East Malaysia - Population

Population

The total population of East Malaysia in 2010 is estimated to be 6 million (3.5 million in Sabah and 2.5 million in Sarawak), which represents roughly 20% of the population of Malaysia. Significant amount of the population of East Malaysia today reside in towns and cities. The largest city and urban center is Kuching, which is also the capital of Sarawak and has a population of over 600,000 inhabitants. Kota Kinabalu is the second largest city and one of the most important cities in East Malaysia. Both Kuching and Kota Kinabalu together with Miri are the only three places with city status in East Malaysia. Other important towns include Sandakan and Tawau in Sabah and Sibu and Bintulu in Sarawak.

The earliest inhabitants of East Malaysia are the Dayak people and other related ethnic groups such as the Dusun people. These indigenous inhabitants form a significant portion of the population of East Malaysia, however they do not represent the majority population. There are significant migration into East Malaysia and Borneo from many parts of the Malay Archipelago since hundreds of years ago, including from Java, Lesser Sunda Islands, Sulawesi and Sulu. There are also recent migrations from further regions such as India and China.

The indigenous inhabitants are originally animists. Islamic influence had reached East Malaysia from as early as the 15th century while there are also Christian influence beginning the 19th century.

The indigenous inhabitants of East Malaysia are generally partisan and maintain culturally distinct dialects of the Malay language, in addition to their own ethnic languages. Approximately 13% of the population of Sabah, and 26% of the population of Sarawak, is composed of ethnic Chinese Malaysians.