The Kota Marudu District ( ms, Daerah Kota Marudu) 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 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 ...

, part of the

Kudat Division Kudat Division ( ms, Bahagian Kudat) is an administrative division in the state of Sabah, Malaysia. It occupies the northern tip of Sabah. Its total area of 4,623 square kilometres (6.3% of Sabah's total territory) makes it the smallest of the fi ...

which includes the districts of Kota Marudu,

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 ...

and Pitas. The capital of the district is in Kota Marudu Town.

Etymology

Kota means Fort. The name Marudu originated from the language of Balangigi people from the words of "Mairudu" or "Maiuludu" which means "a position located in the same place", referring to the geographical position of Marudu Bay which forms a large bay. Since then, the term Mairudu turns to Marudu and Mailudu becomes Maludu. Hence, Western writers often refer to Marudu as Marudu, Marudo or Maludu. The name Marudu was first mapped by a Dutch sailor in 1595 who sailed from

Brunei Brunei ( , ), formally Brunei Darussalam ( ms, Negara Brunei Darussalam, Jawi alphabet, Jawi: , ), is a country located on the north coast of the island of Borneo in Southeast Asia. Apart from its South China Sea coast, it is completely sur ...

and reached Marudu,

Palawan Palawan (), officially the Province of Palawan ( cyo, Probinsya i'ang Palawan; tl, Lalawigan ng Palawan), is an archipelagic province of the Philippines that is located in the region of Mimaropa. It is the largest province in the country in ...

and the Sulu Archipelago. While in the waters of Marudu, he found the Balangigi people or also called by the Spaniards as the "Camucones" became the sea troops of the Sultanates of Brunei and Sulu at the time.

History

The district is once known as the stronghold of a local leader named Sharif Usman. The Sharif administer the area under the consent of the

Sultanate of Sulu The Sultanate of Sulu (Tausug language, Tausūg: ''Kasultanan sin Sūg'', كاسولتانن سين سوڬ; malay language, Malay: ''Kesultanan Sulu''; fil, Sultanato ng Sulu; Chavacano: ''Sultanato de Sulu/Joló''; ar, سلطنة سولك) ...

although he administer the place under his own as an independent

chiefdom A chiefdom is a form of hierarchical political organization in non-industrial societies usually based on kinship, and in which formal leadership is monopolized by the legitimate senior members of select families or 'houses'. These elites form a ...

. He later involved in a dispute with the colonial authorities of

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. , gove ...

after being accused as a

pirate Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and other valuable goods. Those who conduct acts of piracy are called pirates, v ...

and involved in a

slave trade Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...

, where he was killed during a battle with the latter and his entire fort in the area was destroyed.

Demographics

The population of Kota Marudu district according to the last census in 2010 is 66,374. It consists mainly 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 ...

Rungus The Momogun Rungus are an ethnic group of Borneo, residing primarily in northern Sabah in the area surrounding Kudat Peninsular, Kota Marudu, Pitas Bengkoka Peninsular and Beluran. A sub-group of the Dayak, they have a distinctive language, ...

Bajau The Sama-Bajau include several Austronesian ethnic groups of Maritime Southeast Asia. The name collectively refers to related people who usually call themselves the Sama or Samah (formally A'a Sama, "Sama people"); or are known by the exonym ...

Orang Sungai The Orang Sungei (Malay word for "River People") are a group of indigenous people native to the state of Sabah, Malaysia. Groups of communities live along the rivers of Kinabatangan, Paitan, Labuk, Kudat, Membakut and Lahad Datu. The name "Or ...

and

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 ...

(mainly

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 ...

and

Hokkien The Hokkien () variety of Chinese is a Southern Min language native to and originating from the Minnan region, where it is widely spoken in the south-eastern part of Fujian in southeastern mainland China. It is one of the national languages in ...

). As in other districts of Sabah, there are a significant number of illegal immigrants from the nearby southern

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

, notably from the Sulu Archipelago and

Mindanao Mindanao ( ) ( Jawi: مينداناو) is the second-largest island in the Philippines, after Luzon, and seventh-most populous island in the world. Located in the southern region of the archipelago, the island is part of an island group of ...

which are not included in the population statistics.

Gallery

File:Tandek Sabah MasjidTandek-01.jpg, Tandek Mosque. File:KotaMarudu Sabah BaselChurch-01.jpg, Kota Marudu Basel Church. File:KotaMarudu Sabah CatholicChurchStTheresa-02.jpg, St. Theresa Catholic Church. File:Goshen Kota-Marudu Sabah Seventh Day-Adventist-Church-Goshen-01.jpg, Goshen Seventh Day Adventist Church. File:Sabah CrockerMountainRange-01.jpg,

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 ...

Notes

References

External links

*
Kota Marudu District Council
*
Kota Marudu District Office
{{Districts of Malaysia