

clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolinite, ). Most pure clay minerals are white or light-coloured, but natural clays show a variety of colours from impuriti ...

s at 2 km depth in 75 m of water. The Samarang Field produces from late Miocene sandtones in an alternating sequence of sandstones, siltstones and clays in an

anticline In structural geology, an anticline is a type of Fold (geology), fold that is an arch-like shape and has its oldest Bed (geology), beds at its core, whereas a syncline is the inverse of an anticline. A typical anticline is convex curve, c ...

at a depth of about 3 km in water 9–45 m. The Central Luconia Gas Fields produce from middle to late Miocene

carbonate platform A carbonate platform is a Sedimentary rock, sedimentary body which possesses topographic relief, and is composed of Autochthon (geology), autochthonic calcareous deposits. Platform growth is mediated by Sessility (zoology), sessile organisms whose ...

and pinnacle reefs from 1.25 to 3.76 km deep and water depths 60-100m.

Population

The total population of East Malaysia in 2010 was 5.77 million (3.21 million in Sabah, 2.47 million in Sarawak, and 0.09 million in Labuan), which represented 20.4% of the population of Malaysia. A significant part of the population of East Malaysia today reside in towns and cities. The largest city and urban centre is

, which is also the capital of Sarawak and has a population of over 600,000 people.

is the second largest, and one of the most important cities in East Malaysia. Kuching, Kota Kinabalu, and

are the only three places with city status in East Malaysia. Other important towns include

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 ...

and

Tawau Tawau (), formerly known as Tawao, is the capital of the Tawau District in Sabah, Malaysia. It is the third-largest city (or town)While Tawau have a population of more than 100,000 of which is considered city elsewhere in the world it is offic ...

in Sabah,

Sibu Sibu is a landlocked city located in the central region of Sarawak, Malaysia. It serves as the capital of Sibu District within Sibu Division and is situated on the island of Borneo. Covering an area of , the city is positioned at the conf ...

and

Bintulu Bintulu is a coastal town on the island of Borneo in the central region of Sarawak, Malaysia. Bintulu is located northeast of Kuching, northeast of Sibu, and southwest of Miri, Malaysia, Miri. With a population of 114,058 as of 2010, Bintulu ...

in Sarawak, and Victoria in Labuan. The 2020 estimated population is 6 million (3,418,785 in Sabah, 2,453,677 in Sarawak and 95,120 in Labuan). The earliest inhabitants of East Malaysia were the

Dayak people The Dayak (; older spelling: Dajak) or Dyak or Dayuh are the native groups of Borneo. It is a loose term for over 200 riverine and hill-dwelling ethnic groups, located principally in the central and southern interior of Borneo, each with its ...

and other related ethnic groups such as the

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 ...

people. These indigenous people form a significant portion, but not the majority, of the population. For hundreds of years, there has been significant migration into East Malaysia and Borneo from many parts of the

Malay Archipelago The Malay Archipelago is the archipelago between Mainland Southeast Asia and Australia, and is also called Insulindia or the Indo-Australian Archipelago. The name was taken from the 19th-century European concept of a Malay race, later based ...

, including Java, the

Lesser Sunda Islands The Lesser Sunda Islands (, , ), now known as Nusa Tenggara Islands (, or "Southeast Islands"), are an archipelago in the Indonesian archipelago. Most of the Lesser Sunda Islands are located within the Wallacea region, except for the Bali pro ...

Sulawesi Sulawesi ( ), also known as Celebes ( ), is an island in Indonesia. One of the four Greater Sunda Islands, and the List of islands by area, world's 11th-largest island, it is situated east of Borneo, west of the Maluku Islands, and south of Min ...

, and

Sulu Sulu (), officially the Province of Sulu (Tausug language, Tausūg: ''Wilaya' sin Lupa' Sūg''; ), is a Provinces of the Philippines, province of the Philippines in the Sulu Archipelago. It was part of the Bangsamoro, Bangsamoro Autonomous R ...

