Kota Kinabalu
formerly known as Jesselton, is the city capital of Sabah as well as the capital of the West Coast Division of Sabah. Strategically situated in the Northwest Coast of Borneo Island, facing the South China Sea and Tunku Abdul Rahman Park on one side, and set against the backdrop of Mount Kinabalu. KK received its city status only recently on 2 February 2000, but its history dates more than a century back to the days when the British North Borneo Chartered Company discovered it by accident, after a fire burnt down its former administration centre on Gaya Island. KK was then a small fishing village, sited on a narrow strip of land with hills on one side and sea on the other. It was named Api-Api, loosely translated as 'Fire-Fire?, to denote the blaze that destroyed the former administration centre. It was later renamed Jesselton, after Sir Charles Jessel, then Deputy Manager of the British North Borneo Company. Under the Chartered Company's control, Jesselton became a trading hub for local produce such as rubber, rattan, wild honey and wax. A railway line was built to transport goods from the deep interiors to the harbour. While the Chartered Company did bring about tremendous change to the land and its people by quelling piracy, planting tobacco, developing rubber estates and importing Indonesian and Chinese labourers to work. There were some local tribes who were displeased with them and staged a few upheavals. It was, however, during the Japanese Occupation of the Second World War that Jesselton encountered its worse attack. Only three buildings were left standing from the Allied bombings, which forced the Japanese to surrender. Unable to finance the enormous cost of reconstruction, the Chartered Company bowed out and North Borneo was handed over to the British Crown and made a colony. Jesselton became the capital in 1946. Then in 1963, when North Borneo joined the Federation of Malaysia and became known as Sabah, the colonial name Jesselton gave way to Kota Kinabalu. Jesselton now is but a name of an established hotel. Since then, KK has grown into a reputable financial, economic and tourism centre in the region. It has certainly moved on with the times, with numerous deluxe hotels, roads stretching to the west and east coast towns, and modern structures like the imposing Sabah Foundation Building standing as symbols of advancement. Source: http://motherearthtravel.com - www.sabahtourism.com
formerly known as Jesselton, is the city capital of Sabah as well as the capital of the West Coast Division of Sabah. Strategically situated in the Northwest Coast of Borneo Island, facing the South China Sea and Tunku Abdul Rahman Park on one side, and set against the backdrop of Mount Kinabalu. KK received its city status only recently on 2 February 2000, but its history dates more than a century back to the days when the British North Borneo Chartered Company discovered it by accident, after a fire burnt down its former administration centre on Gaya Island. KK was then a small fishing village, sited on a narrow strip of land with hills on one side and sea on the other. It was named Api-Api, loosely translated as 'Fire-Fire?, to denote the blaze that destroyed the former administration centre. It was later renamed Jesselton, after Sir Charles Jessel, then Deputy Manager of the British North Borneo Company. Under the Chartered Company's control, Jesselton became a trading hub for local produce such as rubber, rattan, wild honey and wax. A railway line was built to transport goods from the deep interiors to the harbour. While the Chartered Company did bring about tremendous change to the land and its people by quelling piracy, planting tobacco, developing rubber estates and importing Indonesian and Chinese labourers to work. There were some local tribes who were displeased with them and staged a few upheavals. It was, however, during the Japanese Occupation of the Second World War that Jesselton encountered its worse attack. Only three buildings were left standing from the Allied bombings, which forced the Japanese to surrender. Unable to finance the enormous cost of reconstruction, the Chartered Company bowed out and North Borneo was handed over to the British Crown and made a colony. Jesselton became the capital in 1946. Then in 1963, when North Borneo joined the Federation of Malaysia and became known as Sabah, the colonial name Jesselton gave way to Kota Kinabalu. Jesselton now is but a name of an established hotel. Since then, KK has grown into a reputable financial, economic and tourism centre in the region. It has certainly moved on with the times, with numerous deluxe hotels, roads stretching to the west and east coast towns, and modern structures like the imposing Sabah Foundation Building standing as symbols of advancement. Source: http://motherearthtravel.com - www.sabahtourism.com
Kinabalu Park – Mount Kinabalu
Unesco World Heritage
Located in the State of Sabah, Malaysia, on the northern end of the island of Borneo, Kinabalu Park World Heritage property covers 75,370 ha. Dominated by Mount Kinabalu (4,095m), the highest mountain between the Himalayas and New Guinea, it holds a distinctive position for the biota of Southeast Asia. Geologically, Kinabalu Park is a granite intrusion formed 15 million years ago and thrust upward one million years ago by tectonic movements and shaped by forces that continue to define its landscape. Despite its geological youth it is exceptionally high in species with living relics of natural vegetation remaining, over 93% of the Park area.
The altitudinal range of the property, 152m – 4,095m, presents a wide array of habitats from rich tropical lowland and hill rainforest (35% of the park) to tropical montane forest (37%), and sub-alpine forest and scrub at the highest elevations. Ultramafic (serpentine) rocks cover about 16% of the park and have vegetation specific to this substrate. The property has been identified as a Centre of Plant Diversity for Southeast Asia; it contains representatives from at least half of all Borneo’s plant species and is exceptionally rich in species with elements from the Himalayas, China, Australia, Malaysia, and pan tropical floras. With records of half of all Borneo’s birds, mammals and amphibian species and two-thirds of all Bornean reptiles the property is both species-rich and an important centre for endemism. Source: http://whc.unesco.org
Unesco World Heritage
Located in the State of Sabah, Malaysia, on the northern end of the island of Borneo, Kinabalu Park World Heritage property covers 75,370 ha. Dominated by Mount Kinabalu (4,095m), the highest mountain between the Himalayas and New Guinea, it holds a distinctive position for the biota of Southeast Asia. Geologically, Kinabalu Park is a granite intrusion formed 15 million years ago and thrust upward one million years ago by tectonic movements and shaped by forces that continue to define its landscape. Despite its geological youth it is exceptionally high in species with living relics of natural vegetation remaining, over 93% of the Park area.
The altitudinal range of the property, 152m – 4,095m, presents a wide array of habitats from rich tropical lowland and hill rainforest (35% of the park) to tropical montane forest (37%), and sub-alpine forest and scrub at the highest elevations. Ultramafic (serpentine) rocks cover about 16% of the park and have vegetation specific to this substrate. The property has been identified as a Centre of Plant Diversity for Southeast Asia; it contains representatives from at least half of all Borneo’s plant species and is exceptionally rich in species with elements from the Himalayas, China, Australia, Malaysia, and pan tropical floras. With records of half of all Borneo’s birds, mammals and amphibian species and two-thirds of all Bornean reptiles the property is both species-rich and an important centre for endemism. Source: http://whc.unesco.org