Besut is a

district A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivision ...

Terengganu Terengganu (; Terengganu Malay: ''Tranung'', Jawi: ), formerly spelled Trengganu or Tringganu, is a sultanate and constitutive state of federal Malaysia. The state is also known by its Arabic honorific, ''Dāru l- Īmān'' ("Abode of Faith") ...

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federal constitutional monarchy consists of thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two regions: Peninsular Malaysia and Borneo's East Mal ...

. It is bordered by the state of

Kelantan Kelantan (; Jawi: ; Kelantanese Malay: ''Klate'') is a state in Malaysia. The capital is Kota Bharu and royal seat is Kubang Kerian. The honorific name of the state is ''Darul Naim'' (Jawi: ; "The Blissful Abode"). Kelantan is located in t ...

to the north and west and the

South China Sea The South China Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean. It is bounded in the north by the shores of South China (hence the name), in the west by the Indochinese Peninsula, in the east by the islands of Taiwan and northwestern Ph ...

to the east. It is the northern gateway to Terengganu. Kampung Raja is the district capital, though Jerteh is more developed. Another major town is the fishing port of

Kuala Besut Kuala Besut is a mukim in Besut District, Terengganu, Malaysia. It is the departure point for boats to the Perhentian Islands. There are a variety of tour operators that tourist can choose for getting to Perhentian Islands. Small shops selli ...

. There are other small towns and villages such as Jabi, Apal, Pasir Akar and Tembila.

History

There is a lack of written evidence on this district. The records by

Munshi Abdullah Abdullah bin Abdul al Kadir (1796–1854) ( ar, عبد الله بن عبد القادر ') also known as Munshi Abdullah, was a Malayan writer of mixed ancestry. He was a famous Malacca-born munshi of Singapore and died in Jeddah, a part of t ...

in his book, ''Kisah Pelayaran Abdullah ke Kelantan'', and ''Tuhfat al-Nafis'' by

Raja Ali Haji Raja Ali Haji bin Raja Haji Ahmad (1808–1873) was a 19th-century Bugis- Malay historian, poet and scholar. He was elevated to the status of National Hero of Indonesia in 2004. Haji has been described as one of the most important Malay writ ...

touched a bit on Besut. Due to this, there are many stories that tell the matters regarding the origin of Besut.

Administrative divisions

Besut District is divided into 9 ''

mukim A mukim is a type of administrative division used in Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore. The word ''mukim'' is a loanword in English. However, it was also originally a loanword in Malay from the Arabic word: (meaning ''resident''). The cl ...

s'', which are: * Bukit Kenak * Bukit Puteri * Hulu Besut * Jabi * Kampung Raja * Keluang * Kerandang *

* Kubang Bemban * Lubuk Kawah * Pasir Akar * Pelagat * Pengkalan Nangka *

Perhentian Islands The Perhentian Islands ( Malay: ''Kepulauan Perhentian'') are islands in Besut District, Terengganu, Malaysia. The two main islands are Perhentian Besar ("Greater Perhentian") and Perhentian Kecil ("Lesser Perhentian"). The small, uninhabited i ...

* Tembila * Tenang

Population

As of 2010, there are approximately 140,952 people in Besut District, of various ethnicity, with the Malays being the majority. Other ethnics include Chinese and Siamese. Most Malays in Besut identify themselves with Kelantanese identity rather than the Terengganuan identity. One of the prominent examples is that they tend to speak

Kelantanese Malay Kelantan-Pattani Malay (; ; in Pattani; in Kelantan) is an Austronesian language of the Malayic subfamily spoken in the Malaysian state of Kelantan and the neighbouring southernmost provinces of Thailand. It is the primary spoken language of ...

instead of

Terengganu Malay Terengganu Malay ( ms, Bahasa Melayu Terengganu; Terengganu Malay: ) is a Malayic language spoken in the Malaysian state of Terengganu all the way southward to coastal Pahang and northeast Johor. It is the native language of Terengganu Malays a ...

like in most parts of Terengganu. Meanwhile, the dominant minority ethnic Chinese population are more concentrated near Jerteh town.

Education

Besut has education institutions which are developed by both the central and Terengganu state governments such as, Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin, Institute of Teacher's Education Sultan Mizan Campus, MARA Junior Science College (Kota Putra & Besut campuses), Kolej Komuniti Besut, Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Tengku Mahmud, Sekolah Menengah Agama Maarif, Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Agama Nurul Ittifaq, Madrasah Moden MAIDAM Besut and Sekolah Menengah IMTIAZ, Sekolah Menengah Agama Ittifakiah, among others. Hence, Besut is known as one of the best educational hub towns in Malaysia.

Tourism

There are a number of travel destinations that are located here, many of them islands or beaches. The most popular of all tourist sites in Besut are

, one of the top island destinations in the world according to the CNN. Perhentian Islands lie about 10.8 nautical miles (20 km) to the north east of Kuala Besut and are made up of islands such as Perhentian Besar, Perhentian Kecil, and Susu Dara. The islands are well known for their tropical reefs, scuba diving, and snorkeling. Besides Perhentian Islands, beaches are also among the top local places to visit. The beaches here are Air Tawar, Dendong, and Bukit Keluang beach. In the interior parts of the district, visitors can experience the

tropical The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the Equator. They are defined in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the Northern Hemisphere at N and the Tropic of Capricorn in the Southern Hemisphere at S. The tropics are also referred to ...

forest in areas such as Lata Tembakah and Lata Belatan, or climb the 1039m-high Gunung Tebu (Mount Tebu). Tourists can also enjoy bathing in the natural

hot spring A hot spring, hydrothermal spring, or geothermal spring is a spring produced by the emergence of geothermally heated groundwater onto the surface of the Earth. The groundwater is heated either by shallow bodies of magma (molten rock) or by circ ...

s of Kolam Air Panas La or La Hot Springs. The water here contains

sulphur Sulfur (or sulphur in British English) is a chemical element with the symbol S and atomic number 16. It is abundant, multivalent and nonmetallic. Under normal conditions, sulfur atoms form cyclic octatomic molecules with a chemical formula ...

and can reach 49 °C.

Federal Parliament and State Assembly Seats

List of Besut district representatives in the Federal Parliament (Dewan Rakyat)

List of Besut district representatives in the State Legislative Assembly of

References

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