Sarawak

Categories: States of Malaysia

Sarawak (Jawi:سراواك) is one of the two Malaysian states on the island of Borneo. Situated on the north-west of the island, Sarawak is the largest state of Malaysia, known as "Land of the Hornbills", the second largest being its sister state, Sabah. The administrative capital is Kuching (pop. 458,300 in 2000) which literally means 'cat'. Major cities and towns also include Sibu (pop. 200,000), Miri (pop. 202,000) and Bintulu (pop. 102,761). As of last census (July 5, 2000), the state population was 2,176,800. For more details about the population see Demographics of Malaysia.

History

Sarawak had been a loosely governed territory under the control of the Brunei Sultanate in the early 19th century. James Brooke (see figure below) became governor of Sarawak on September 24, 1841 and was appointed Rajah by the Sultan of Brunei on August 18, 1842; originally this territory was just the western end of later Sarawak, around Kuching. He ruled Sarawak until his death in 1868. His nephew Charles Anthoni Johnson Brooke became Rajah after his death; he was succeeded by his son Charles Vyner Brooke. The territory was greatly expanded under these three, mostly at the expense of areas nominally under the control of Brunei. In practice Brunei had only controlled strategic river and coastal forts in much of the lost territory, and so most of the gain was at the expense of Muslim warlords and of the lost de facto independence of local tribes.

The Brooke dynasty ruled Sarawak for a hundred years and became famous as the "White Rajahs", accorded a status within the British Empire similar to that of the Indian Princes. In contrast to many other areas of the empire however the Brooke family was intent on a policy of paternalism to protect the indigenous population against exploitation. They governed with the aid of the local Malay and Muslim classes and employed the Ibans and other 'Dayak' peoples as their army. They also encouraged the immigration of a Chinese merchant class.

Japan invaded Sarawak in 1941 and held it for the duration of World War II until the area was secured by Australian forces in 1945. The Rajah formally ceded sovereignty to the British Crown in 1946, under pressure from his wife among others. His nephew Anthony continued to claim sovereignty as Rajah of Sarawak. The Malays in particular resisted the cession to Britain, dramatically assassinating the first British governor.

Sarawak was one of the main sites of the Indonesian Confrontation between 1962 and 1966. It became an autonomous state of the federation of Malaysia on September 16, 1963 despite initial opposition from parts of the population.

Geography

Having land area of 124,450 km² spreading between latitude 0° 50′ and 5°N and longitude 109° 36′ and 115° 40′ E, it makes up 37.5% of the land of Malaysia.

Sarawak is currently divided into eleven Administrative Divisions: Kuching Division, Samarahan Division, Sri Aman Division, Betong Division, Sarikei Division, Sibu Division, Mukah Division, Kapit Division, Bintulu Division, Miri Division and Limbang Division.

Brunei maintains a territorial dispute over the ownership of Limbang Division.

Demographics

Sarawak is home to 28 ethnic groups; each with their own distinct language, culture and lifestyle.

The Ibans form the major ethnic group on this land with about 30.1% of the total population per the year 2000 census. The Chinese, who generally live in the cities are the second largest group at 26.7%, followed by the Bidayuh, Melanau and other native tribes of Sarawak. The Malays constitute large portion (23.0%) of the population as well, mainly concentrated along the coast. Sarawak is rather distinctive from the rest of Malaysia in that there is only a small community of Indians living in the state.

Sarawakians practise a variety of religions, including Islam, Christianity, Chinese folk religion (a fusion of Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism and ancestor worship) and animism.

Economy

Sarawak is blessed with an abundance of natural resources. LNG and petroleum, have provided the mainstay of the state's economy for decades. Sarawak is also one of the world's largest exporter of tropical hardwood timber. However, the state government has imposed strict log-production quotas over the recent years to ensure sustainable forestry management. Sarawak still, however, produces approximately 9 to 10 million cubic metres of logs annually.

With such vast land expanse, Sarawak has large tracts of land suitable for commercial agricultural development. Approximately 32% or about 40,000 km² of the state's total land area have been identified as suitable agricultural land. Nevertheless, less than 9% of this is planted with productive permanent crops, while the balance is still under shifting cultivation for hill padi (rice) which is estimated at more than 16,000 km². The main commercial crops are oil palm, which has been increasing steadily over the years, sago, and pepper.

Since the 1980s, Sarawak has started to diversify and transform its economy into a more industrialized one. This endeavour has been seeing continuing success, with manufacturing and hi-tech industries now playing a significant role in shaping the economic expansion of the state.

The global economic environment is expected to remain robust and dynamic right up to the next decade, with both the industrial and developing countries anticipated to maintain sustainable output growth. Global trade is predicted to expand by about 8%. This continuing favourable external outlook should keep the high growth momentum of the nation's economy at a steady and stable level.

As the largest state in the Federation of Malaysia, Sarawak aims to be fully developed state along with the rest of the country by 2020. Sarawak has identified four sectors as key sources of growth:

• manufacturing
• commercial agriculture
• construction
• services sectors

The availability of vast competitively priced land and rich reserves of natural resources has made Sarawak an attractive choice for manufacturing operations among investors.

Further reading

• L. W. W. Gudgeon (1913). British North Borneo. London, Adam and Charles Black.

External links

• Sarawak Online
• Sarawak Forum
• Sarawak Population
• Malaysia Travel Guide to Sarawak
• Sarawak's Colonial Past