Limbang Division () is one of the twelve administrative divisions of

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 ...

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 ...

. It has a total area of 7,788.50 square kilometres, and is the fourth largest division after Kapit Division, Miri Division and Bintulu Division. Limbang Division consists of two districts which are Limbang District and Lawas District, which in turn are divided as sub-districts in Limbang ( Nanga Medamit Sub-District) and two sub-districts in Lawas ( Sundar Sub-District and Trusan Sub-District). Long Semadoh and Ba’kelalan are rural settlements in the southern part of Lawas district. Two major towns in Limbang are Limbang and Lawas. There are also few smaller towns such as Sundar, Trusan, Merapok and Tedungan.

Geography

Limbang Division splits Brunei Darussalam into two; West

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 ...

to the west and

Temburong District Temburong District (; Jawi script, Jawi: دائيره تمبوروڠ) or simply known as Temburong ('; ), is the second largest and least populated districts of Brunei, district in Brunei. It has an area of and the population of 9,444 as of 20 ...

in the middle of Limbang and Lawas districts. Limbang is located between West Brunei and Temburong, while Lawas is located between Temburong and the Malaysian 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 ...

. This geographical situation, as well as the autonomy of Sabah and Sarawak in immigration affairs means that immigration checks are required when travelling into or out of Limbang Division by road.

Demography

As of 2002, the population of Limbang Division was 81,152. This makes Limbang one of the most sparsely populated divisions in Sarawak with only 10.5 people per square kilometre. Most of the Limbang Division population is concentrated in the coastal areas of Limbang and Lawas.

Ethnics

Limbang is traditionally a home to Bisaya, Malay,

Lun Bawang The Lun Bawang (formerly known as Trusan Murut and Mengalong Murut or Southern Murut) is an ethnic group found in Central Northern Borneo. They are indigenous to the southwest of Sabah (Interior Division including Labuan) and the northern reg ...

, Kedayan, Kelabit, Iban, Murut/

, Chinese and Orang Ulu people. Other Sarawakian ethnic groups do exist, especially Bidayuh and Melanau, who migrate from various parts of Sarawak. It has one of the highest concentration of Orang Ulu and Kedayan people. Due to being so close to Brunei, the Malay dialect in Limbang Division is somehow distinct to other parts of Sarawak. It has more Kedayan, Brunei Malay and Sabah regional dialect influences to it. ''Note:''
¹ Excluding Kedayan.
² Including Kedayan and Orang Ulu ethnics such as

, Murut, Kelabit and Penan.

Members of Parliament

Economy

Limbang mostly relies on its agriculture, timber industry and tourism sector to keep growing. Commercial sector is thriving in Limbang because of its location is within Brunei vicinity. Limbang has one of the highest number of tourist in Sarawak whereby Bruneian and Sabahan as the main contributor. Main commercial areas in Limbang are: *Limbang *Lawas *Tedungan

Transportation

Road

Owing to its geographical location, Limbang is completely cut off from the rest of

's road network. It is however has good road links to both parts of

located to the east and west of the district. There is also a good local network of roads in the district. There are two road border crossing checkpoints in Limbang district, both into

. *Tedungan: Located 43 km west of Limbang, it is the road crossing into the main part of Brunei from Limbang. The Brunei checkpoint is called Kuala Lurah. *Pandaruan: This checkpoint is located 15 km east of Limbang on the Pandaruan River which forms the

border Borders are generally defined as geography, geographical boundaries, imposed either by features such as oceans and terrain, or by polity, political entities such as governments, sovereign states, federated states, and other administrative divisio ...

between Sarawak and Brunei's

Temburong district Temburong District (; Jawi script, Jawi: دائيره تمبوروڠ) or simply known as Temburong ('; ), is the second largest and least populated districts of Brunei, district in Brunei. It has an area of and the population of 9,444 as of 20 ...

. The crossing used to be done by ferry. Recently, a bridge has been built over the Pandaruan River and thus reduces the queuing time between the two checkpoints. The checkpoint on the Brunei side is called Puni and operates out of a wooden building located 500m from the ferry landing point. Lawas, however, by virtue of its geographical location, is also cut off from the rest of Sarawak's road network. It is however linked by main road to

and

. There is a good local road network around Lawas district which is relatively free of traffic jams. Two road border crossings are located in Lawas district. *Mengkalap: Located to the west of Lawas town is the Mengkalap border checkpoint for traffic headed to or from

. The new immigration complex at the border has been completed recently. Previously it was operating temporarily from a shoplot in Trusan Bazaar, 8 km from the actual Brunei-Malaysia border. The name of the Brunei checkpoint is Labu in

located at the border. *Merapok: To the east of Lawas town, this checkpoint is for traffic headed to or from

(Sarawak, despite being a Malaysian state, has autonomy over immigration matters). The Sabah checkpoint across the state border is Sindumin. Here are images of passport stamps from the ICQS checkpoints located in Limbang Division. File:MalaysiaExitTedungan.jpg, Malaysian passport exit stamp from Tedungan ICQS Checkpoint. File:MalaysiaEntryPandaruan.jpg, Entry stamp from Pandaruan ICQS Checkpoint. File:MalaysiaExitMengkalap.jpg, Exit stamp from Mengkalap ICQS Checkpoint. File:MalaysiaEntryMerapok.jpg, Entry stamp from Merapok ICQS Checkpoint. File:Malaysia limbang entry2.JPG, Entry stamp from the Limbang Wharf ICQS Checkpoint, for boat arrivals from Brunei and Labuan. Although Limbang is well connected to other parts of Sarawak with good networks of road through Brunei, river transports still play the vital role in Limbang. People of Limbang Division can opt for rural shuttle bus service to Ng. Medamit and Tedungan from Limbang town, and also Sundar and Trusan from Lawas town. There are some rural areas which are accessible by timber tracks and palm estate roads such as Long Tengom, Long Sukang, Merarap, Long Semado, Rutoh and Ba'Kelalan. Availability of transports to these areas are limited through bookings at Limbang and Lawas town, using private vans or four-wheel drive vehicles.

Air

There are existing small airports that served the division through MASwings namely Limbang Airport in Limbang to

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 ...

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 ...

, Lawas 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 ...

Infrastructure

Education

Limbang Division has a moderate number of public schools. There are numbers of secondary school for both districts of Limbang and Lawas. As for primary schools, most of them are scattered throughout Limbang. Some of them are located deep in the Limbang Division's interior to cater for rural students. There is one Islamic secondary school which is SMKA Limbang. There is no public or private higher institution in Limbang Division.

Healthcare

Limbang Division has two government hospital which are Limbang Hospital (located 500m from the Limbang town) and Lawas Hospital. As for Ng. Medamit, Sundar and Trusan sub-district, all has their own health clinic. Smaller government health clinics do exist at various communal areas such as Ba'Kelalan.

Security

Limbang Division has two police district offices, namely at Limbang and Lawas. There are also police stations and police bits located at strategic locations, as well as rural areas. Despite being the fourth largest division, Limbang Division so far has no district military bases. Only small military camps do exist just to make presence.

Government services

Other government offices have set up their branches in both Limbang and Lawas districts (some at Ng. Medamit, Sundar and Trusan sub-districts and other smaller communal areas) such as Royal Customs, Fire and Rescue Department, Education Department, etc.

References

External links

* * {{coord missing, Malaysia