The Keningau District ( ms, Daerah Keningau) is an

administrative district Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of public administration within a particular sovereign state. This particular usage of the word government refers specifically to a level of administration that is both geographically-loca ...

in the

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 ...

n state of

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 o ...

, part of 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 ...

which includes the districts of Beaufort, Keningau,

Kuala Penyu Kuala Penyu Town ( ms, Pekan Kuala Penyu) is the capital of the Kuala Penyu District in the Interior Division of Sabah, Malaysia. Its population was estimated to be around 659 in 2010, with ethnic Dusun Tatana sub-group forming the largest s ...

Nabawan Nabawan ( ms, Pekan Nabawan) is the capital of the Nabawan District in the Interior Division of Sabah, Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federa ...

Sipitang Sipitang ( ms, Pekan Sipitang) is the capital of the Sipitang District in the Interior Division of Sabah, Malaysia. Its population was estimated to be around 4,298 in 2010. It is the closest town in Sabah to the Sarawak border, and is 44 kil ...

Tambunan Tambunan ( ms, Pekan Tambunan) is the capital of the Tambunan District in the Interior Division of Sabah, Malaysia. Its population was estimated to be around 35,667 in 2010. It is located 80 kilometres east of the state capital, Kota Kinabalu ...

and

Tenom Tenom ( ms, Pekan Tenom, ) is the capital of the Tenom District in the Interior Division of Sabah, Malaysia. Its population was estimated to be around 5,148 in 2010. It is located about 176 kilometres south of Kota Kinabalu and 128 kilometres n ...

. The capital of the district is in Keningau Town.

Etymology

The name ''Keningau'' is derived from the locally-abundant

Java Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's mos ...

nese cinnamon tree ('' Cinnamomum burmannii'') which is locally known as ''Koningau''.

History

Keningau was one of the most important administrative centres for the

British North Borneo (I persevere and I achieve) , national_anthem = , capital = Kudat (1881–1884);Sandakan (1884–1945);Jesselton (1946) , common_languages = English, Kadazan-Dusun, Bajau, Murut, Sabah Malay, Chinese etc. , go ...

in the early years of the 20th century. The Japanese also used Keningau as a government centre during their occupation in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

. The village of Nuntunan near Apin-Apin was numbered "44" in the British administration. The number stated the distance about 44 kilometres from

. Nuntunan was also called the "Office" because the British administration building was on the banks of the Apin-apin River. The Japanese took over the building for their own administration during the occupation.

Geography

The district of Keningau covers an area of 3,533 square kilometres and is located in a valley bordered to the west by the

Crocker Range Crocker Range ( ms, Banjaran Crocker) is a mountain range in West Coast Division of Sabah, Malaysia that separates the west and east coast of Sabah. At an average height of , it is the highest mountain range in the state with the range is named ...

and to the south and east by the

Mount Trus Madi Mount Trusmadi or Trus Madi ( ms, Gunung Trusmadi) is a mountain located at the Interior Division of Sabah, Malaysia. It is considered as the second highest mountain in both Sabah and Malaysia at , after Mount Kinabalu with Trusmadi offering a ...

Demographics

The population of the district of Keningau is 173,103 according to the last census in 2010. It consists of 90% of

Dusun Dusun is the collective name of a tribe or ethnic and linguistic group in the Malaysian state of Sabah of North Borneo. Collectively, they form the largest ethnic group in Sabah. Dusun has been recognised as among the indigenous community of ...

and

Murut Murut may refer to: * Murut people The Murut are an indigenous ethnic group, comprising 29 sub-ethnic groups inhabiting the northern inland regions of Borneo. The Murutic languages are a family of half a dozen closely related Austronesian lan ...

, as well an estimate of 8%

Hakka The Hakka (), sometimes also referred to as Hakka Han, or Hakka Chinese, or Hakkas are a Han Chinese subgroup whose ancestral homes are chiefly in the Hakka-speaking provincial areas of Guangdong, Fujian, Jiangxi, Guangxi, Sichuan, Hunan, Zhej ...

Chinese population and various minority indigenous groups.

Gallery

File:Keningau Sabah Ar-Rahim-Mosque 01.jpg, Ar-Rahim Mosque File:Keningau Sabah StMargaretAnglicanChurch-01.jpg, St. Margaret Anglican Church. File:Keningau Sabah Gereja-Basel-01.jpg, Keningau Basel Church. File:Sook Sabah HolySpiritCatholicChurch-01.jpg, Sign board to Sook Holy Spirit Catholic Church. File:Keningau Sabah SeventhDayAdventistChurch-01.jpg, Keningau Seventh Day Adventist Church. File:Sabah002.jpg, Keningau Temple. File:District-Keningau Sabah Morning-fog-01.jpg, Keningau fog. File:Keningau Sabah Rainforest-after-afternoon-torrential-rain-01.jpg, Keningau rainforest after rain.

References

External links

*
Keningau District Council
*
Keningau District Office
{{Districts of Malaysia