. More recently, there has been immigration from

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

and China. The indigenous inhabitants were originally animists. Islamic influence began as early as the 15th century, while Christian influence started in the 19th century. The indigenous inhabitants are generally partisan and maintain culturally distinct dialects of the

Malay language Malay ( , ; , Jawi alphabet, Jawi: ) is an Austronesian languages, Austronesian language spoken primarily by Malays (ethnic group), Malays in several islands of Maritime Southeast Asia and the Malay Peninsula on the mainland Asia. The lang ...

, in addition to their own ethnic languages. Approximately over one-tenth of the population of Sabah and Labuan, and almost a quarter of the population of Sarawak, is composed of local Chinese communities. The local Malay consists approximately 13.6% in East Malaysia, with over two-thirds of Malay in East Malaysia resides in the state of Sarawak, predominantly found in the city of

and the surrounding areas. While among Indian communities, unlike their fellows in Peninsular Malaysia where they are considered as one of the several major ethnic groups in Peninsula, their population in East Malaysia was quite tiny, consists just about 0.3%, with the majority of them resides in the urban areas such as

and

, in addition to Kuching. However, the demography of Sabah has been altered dramatically with the alleged implementation of

Project IC Project IC is the name used in Malaysia to describe the allegation of systematic granting of citizenship to immigrants (whether legal or otherwise) by giving them identity document, identity cards and subsequently its current iteration, the ''MyK ...

in the 1990s. Citizenships are alleged to be granted to immigrants from

and

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 ...

in order to keep the UMNO ruling party in power. Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) has been conducted from 11 August 2012 to 20 September 2013. The outcome of the investigation was submitted to the prime minister on 19 May 2014. The report was released on 3 December 2014 after 6 months delay. It stated that Project IC might have existed, which was responsible for a sudden spike in the state population. However, the report did not pinpoint any responsibility except for "corrupt officials" who took advantage of the system.

Education

East Malaysia currently has two public universities, namely Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS) and

Universiti Malaysia Sabah Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS; English: University of Malaysia Sabah) is a public university in Malaysia. It was officially established on 24 November 1994 as the ninth public university in the country. The university is located on a 999-acre ...

(UMS).

Universiti Teknologi Mara The MARA Technological University ( Malay: ''Universiti Teknologi MARA''; Jawi: اونيۏرسيتي تيكنولوڬي مارا; abbr. UiTM) is a public university in Malaysia, based primarily in Shah Alam, Selangor. It was established to ...

(UiTM) also has branch campuses in both states. Labuan's own institution of higher education is Universiti Malaysia Sabah Labuan International Campus, which has a branch in Sepanggar Bay, Kota Kinabalu. All prospective university entrants from Sabah, Sarawak, and Labuan must sit the examinations of one matriculation college, Kolej Matrikulasi Labuan. UCSI University, Sarawak Campus, University College of Technology Sarawak (UCTS) Tunku Abdul Rahman University College (Sabah campus), International University College of Technology Twintech (Sabah campus), and

Open University Malaysia Open University Malaysia, abbreviated as OUM (formerly UNITEM), is the seventh private university in Malaysia. It is owned by Multimedia Technology Enhancement Operations (METEOR) Sdn. Bhd, a consortium of 11 List of universities in Malaysia ...

(Sabah campus) have local private university branch campuses in East Malaysia. Curtin University, Malaysia and Swinburne University of Technology Sarawak Campus are foreign university branch campuses in Sarawak. There are 4 teacher training colleges ( Malay: ''Maktab Perguruan'') in Sarawak, and 4 teacher training colleges in Sabah.

