The Kudat District ( ms, Daerah Kudat) 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 Kota Marudu ( ms, Pekan Kota Marudu) is the capital of the Kota Marudu District in the Kudat Division of Sabah, Malaysia. Its population was estimated to be around 8,716 in 2010. It is located 130 kilometres north of the state capital, Kot ...

, Kudat and Pitas. The capital of the district is in Kudat Town.

Etymology

In the past, Kudat was known locally as "Tanjong Berungus" and sometimes also called "Tambarungan". During the early arrival of Chinese traders at Tanjung Berungus, they were surprised to see a kind of grass growing everywhere. The desperation forced them to ask the locals comprising the Rungus tribes who are the native inhabitants of the place who later explained to them that the grass are called "Kutad" in their language. The place then became the centre of meeting between the local and Chinese traders to carry out trading activities. However, since the Chinese pronunciation was inaccurate, the term "Kudat" eventually emerging and became synonymously used among the people. While another story from the Binadan people explained the word Kudat comes from a reaction “takkudad aku” in their language which mean "I am shocked" after a people from their tribes shocking when hearing a ship named Santi while they sailing from Limau-Limauan to Tanjung Berungus. The event subsequently gave them an idea among their community who also agreed to name Tanjung Berungus as Kudat.

History

The area around Kudat was once under the

thalassocracy A thalassocracy or thalattocracy sometimes also maritime empire, is a state with primarily maritime realms, an empire at sea, or a seaborne empire. Traditional thalassocracies seldom dominate interiors, even in their home territories. Examples ...

of the

Sultanate of Brunei This article includes a list of successive Islamic states and Muslim dynasties beginning with the time of the Islamic prophet Muhammad (570–632 CE) and the early Muslim conquests that spread Islam outside of the Arabian Peninsula, and continui ...

and later

Sulu Sulu (), officially the Province of Sulu (Tausug language, Tausūg: ''Wilāya sin Lupa' Sūg''; tl, Lalawigan ng Sulu), is a Provinces of the Philippines, province of the Philippines in the Sulu Archipelago and part of the Bangsamoro, Bangsamor ...

. In 1763, the

British East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Southea ...

gained the

Balambangan Island Balambangan Island ( ms, Pulau Balambangan) is an island in Kudat Division, Sabah, Malaysia. It is located off the northern tip of Borneo and is situated just about 3 kilometres west of Banggi Island. It is now part of the Tun Mustapha Marine ...

and set-up trading post. A British settlement was opened in 1773 but closed the following years after being attacked by Sulu pirates. It was reopened again in 1803 before closed again. After the reinforcement of British troops to combating

piracy 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 ...

in northern Borneo been increased, the British began to establish a solid presence in

North Borneo North Borneo (usually known as British North Borneo, also known as the State of North Borneo) was a British Protectorate, British protectorate in the northern part of the island of Borneo, which is present day Sabah. The territory of North Borneo ...

with the establishment of

North Borneo Chartered Company The North Borneo Chartered Company (NBCC), also known as the British North Borneo Company (BNBC) was a British chartered company formed on 1 November 1881 to administer and exploit the resources of North Borneo (present-day Sabah in Malaysia). ...

with Kudat become its first capital.

Demographics

According to the last census in 2010, the population of Kudat district is estimated to be around 83,140. It consists of a majority 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, ...

, a sub-group of the

Kadazan-Dusun Kadazan-Dusun (also written as Kadazandusun or Mamasok Kadazan-Dusun) also less-known as "Mamasok Sabah" are two indigenous peoples of Sabah, Malaysia—the ethnic groups Kadazan and Dusun. The Kadazandusun is the largest native group of Bumip ...

peoples. About 10% of the inhabitants are

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

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 ...

), and there are also a minorities of

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

Bugis The Bugis people (pronounced ), also known as Buginese, are an ethnicity—the most numerous of the three major linguistic and ethnic groups of South Sulawesi (the others being Makassar and Toraja), in the south-western province of Sulawe ...

and Malay. 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 ...

, mainly 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 ...

, many of whom are not included in the population statistics.

Gallery

File:Kudat Sabah Masjid-Asy-Syakirin-01.jpg, Asy-Syakirin Mosque. File:Kudat Sabah Anglican-Church-St-Paul-Sin-San-02.jpg, Sin San Anglican Church. File:Kudat Sabah GerejaBasel-01.jpg, Kudat Basel Church. File:Kudat Sabah CatholicChurchStPeter-01.jpg, St. Peter Catholic Church. File:Kudat Sabah Fuk-Tek-Kung-Temple-01.jpg, Fuk Tek Kung Temple. File:Bak Bak Beach.JPG, Bak Bak beach.

References

External links

*
Kudat District Office
{{Districts of Malaysia