Sarawak

State of Malaysia, in the northwest of the island of Borneo; area 124,400 sq km/48,018 sq mi; population (2000 est) 2,012,600 (24 ethnic groups make up almost half this number). The capital is Kuching. The economy is based mainly on agriculture, and commercial crops include rubber, pepper, and sago. Rice is grown widely as a subsistence crop. Industries include the processing of these crops, as well as sawmilling of tropical hardwoods, oil refining, and the manufacture of textiles, soap, and tiles. Navigable rivers form an important means of communication.

The region is mountainous, and a third of all its plant species are native to the region. Much of Sarawak remains covered by primary rainforest, which contains several thousand tree species. Although about 30% of the forest was cut down between 1963 and 1989, timber is still the most important export after oil.

Sarawak was granted by the Sultan of Brunei to English soldier James Brooke in 1841, who became ‘Raja of Sarawak’. It was a British protectorate from 1888 until captured by the Japanese in World War II. It was a crown colony 1946–63, after which it became part of Malaysia.