Kota Kinabalu
Kota Kinabalu, colloquially referred to as KK, is the state capital of Sabah, Malaysia. It is also the capital of the Kota Kinabalu District as well as the West Coast Division of Sabah. The city is located on the northwest coast of Borneo facing the South China Sea. The Tunku Abdul Rahman National Park lies to its west and Mount Kinabalu, which gave the city its name, is located to its east. Kota Kinabalu has a population of 452,058 according to the 2010 census; when the adjacent Penampang and Tuaran districts are included, the metro area has a combined population of 628,725. The 2020 Census revealed an increase in the municipal population to 500,421, while the wider area including the Penampang and Putatan districts had a population of 731,406.
Historically, the Kadazandusuns called the area by the name of Dondoung. In the 15th century, the area of Kota Kinabalu was under the influence of Bruneian Empire. In the 19th century, the British North Borneo Chartered Company first set up a settlement near the Gaya Island. However, it was destroyed by fire in 1897 by a local leader named Mat Salleh. In July 1899, the place located opposite to the Gaya Island was identified as a suitable place for settlements. Development in the area was started soon after that; and the place was named "Api-api" before it was renamed after Sir Charles Jessel, the vice-chairman of NBCC, as "Jesselton". Jesselton became a major trading port in the area, and was connected to the North Borneo Railway. Jesselton was largely destroyed during World War II. The Japanese occupation of Jesselton provoked several local uprisings notably the Jesselton Revolt but they were eventually defeated by the Japanese. After the war, NBCC was unable to finance the high cost of reconstructions and the place was ceded to the British Crown Colony. The British Crown declared Jesselton as the new capital of North Borneo in 1946 and started to rebuild the town. After the formation of Malaysia, North Borneo was renamed as Sabah. In 1967, Jesselton was renamed as Kota Kinabalu, Kota being the Malay word for City and Kinabalu after the nearby Mount Kinabalu. Kota Kinabalu was granted city status in 2000.
Kota Kinabalu is often known as KK both in Malaysia and internationally. It is a major tourist destination and a gateway for travellers visiting Sabah and Borneo. Kinabalu Park is located about 90 kilometres from the city and there are many other tourist attractions in and around the city. Kota Kinabalu is also one of the major industrial and commercial centres of East Malaysia. These two factors combine to make Kota Kinabalu one of the fastest-growing cities in Malaysia.
Etymology
Kota Kinabalu is named after Mount Kinabalu, which is situated about 50 kilometres east-northeast of the city. Kinabalu is derived from the name Aki Nabalu meaning the 'revered place of the dead'. Aki means 'ancestors' or 'grandfather', and Nabalu is a name for the mountain in the Dusun language. There is also a source claiming that the term originated from Ki Nabalu, Ki meaning 'have' or 'exist', and Nabalu meaning 'spirit of the dead'.The word kota comes from Malay word kota which in turn comes from the Sanskrit word कोट्ट which means 'fort, fortress, castle, fortified house, fortification, works, city, town, or place encircled by walls'. It is also used formally in a few other Malaysian towns and cities, for example, Kota Bharu, Kota Tinggi, and Kota Kemuning. It can also be used informally to refer to any towns or cities. Hence, a direct translation of the name Kota Kinabalu into English would be "City of Kinabalu" or "Kinabalu City".
Original names
Besides Jesselton, there are also other older names for Kota Kinabalu. The most popular is Api-Api, or simply Api, which is a Malay word meaning 'fire'. Wendy Law Suart wrote in her book on North Borneo, The Lingering Eye, "there is in the Sabah State Museum a Dutch map of Borneo and the Celebes dated 1657 in which the settlement where Jesselton was to stand is clearly labelled Api Api. It may have some connection with the seaside tree with breathing roots that bears the same name". There are claims, however, that Kota Kinabalu was actually named after a nearby river called Sungai Api-Api. In Chinese, the city is still known as Api, which is the Hakka pronunciation for 亚庇.Another suggested historical name is Deasoka, which roughly means 'below the coconut tree' in the Bajau language. The Bajau locals purportedly used this name to refer to a village in the southern part of the city which was filled with coconut trees. Yet another name was Singgah Mata which literally means 'transit eye', but can be loosely translated as 'pleasing to the eye'. It is a name said to have been given by fishermen from Gaya Island referring to the strip of land that is today's downtown Kota Kinabalu. Today, all these names have been immortalised as names of streets or buildings around the city. Some examples are Lintasan Deasoka, Api-Api Centre and Singgah Mata Street.
History
Since the 15th century, the area of what is now Kota Kinabalu came under the influence of the Bruneian Empire. In the late 1800s, the British North Borneo Chartered Company began to establish colonial settlements throughout North Borneo. In 1882, NBCC founded a small settlement in the area known as Gaya Bay, which was already inhabited by the Bajau people. The first settlement was at Gaya Island. However, in 1897, the settlement was burned and destroyed by the indigenous Bajau-Suluk chief Mat Salleh.After the destruction, NBCC decided to relocate the settlement to the more easily defended mainland at Gantian Bay in 1898. However, Gantian Bay was found to be unsuitable and in July 1899, Henry Walker, a Land Commissioner, identified a site opposite Gaya Island as a replacement for Gantian Bay. The replacement settlement site was a fishing village called Api-Api. The site was chosen due to its proximity to the North Borneo Railway and its natural port that provided good anchorage, which was up to 24 feet deep.
