Sipitang ( ms, Pekan Sipitang) is the capital of the

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

in the

Interior Division The Interior Division ( ms, Bahagian Pedalaman) 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 ki ...

Sabah Sabah () is a state of Malaysia located in northern Borneo, in the region of East Malaysia. Sabah borders the Malaysian state of Sarawak to the southwest and the North Kalimantan province of Indonesia to the south. The Federal Territory ...

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

. Its population was estimated to be around 4,298 in 2010. It is the closest town in Sabah to the

Sarawak Sarawak (; ) is a state of Malaysia. The largest among the 13 states, with an area almost equal to that of Peninsular Malaysia, Sarawak is located in northwest Borneo Island, and is bordered by the Malaysian state of Sabah to the northeast, ...

border, and is 44 kilometres south of

Beaufort Beaufort may refer to: People and titles * Beaufort (surname) * House of Beaufort, English nobility * Duke of Beaufort (England), a title in the peerage of England * Duke of Beaufort (France), a title in the French nobility Places Polar regions ...

and 144 kilometres south of

Kota Kinabalu , image_skyline = , image_caption = From top, left to right, bottom:Kota Kinabalu skyline, Wawasan intersection, Tun Mustapha Tower, Kota Kinabalu Coastal Highway, the Kota Kinabalu City Mosque, the Wism ...

, the state capital and also is 123 kilometres north of

Long Pasia Long Pasia is a village in Sipitang District, Sabah. Long Pasia is a home town of Lun Bawang/Lun Dayeh tribes and has a population of about 1,000 people, and all of them are Christians of Borneo Evangelical Church (SIB). It is located about ...

, one of the famous attraction in

Economy

Sipitang Sabah Sabah-Forest-Industries-Sdn-Bhd-02

The major economic activities in Sipitang are timber related. A pulp and paper mill plant was constructed in 1987 and is operated by

Sabah Forest Industries Sabah () is a state of Malaysia located in northern Borneo, in the region of East Malaysia. Sabah borders the Malaysian state of Sarawak to the southwest and the North Kalimantan province of Indonesia to the south. The Federal Territor ...

, currently a subsidiary of Indian company,

Ballarpur Industries Limited Ballarpur Industries Limited (BILT) is a subsidiary of Avantha Group, and was once India's largest manufacturer of writing and printing paper. The current chairman of the company is Gautam Thapar, who succeeded his late uncle L.M. Thapar. BIL ...

. Generally, these activities does not directly benefit the locals. Most of the locals are involved in subsistence farming and fishing. The town is set to become one of Sabah's oil and gas industry centre following the state government's decision to build an oil and gas industrial park in Sipitang and the national oil company -

Petronas Petroliam Nasional Berhad (National Petroleum Limited), commonly known as Petronas, is a Malaysian petroleum, oil and natural gas, gas company. Established in 1974 and wholly owned by the Government of Malaysia, the corporation is vested w ...

's decision to build Sabah ammonia and urea plant in this town. The urea plant is planned to double Petronas's current total production capacity of urea to 2.6 million tonnes per annum (mtpa), while the ammonia plant will produce 740,000 million metric tons per annum.

Culture and leisure

Sipitang town hosts the biennial GATA (''Gasing and Tamu Besar'') festival since 2003. This festival features cultural events such as traditional games, music and dance performances, mainly of the predominant indigenous group in Sipitang district, that is the

Kedayan The Kedayan (also known as Kadayan, Kadaian or Kadyan) are an ethnic group residing in Brunei, Federal Territory of Labuan, southwest of Sabah, and north of Sarawak on the island of Borneo. According to the Language and Literature Bureau of ...

, Lundayeh/

Lun Bawang The Lun Bawang (formerly known as Trusan Murut or Southern Murut) is an ethnic group found in Central Northern Borneo. They are indigenous to the southwest of Sabah (Interior Division), and the northern region of Sarawak (Limbang Division), high ...

Murut Murut may refer to: * Murut people, an ethnic group of the northern inland regions of Borneo * Murutic languages The Murutic languages are a family of half a dozen closely related Austronesian languages, spoken in the northern inland regions o ...

and

Brunei Malay The Brunei Malay language, or Kedayan (, Jawi: ) is the most widely spoken language in Brunei and a lingua franca in some parts of Sarawak and Sabah, such as Labuan, Limbang, Lawas, Sipitang and Papar.Clynes, A. (2014). Brunei Malay: An O ...

. A 10 million project for the construction of an esplanade and a welcoming arch in Sipitang district was launched in 2007. The esplanade and arch was completed in 2011. The villages of

and

Long Mio Long Mio is one of the villages located in the district of Sipitang, Sabah Sabah () is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia located in northern Borneo, in the region of East Malaysia. Sabah borders the Malaysian ...

and their surrounding conservation area are located in Sipitang district. The Long Pasia area is one of the popular tourist destination in Sabah, which places among others, the Maga waterfall and Kerangas park.

Other utilities

Healthcare

The first medical facility in Sipitang is a dispensary, established in the 1970s. This site was originally a rest house during the British colonial days. It provided limited medical services, among others are external patient service, maternal and infant care clinic, and tuberculosis and malaria control centre. The current Sipitang Hospital is located off Sipitang-Mesapol road. It officially commenced operations on 10 April 1995.

Education

As of 2017, there are 4 secondary schools in Sipitang;

SMK Pengiran Omar Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Pengiran Omar (abbreviated SMKPO) is a secondary school located at the town of Sipitang, in the Interior Division of the state of Sabah, Malaysia. The school is listed as one of 90 pilot smart schools (''Sekolah Besta ...

, SMK Pengiran Omar II, SMK Padang Berampah and SMK Sindumin. These schools are all located in the vicinity of Sipitang town. Libraries: Sipitang branch library is located in Sipitang town. The library is operated by the Sabah State Library department. Other libraries or private libraries can be found in secondary and primary schools in Sipitang.

Climate

Sipitang has a

tropical rainforest climate A tropical rainforest climate, humid tropical climate or equatorial climate is a tropical climate sub-type usually found within 10 to 15 degrees latitude of the equator. There are some other areas at higher latitudes, such as the coast of southea ...

(Af) with heavy to very heavy rainfall year-round.

References

External links

{{Sabah Sipitang District Towns in Sabah