Tatau District is one of the two districts of

Bintulu Division Bintulu Division is one of the twelve administrative divisions of Sarawak, Malaysia. It has a total area of 12,166.2 square kilometres, and is the third largest division after Kapit Division and Miri Division. Bintulu Division consists of two dis ...

Sarawak Sarawak (; ) is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia. The largest among the 13 states, with an area almost equal to that of Peninsular Malaysia, Sarawak is located in northwest Borneo Island, and is bordered by the M ...

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 ...

. It has a total area of 4,945.80 square kilometres. The largest town in the district is

Tatau Tatau is a town, and the capital of the Tatau District (4,945.8 square kilometres) in Bintulu Division, Sarawak, Malaysia. The district's reported total population for Tatau (year 2010 census) was 30,383. Tatau became a district in 1987. Bef ...

History

Tatau River was once under the control of the Bruneian Empire until 1861 when it was ceded to James Brooke and became part of the Raj of Sarawak.

Demography

The population of Tatau district (year 2010 National Census) was 30,322.

Ethnic groups

Tatau is traditionally a home to

Iban IBAN or Iban or Ibán may refer to: Banking * International Bank Account Number Ethnology * Iban culture * Iban language * Iban people Given name Cycling * Iban Iriondo (born 1984) * Iban Mayo (born 1977) * Iban Mayoz (born 1981) Football * ...

, Melanau,

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 ...

Malay Malay may refer to: Languages * Malay language or Bahasa Melayu, a major Austronesian language spoken in Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei and Singapore ** History of the Malay language, the Malay language from the 4th to the 14th century ** Indonesi ...

and

Orang Ulu Orang Ulu ("people of the interior" in Malay) is an ethnic designation politically coined to group together roughly 27 very small but ethnically diverse tribal groups in northeastern Sarawak, Malaysia with populations ranging from less than 300 p ...

people. There is one ethnic group named "Tatau" which is unique to Tatau district. Most Ibans are scattered throughout rural areas of Tatau. Whilst, Melanau people (or Melanau Bintulu/Vaie people) and Malay people are concentrated at Tatau and

Kuala Tatau Kuala Tatau is a village in Tatau District, Bintulu Division in the Malaysian state of Sarawak. It is located at the mouth of Tatau River with the South China Sea, about downstream to the north of the district town Tatau, as well as about sout ...

. Many Malay people are not originally from Tatau, however, intermarriage with locals especially Melanau people has made Malay as one of the major ethnics in Tatau. Chinese people are more concentrated at Tatau, while some reside at Sangan and Kuala Tatau. The Orang Ulu people, such as Kenyah, Kayan, Tatau, Penan and Punan are more scattered throughout Tatau district compared to the Iban people. Most of them still live deep in the rural areas like Ng. Tau, Kuala Baggiau and Sungai Anap. There is a large influx of foreign worker population due to the timber industry. It was estimated more than 10% of Tatau population are foreign workers, most of whom come from Indonesia.

Economy

The economy is largely based on the timber and agricultural industries. Timber industry remains a strong component of the district's economy. Agriculture is relatively minor although growing steadily, with

oil palm ''Elaeis'' () is a genus of palms containing two species, called oil palms. They are used in commercial agriculture in the production of palm oil. The African oil palm ''Elaeis guineensis'' (the species name ''guineensis'' referring to its co ...

rattan Rattan, also spelled ratan, is the name for roughly 600 species of Old World climbing palms belonging to subfamily Calamoideae. The greatest diversity of rattan palm species and genera are in the closed-canopy old-growth tropical forests of ...

and

pepper Pepper or peppers may refer to: Food and spice * Piperaceae or the pepper family, a large family of flowering plant ** Black pepper * ''Capsicum'' or pepper, a genus of flowering plants in the nightshade family Solanaceae ** Bell pepper ** Chili ...

the main products.

Transportation

Although Tatau is well connected to other parts of Sarawak with good networks of road, river transports still play the vital role in Bintulu. People of Tatau District can opt for regular shuttle bus service to Bintulu town, where then connected to other parts of Bintulu Division. The only shuttle bus operating for both town and rural services is Jepak Holding. As for people who wish to travel to upriver areas which are inaccessible by road such as Kuala Serupai, Kuala Baggiau and Sungai Anap, they have to use available ferry and boat services. River transport charges remain high in Tatau District due to the long distance of the upriver areas. There are some rural areas which are accessible by timber tracks and palm estate roads such as Kakus. Availability of transports to these areas are limited through bookings at Bintulu town or rarely at Tatau town, using private vans or four-wheel drive vehicles.

Infrastructure

Pan-Borneo Highway is a trunk road linking Tatau District to the rest of Sarawak.

Education

Tatau District has a moderate number of public schools. There is only one public secondary school for Tatau District. As for primary schools, most of them are scattered throughout Tatau. Most of them are located deep in the Tatau District's interior to cater for rural students. Most of the schools are partially boarding school due to the scattered population of Tatau District.

Healthcare

Tatau has its own health clinic with a qualified doctor. However, as for surgeries and more critical cases, they are normally referred to Bintulu Hospital, or to greater extent, Sarawak General Hospital in Kuching.

Security

Tatau District has a police district office. There are also police stations and posts located at strategic locations, as well as rural areas. Despite being the third largest division, Bintulu Division, as well as Tatau District, has no major military presence. There are only small military camps scattered throughout the division.

Government services

Other government offices have set up their branches in both Bintulu and Tatau district (some at Sebauh sub-district and other smaller communal areas) such as Royal Customs, Fire and Rescue Department, Education Department, etc.

References

External links

Bintulu Tourism

Bintulu National Parks
{{Sarawak Corridor of Renewable Energy