Transport

The

Pan Borneo Highway The Pan-Borneo Highway () including the sections now known as the Pan Borneo Expressway, is a controlled-access highway on Borneo Island, connecting two Malaysian states, Sabah and Sarawak, with Brunei. The length of the entire highway is fo ...

connects Sabah, Sarawak, and Brunei. The road has been poorly maintained since it was built. The narrow road is dark at night without any street lights and there are many danger spots, sharp bends, blind spots, potholes, and erosion. However, federal government funds have been allocated for the upgrade of the highway, which will be carried out in stages until completion in 2025. The major airports in East Malaysia are

Kuching International Airport Kuching International Airport (KIA) is an international airport serving the entire southwestern region of Sarawak, Malaysia. It is located south of Kuching city centre. The airport is colocated with the RMAF Kuching Air Base, RMAF Kuching, hom ...

, Labuan Airport and Kota Kinabalu International Airport. Kota Kinabalu International Airport has also become the second largest airport in Malaysia, with an annual capacity of 12 million passengers – 9 million for Terminal 1 and 3 million for Terminal 2. There are frequent air flights by including

Malaysia Airlines Malaysia Airlines ( Malay: ''Penerbangan Malaysia'') is the flag carrier of Malaysia, headquartered at Kuala Lumpur International Airport. The airline flies to destinations across Europe, Oceania and Asia from its main hub at Kuala Lumpur Int ...

(MAS) and

AirAsia Capital A Berhad (), operating as AirAsia (stylised as ''airasia'') is a Malaysian multinational low-cost airline headquartered near Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Established in 1993 and commencing operations in 1996, the airline is the largest in M ...

between East Malaysia and Peninsular Malaysia. Other ports of entry to East Malaysia include Sibu Airport, Bintulu Airport, and

Miri Airport Miri Airport is an airport located south east of Miri, Malaysia, Miri, a city in the Malaysian state of Sarawak. The airport is the sixth-busiest airport in Malaysia, and the second-busiest in Sarawak. Miri Airport is the main hub for MASWings ...

in Sarawak, Sandakan Airport and Tawau Airport in Sabah. MAS also operates international flights to major cities in East Malaysia. The rural areas in Borneo can only be accessed by air or river boat. River transport is especially prevalent in Sarawak because there are many large and long rivers, with

being the most used. Rivers are used by boats and ferries for communications (i.e. mail) and passenger transport between inland areas and coastal towns. Timber is also transported via vessels and log carriers down the rivers of Sarawak. The Labuan Ferry operates boat express and vehicle ferries from

Island to

and

. Ferries have overtaken air travel as the chief transportation mode on and off the island.

Economy

Shipyards in Sabah and Sarawak build steel vessels for offshore supply, tug, barge and river ferries when compared to shipyards in Peninsular Malaysia that focus on building steel and aluminium vessels for the government as well as oil and gas companies. This makes the shipyards in Sabah and Sarawak more competitive and innovative in design, process and material, compared to the shipyards in peninsular Malaysia, where the big projects are dependent on government funding.

Security

The state of Sabah has been subjected to attacks by Moro pirates and militants since the 1960s and intensification in 1985, 2000, 2013. The

Eastern Sabah Security Zone The Eastern Sabah Security Zone (ESSZONE) is a security zone in the Malaysian state of Sabah that was launched by Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak on 25 March 2013 following persistent Cross border attacks in Sabah, attacks by pirates and m ...

(ESSZONE) and

Eastern Sabah Security Command The Eastern Sabah Security Command (ESSCOM) is a Malaysian security area that covers 1,400 km of the east coast of Sabah from Kudat to Tawau. It was announced on 7 March 2013 by Musa Aman, the Sabah State Chief Minister. Its purpose is to ...

(ESSCOM) were established on 25 March 2013 to tighten security in the region. Since 2014, a 12-hour dusk-to-dawn curfew has been imposed on six Sabah east coast districts.

Notes

References

External links

Virtual Malaysia
– The Official Portal of the Ministry of Tourism, Malaysia
mulucaves.org
Mulu Caves Project {{Borneo Maritime Southeast Asia Enclaves and exclaves