Kota Belud ( ms, Pekan Kota Belud; ;

Pha̍k-fa-sṳ Pha̍k-fa-sṳ is an orthography similar to Pe̍h-ōe-jī and used to write Hakka, a variety of Chinese. Hakka is a whole branch of Chinese, and Hakka dialects are not necessarily mutually intelligible with each other, considering the large geogr ...

: Kú-tá Mâu-lu̍t) is the capital of the

Kota Belud District The Kota Belud District ( ms, Daerah Kota Belud) is an administrative district in the Malaysian state of Sabah, part of the West Coast Division which includes the districts of Kota Belud, Kota Kinabalu, Papar, Penampang, Putatan, Ranau and Tuara ...

in the

West Coast Division West Coast Division ( ms, Bahagian Pantai Barat) is an administrative division of Sabah, Malaysia. It occupies the northwest portion of Sabah. With an area of 7,588 square kilometres, it occupies 10.3% of Sabah's territory. It also has approxim ...

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 state of Sarawak to the southwest and the North Kalimantan province of Indone ...

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 8,392 in 2010. It is roughly at the midpoint of the federal highway connecting the state capital,

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 ...

, and

Kudat Kudat ( ms, Pekan Kudat) is the capital of the Kudat District in the Kudat Division of Sabah, Malaysia. Its population was estimated to be around 29,025 in 2010. It is located on the Kudat Peninsula, about north of Kota Kinabalu, the state cap ...

, near the northern tip of Sabah. The town is considered as the unofficial capital and gateway to the heartland of the West Coast Bajau people. Kota Belud's population is divided between the Bajau-Sama,

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

Illanun The Iranun are a Moro ethnic group native to Mindanao, Philippines (in Maguindanao del Norte: Barira, Buldon, Parang, Matanog, Sultan Mastura, and Sultan Kudarat; North Cotabato: Alamada, Banisilan, Carmen, Libungan, and Pigcawayan; Lan ...

peoples. There is a

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of va ...

minority, which consists mainly of

Hakkas 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 ...

. It is noted for its open air market, or ''tamu'', which is held every Sunday. Once a year, the ''tamu'' is held on a much larger scale. During this time, it is known as the ''Tamu Besar'' or Grand Market.

Gallery

File:KotaBelud Sabah Rice-Padi-06.jpg, A

paddy field A paddy field is a flooded field (agriculture), field of arable land used for growing Aquatic plant, semiaquatic crops, most notably rice and taro. It originates from the Neolithic rice-farming cultures of the Yangtze River basin in sout ...

in Kota Belud. File:KotaBelud Sabah -TaoistTemple-01.jpg, A

Taoist Taoism (, ) or Daoism () refers to either a school of philosophical thought (道家; ''daojia'') or to a religion (道教; ''daojiao''), both of which share ideas and concepts of Chinese origin and emphasize living in harmony with the ''Tao'' ...

temple in Kota Belud. File:KotaBelud Sabah BigLettersOfTown-01.jpg, Kota Belud town sign on a hill. File:KotaBelud Sabah PasarTani-04.jpg, Market in Kota Belud.

References

External links

Kota Belud District Towns in Sabah {{Sabah-geo-stub