The Limbang District is one of the two districts of

Limbang Division Limbang Division is one of the twelve administrative divisions of Sarawak, Malaysia. It has a total area of 7,788.50 square kilometres, and is the fourth largest division after Kapit Division, Miri Division and Bintulu Division. Limbang Divisio ...

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 3,978.10 square kilometres. The major town is

Limbang Limbang is a border town and the capital of Limbang District in the Limbang Division of northern Sarawak, East Malaysia, on the island of Borneo. This district area is 3,978.10 square kilometres, and population (year 2020 census) was 56,900. ...

. It has one sub-district, which is Nanga Medamit Sub-District. It borders Brunei Darussalam to the west and east, Lawas District to the southeast and Miri District at the south and southwest. Due to being squeezed in between Brunei at its north and coastal areas, Limbang is accessible by road only by going through immigration posts.

History

The area was annexed by Charles Anthoni Johnson Brooke, the second Rajah of Sarawak in 1890 from Brunei to become the fifth division of Sarawak. The annexation was strongly disputed by Brunei. The de facto boundary ran along the watershed between the

Brunei River The Brunei River ( ms, Sungai Brunei) is a river which flows through Brunei and empties into the Brunei Bay towards the north-east direction. The Istana Nurul Iman, the official residence of the Sultan of Brunei, stands on its banks. The Brunei ...

and Limbang River basins on the western side of the district, and along the length of the Pandaruan River on the eastern side. Boundary agreements have delineated a stretch of the western border and the Pandaruan River while the other stretches have yet to be delineated. Limbang area is officially claimed since 1967 (it has been claimed since 1880s after the annexation of Limbang by the White Rajah) by

Brunei Brunei ( , ), formally Brunei Darussalam ( ms, Negara Brunei Darussalam, 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 surrounded by t ...

as part of its integral territory. It is the main part of the Brunei–Malaysia border disputes since Limbang separates Brunei territorially into two parts. The issue was said to have been settled in 2009 as has been stated from Bruneian media. However, Bruneian Second Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Lim Jock Seng said the issue was never discussed during the meeting of both countries' leaders.

Demography

The population of Limbang district (year 2000) was 40,959.

Ethnicity

Limbang is traditionally a home to Bruneian Malay,

Kedayan The Kedayan (also known as Kadayan, Kadaian or Kadyan) are an ethnic group residing in Brunei, Federal Territory of Labuan, southwest of Sabah, and north of Sarawak on the island of Borneo. According to the Language and Literature Bureau of B ...

, Chinese,

Iban IBAN or Iban or Ibán may refer to: Banking * International Bank Account Number Ethnology * Iban culture The Ibans or Sea Dayaks are a branch of the Dayak people, Dayak people on the island of Borneo in Southeast Asia. It is believed that the ...

Lun Bawang The Lun Bawang (formerly known as Trusan Murut or Southern Murut) is an ethnic group found in Central Northern Borneo. They are indigenous to the southwest of Sabah (Interior Division), and the northern region of Sarawak (Limbang Division), high ...

and Orang Ulu people. Limbang is the most culturally diverse and distinct part of Sarawak. It is a melting pot of many cultures, including Malay, Kedayan, Chinese, Iban and various Orang Ulu ethnic groups such as

, Bisaya, Murut, Kelabit and Penan. It has one of the highest concentration of Orang Ulu people in

Sarawak Sarawak (; ) is a 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 Malaysian state of Sabah to the northeast, ...

. ''Note:''
¹ Excluding Kedayan.
² Including Kedayan and other Orang Ulu such as Lun Bawang, Kelabit, Penan, Murut etc.

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 c ...

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 fores ...

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

Road

Owing to its geographical location, Limbang is completely cut off from the rest of

's road network. It is however has good road links to both parts of

located to the east and west of the district. There is also a good local network of roads in the district. There are two road border crossing checkpoints in Limbang district, both into

. *Tedungan: Located 43 km west of Limbang, it is the road crossing into the main part of Brunei from Limbang. The Brunei checkpoint is called Kuala Lurah. *Pandaruan: This checkpoint is located 15 km east of Limbang on the Pandaruan River which forms the

border Borders are usually defined as geographical boundaries, imposed either by features such as oceans and terrain, or by political entities such as governments, sovereign states, federated states, and other subnational entities. Political borders c ...

between Sarawak and Brunei's Temburong district. The checkpoint on the Brunei side is called Puni. File:MalaysiaExitTedungan.jpg, Malaysian passport exit stamp from Tedungan ICQS Checkpoint. File:MalaysiaEntryPandaruan.jpg, Entry stamp from Pandaruan ICQS Checkpoint. File:Malaysia limbang entry2.JPG, Entry stamp from the Limbang Wharf ICQS Checkpoint, for boat arrivals from Brunei and Labuan.

Air

There are existing small airports that served the division through MASwings namely Limbang Airport in

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 ...

, Kuching,

Lawas Lawas ( ms, Pekan Lawas) is a small town and the capital of Lawas District, Limbang Division, Sarawak, Malaysia. This district area is 3,811.90 square kilometres, and population (year 2020 census) was 46,200. It is 1,200 km from the state ...

and

Miri ) , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = , subdivision_type1 = State , subdivision_name1 = , subdivision_type2 = Division , subdivision_name2 ...

Infrastructure

Education

Limbang District has five secondary schools: SMK Limbang, SMKA Limbang, SMK Medamit, SMK Seri Patiambun Limbang and SMK Kubong. from Ministry of Education It has numerous primary schools, mostly scattered around Limbang rural areas.

Healthcare

Limbang has its own hospital which is Hospital Limbang. However, as for surgeries and more critical cases, they are normally referred to Miri Hospital, or to greater extent, Sarawak General Hospital in Kuching.

Security

Limbang District has a police district office. There are also police stations and police bits located at strategic locations, as well as rural areas. Despite being the fourth largest division, Limbang Division so far has no district military bases. This is also true for Limbang District. Only small military camps do exist just to make presence at Limbang district.

Government services

Other government offices have set up their branches in Limbang Districts such as Royal Customs, Fire and Rescue Department, Education Department etc.

References

External links

Laman Web Majlis Daerah Limbang

Welcome to Jabatan Residen Bahagian Limbang,Sarawak!
{{coord missing, Malaysia Brunei–Malaysia border crossings Former disputed land areas Territorial disputes of Brunei Territorial disputes of Malaysia Brunei–Malaysia border