Sarawak - an Introduction

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States and Territories of Malaysia
Sarawak
سراوق
Flag of Sarawak Coat of arms of Sarawak
Flag Coat of arms
State motto: Bersatu, Berusaha, Berbakti
State anthem: Ibu Pertiwiku
Location of Sarawak
Capital Kuching
Ruling party Barisan Nasional
- Yang di-Pertua Negeri Abang Muhammad Salahuddin
- Ketua Menteri Abdul Taib Mahmud
History
- Brunei Sultanate 19th century
- Brooke dynasty 1841
- Japanese occupation 1941-1945
- British control 1946
- Accession into Malaysia 1963
Area
- Total 124,450 km²
Population
- 2006 estimate 2,357,500
- Density 19.1/km²
HDI (2000) 0.757 (medium)
National calling code 082a
083b
084c
085d
086e
National postal code 93xxx to 98xxx
License plate prefix QA & QK1
QB²
QC³
QL4
QM5
QP6
QR7
QS8
QT9
QSG10
Website: http://www.sarawak.gov.my
a For Kuching & Serian
b For Sri Aman
c For Sarikei & Sibu
d For Lawas, Limbang & Miri
e For Bintulu
1 Kuching
² Sri Aman
³ Kota Samarahan
4 Limbang
5 Miri
6 Kapit
7 Sarikei
8 Sibu
9 Bintulu
10 Sarawak State Government vehicle

Sarawak (Jawi: سراوق) is one of the two Malaysian states on the island of Borneo. Known as Bumi Kenyalang (‘Land of the Hornbills’), it is situated on the north-west of the island. It is the largest state in Malaysia; the second largest, Sabah, lies to the northeast.

The administrative capital is Kuching which has a population of 579,900 (2006 census; Kuching City South - 143,500; Kuching City North - 133,600; Padawan- 3rd Mile/ 7th Mile/ 10th Mile - 302,800). The name Kuching literally means ‘cat’ (kucing). Major cities and towns also include Sibu (pop. 254,000), Miri (pop. 263,000) and Bintulu (pop. 176,800). As of last census (Dec 31, 2006), the state population was 2,357,500. For more details about the population see Demographics of Malaysia, though it is interesting to note that Sarawak is, like Sabah to the north, a multicultural state, with no ethnic majority.


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 also contains large tracts of tropical rain forest home to an abundance of plant and animal species.

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.

The country stretches for some 750 km along the north east coastline of Borneo interrupted in the north by about 150 km of Brunei coast (not adding the coastline along the bays). Sarawak is separated from the Indonesian part of Borneo, Kalimantan, by ranges of high hills and mountains that are part of the central mountain range of Borneo. These get higher to the north and culminate near the source of the Baram River with the steep Mount Batu Lawi, Mount Mulu in the Park of the same name and Mount Murud with the highest peak in Sarawak.

The most important rivers are from the south to the north the Sarawak River, the Lupar River, the Saribas River, the Rajang River with 563 km the longest river in Malaysia with the Baleh River branch, the Baram River, the Limbang River that drains into the Brunei Bay as it divides the two parts of Brunei and the Trusan River that also flows into the Brunei Bay.

Sarawak can be divided into three natural regions. The coastal region is rather low lying flat country with large extents of swamps and other wet environments. The hill region provides most of the easily inhabited land. Most of the larger cities and towns have been built in this region. As the swamps make up much of the coast, the ports of Kuching and Sibu have been built some distance from the coast on rivers, while Bintulu and Miri are close to the coast at the only places that the hills stretch right to the China Sea. The third region is the mountain region along the border and with the Kelabit and Murut highlands in the north.


Environment

Sarawak was naturally blessed with vast areas of both lowland and highland rainforest. However, Sarawak has been hit hard by the logging industry and the expansion of monoculture tree plantations and oil palm plantations. Malaysia's deforestation rate is increasing faster than anywhere else in the world. Statistics estimate Sarawak's primary forest has been depleted by around 90%. Malaysia's rates of deforestation are among the highest in Asia, jumping almost 86 percent between the 1990-2000 period and 2000-2005. In total, Malaysia lost an average of 1,402 km² —0.65 percent of its forest area—per year since 2000 [1]. By comparison, South East Asian countries lost an average of 0.35% of their forest per annum during the 1990s.


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 exporters of tropical hardwood timber and is the major contributor to Malaysian exports. This has led to wide scale deforestation of Sarawak's rainforest. The last UN statistics estimated Sarawak's sawlog exports at an average of 14109000 m³ between 1996 and 2000 [3].

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 has 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 paddy (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 endeavor has been seeing continuing success, with manufacturing and high-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 favorable external outlook should keep the high growth momentum of the state's economy at a steady and stable level.

As the largest state in the Federation of Malaysia, Sarawak aims to be a 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.