File:Jesselton Bomb Damage.JPG|thumb|left|Bomb damage at the town of Jesselton during World War II, this was part of the Borneo Campaign by Allied forces during 1945.
File:Japanese troops disarmed, Jesselton, North Borneo.JPG|thumb|left|Disarmed Japanese troops marching towards a prisoner of war compound in Jesselton after surrendering to the Australian Imperial Force on 8 October 1945.
By the end of 1899, construction had started on shoplots, a pier and government buildings. This new administrative centre was renamed Jesselton after Sir Charles Jessel, who was the then Vice-Chairman of NBCC. Eventually, Jesselton became a major trading post of North Borneo, dealing in rubber, rattan, honey, and wax. The North Borneo Railway was used to transport goods to the Jesselton harbour. The Malay and Bajau uprisings during those times were not uncommon, and NBCC worked to quell the long-standing threat of piracy in the region. Jesselton was partially razed by the British during their retreat from the advancing Japanese and suffered further devastation when the Allies bombed it in 1945. After the Japanese takeover of Borneo, it was again renamed Api. Several rebellions against the Japanese military administration took place in Api. One major rebellion in the town occurred on 10 October 1943 by a group called Kinabalu Guerrillas in the Jesselton Revolt consisting of local inhabitants. Japanese forces quelled the rebellion after its leader, Albert Kwok, was arrested and executed in 1944. At the later stages of the war, what remained of the town was destroyed again by Allied bombings day and night for over six months as part of the Borneo Campaign in 1945, leaving only three buildings standing. The war in North Borneo ended with the official surrender of the Japanese 37th Army by Lieutenant General Baba Masao in Labuan on 10 September 1945.
After the war on the edge of bankruptcy, the British North Borneo Company returned to administer Jesselton but was unable to finance the huge costs of reconstruction. They gave control of North Borneo to the British Crown on 18 July 1946. The new colonial government elected to rebuild Jesselton as the capital of North Borneo instead of Sandakan, which had also been destroyed by the war. The Crown Colony administration designed a plan, later known as the "Colonial Office Reconstruction and Development Plan for North Borneo: 1948–1955", to rebuild North Borneo. This plan provided £6,051,939 for the rebuilding of infrastructure in North Borneo. When the Crown Colony of North Borneo together with Sarawak, Singapore and the Federation of Malaya formed the Federation of Malaysia in 1963, it became known as Sabah, and Jesselton remained its capital. On 22 December 1967, the State Legislative Assembly under Chief Minister Mustapha Harun passed a bill renaming Jesselton as Kota Kinabalu. Kota Kinabalu town board was upgraded to municipal status in 1979. The city was upgraded to city status on 2 February 2000.
Capital city
Being the capital city of Sabah, Kota Kinabalu plays an important role in the political and economic welfare of the population of the entire state. It is the seat of the state government where almost all of their ministries and agencies are based. Most of the Malaysian federal government agencies and departments are also located in Kota Kinabalu. The Sabah State Legislative Assembly is located at the nearby Likas Bay. There are four members of parliament representing the four parliamentary constituencies in the city: Sepanggar, Kota Kinabalu, Putatan, Tuaran and Penampang. The city also elects 9 representatives to the state legislature from the state assembly districts of Karambunai, Inanam, Likas, Api-Api, Luyang, Tanjung Aru, Petagas, Kepayan, Segama, Menggatal, Tuaran, Lido, and Moyog.Local authority and city definition
The city is administered by the Kota Kinabalu City Hall. The current mayor of Kota Kinabalu is Sabin Samitah, who became the latest mayor after taking over the post from Noorliza Awang Alip on 1 January 2024. Iliyas in turn became the second mayor of the city after taking over from Abdul Ghani Rashid in 2006. The city obtained city status on 2 February 2000, and prior to this it was administered by Majlis Perbandaran Kota Kinabalu.The city is defined within the borders of what is the district, formerly the municipality, of Kota Kinabalu. With an area of 351 square kilometres, it is the smallest but the most populous district in Sabah. It encompasses Tanjung Aru and Kepayan in the south, up to Telipok and Sepanggar in the north. The urban expanse of the city however extends into the district of Penampang on the south of the city border, which includes the towns of Donggongon and Putatan. The combined area of Kota Kinabalu District and the contiguous built up areas in Penampang and Putatan is known as Greater Kota Kinabalu. The district of Penampang has an area of 466 square kilometres, and is administered by Majlis Daerah Penampang.
On one end of the scale, Kota Kinabalu may sometimes only refer to, especially by local inhabitants, the city centre or central business district near the sea facing Gaya Island. On the other end of the scale, it may also refer to the metropolitan area which includes urban Kota Kinabalu, and the surrounding towns of Papar and Kinarut in the south, and Tuaran and Tamparuli in the north, being within its zone of influence.