Sarawak
(2000 pop. 2 million). Situated in the northwest coast of the island of Borneo, Sarawak is the largest state in Malaysia and has a land area of 124,449 square kilometers. Its population is divided among thirty distinct ethnic groups. Most of these peoples, theancestors of whom emerged about 2000 BCE, are collectively referred to as Dayaks, and include the Ibans, Bidayuh, Kenyah, Kayan, Punan, Kelabit, Penan, and others. Malays and, later, Chinese, who arrived from about the mid-eighteenth century, constitute a large percentage of the coastal and urban population.
Sarawak, which formed a province of the Brunei Sultanate, began its history as an independent entity when the English adventurer James Brooke was granted the cession of territory between Tanjung Datu at the western tip of the state and the Samarahan River in the east of the Samaharan Division in 1841 in return for his services in helping Raja Muda Hassim of Brunei put down a riot in the province. Sarawak's colonial status came to an end with the proposal to form Malaysia in 1961, which the state joined on 16 September 1963. Sarawak's major sectors of economy are mining, agriculture, and forestry. Although its economy is expanding, Sarawak remains the least urbanized state in Malaysia. Sarawak is popularly known as "the land of the hornbill" in tribute to the majestic bird found there.
Shanthi Thambiah
Further Reading
Chater, W. J. (1969) Sarawak Long Ago. Kuching, Borneo: Borneo Literature Bureau.
Jackson, James C. (1968) Sarawak: A Geographical Survey of a Developing State. London: University of London Press.
Pringle, Robert. (1970) Rajahs and Rebels: The Ibans of Sarawak under Brooke Rule, 1841–1941. London: Macmillan.
This complete Sarawak contains 266 words. This
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