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Sarawak is one of the two Malaysian states on the island of Borneo. Situated on the north-west of the island, Sarawak is the largest state of Malaysia, the second largest being its sister state, Sabah. The administrative capital is Kuching (pop. 423,800 in 2000) which literally means 'cat'. Major cities and towns also include Sibu (pop. 166,322), Miri (pop. 167, 535) and Bintulu (pop. 102,761). As of last census (July 5, 2000), the state population was 2,071,506. For more details about the population see Demographics of Malaysia.

1 History

Sarawak had been a loosely governed territory under the control of the Brunei Sultanate in the early 19th century. James Brooke became governor of Sarawak on September 24, 1841 and was appointed Rajah by the Sultan of Brunei on August 18August 18 is the 230th day of the year (231st in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. There are 135 days remaining. Events 293 BC Oldest known Roman temple to Venus founded, institution of Vinalia Rustica begins. 1587 Virginia Dare, granddaughter of Gov, 1842Events February 21 John J. Greenough patents the sewing machine. March 5 Over 500 Mexican troops led by Rafael Vasquez invade Texas briefly occupy San Antonio and then head back to the Rio Grande. This is the first such invasion since the Texas Revolution; originally this territory was just the western end of later Sarawak, around Kuching. He ruled Sarawak until his death in 1868Events January 3 Meiji Emperor declares " Meiji Restoration", his own restoration to full power, against the supporters of the Tokugawa Shogunate. January 10 Shogun Tokugawa Yoshinobu declares emperor's declaration "illegal" and attacks Kyoto. Pro-Emperor. His nephew Charles Anthoni Johnson BrookeCharles Anthoni Johnson ( June 3, 1829 May 17, 1917), later Charles Brooke ruled Sarawak as Rajah (prince, or king) from 3 August 1868 until his death. He succeeded his uncle, James Brooke, as Rajah. Charles was born in Somersetshire, in England, to the R became Rajah after his death; he was succeeded by his son Charles Vyner BrookeSir Charles Vyner deWindt Brooke ( September 30, 1874 May 9, 1963) was the third and final white Rajah of Sarawak. Brooke spent his youth in the Sarawak public service before travelling to England, meeting and marrying Sylvia Brett, daughter of Lord Esher. The territory was greatly expanded under these three, mostly at the expense of areas nominally under the control of Brunei. In practice Brunei had only controlled strategic river and coastal forts in much of the lost territory, and so most of the gain was at the expense of Muslim warlords and of the lost de facto independence of local tribes.

The Brooke dynasty ruled Sarawak for a hundred years and became famous as the "White Rajahs", accorded a status within the British Empire similar to that of the Indian Prince s. In contrast to many other areas of the empire however the Brooke family was intent on a policy of paternalism to protect the indigenous population against exploitation. They governed with the aid of the local Malay and Muslim classes and employed the Ibans and other ' Dayak' peoples as their army. They also encouraged the immigration of a Chinese merchant class.

Sarawak was one of the main sites of the Indonesian Confrontation between 1962 and 1966. It became an autonomous state of the federation of Malaysia on September 16, 1963 despite initial opposition from parts of the population.