| |||||||
| Anthem | "Allah Peliharakan Sultan" | ||||||
| Capital | Bandar Seri Begawan | ||||||
| Largest city | Kuching | ||||||
| Language official |
Malay, English | ||||||
| others | Indigenous languages, Chinese, Tamil | ||||||
| Religion main |
Islam | ||||||
| others | Christianity, Buddhism, Chinese folk religion | ||||||
| Ethnic Groups main |
Malays | ||||||
| others | Dayaks, Kadazan-Dusun, Chinese, Indian | ||||||
| Government | Unitary Islamic absolute monarchy | ||||||
| Sultan | Hassanal Bolkiah | ||||||
| Area | 204,212 km² | ||||||
| Population | 7,269,000 | ||||||
| Currency | North Borneo dollar (NBD)
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| Time Zone | UTC+8 | ||||||
| Calling Code | +673 | ||||||
| Internet TLD | .nb | ||||||
North Borneo (Malay: Borneo Utara, Jawi: بورنىو وتارا), officially known as the State of North Borneo (Malay: Negara Borneo Utara, Jawi: ڠىعارا بورنىو وتارا) is a country in Southeast Asia. It shares maritime borders with Malaya, Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam, as well as having land borders with Indonesia to the south. The capital of the country is Bandar Seri Begawan, and Kuching is the largest city.
Malays make up the demographical majority of North Borneo, while the country is also populated by many indigenous peoples such as Dayaks, Kadazan-Dzusun, Ibans and Bajau. Significant populations of Chinese and Indians also exist. North Borneo is an absolute monarchy, with the Sultan serving as head of state.
History[]
After having lost control of Malaya to the communist Malayan National Liberation Army, the British would shift their focus on their other possessions in Southeast Asia: Brunei, North Borneo (Sabah) and Sarawak. In order to lessen the influence of Chinese merchants and to contain the expansion of communism in the region, the three British possessions of Borneo were merged into a single political entity on 16 September 1963, with the Sultan of Brunei becoming its monarch. North Borneo was one of the main participants in the Indonesian War as a strategic ally of the United States. Along with the country's rich natural gas and petroleum fields, the tourism industry has also been contributing much to North Borneo's economic prosperity.