Asia
SE Asia
Malaysia

Sabah

Sabah is a state in . It makes up Malaysian along with the state of , and the .
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sabah.gov.my
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Photo: DerFussi, CC BY-SA 3.0.
Photo: basl, CC BY-SA 2.0.

Essential Destinations

Top destinations include Kota Kinabalu and Mount Kinabalu.

Photo: Wikimedia, CC BY-SA 3.0.
The capital of Sabah on the island of , this Malaysian city is a growing resort destination due to its proximity to tropical islands, sandy beaches, lush rainforest and .

Photo: Arthuralee, CC BY-SA 3.0.
is in the state of Sabah, some 80 km east of . It resides in the Kinabalu National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Photo: Cccefalon, CC BY-SA 3.0.
is a city of almost 440,000 people in Sabah, . It is the gateway to and the Labuk Bay Proboscis Monkey Sanctuary.

Destinations to Discover

Explore places such as Tawau and Sipadan.

Photo: Adznee Abas, CC BY 2.0.
is the third largest town of the state of Sabah, on the island of . A relatively new town in Malaysia, boomed in early 1980s for its lumber and cocoa farming industry, has become a bustling place, and a transit point to all neighbouring islands such as Sebatik, , , Jolo and Semporna islands.

Photo: Wikimedia, CC BY 2.5.
Island lies off the east coast of . The island is known above all for some of the best scuba diving anywhere in the world. You can visit the island on a day trip, but it is no longer possible to stay on .

Photo: LDyou2, CC BY-SA 4.0.
is a city located in eastern Sabah, . The city is home to a population of some 28,000 people, with about 200,000 people in the district. It is surrounded by cocoa and palm oil plantations.

Photo: Wikimedia, CC BY-SA 3.0.
is a city on east coast of Sabah. It has a population of around 135,000. While there is not much to see and do in itself, it is frequently used as a gateway for diving and snorkeling trips to the nearby islands of , , , , Maiga and others.

Photo: Adamc92, CC BY-SA 4.0.
is the capital of the District in the of Sabah, . Its population was estimated to be around 29,025 in 2010. It is located on the Peninsula, about 190 kilometres north of , the state capital, and is near the northernmost point of Borneo.

Photo: Mx. Granger, CC0.
Tunku Abdul Rahman Marine Park is a park off the coast of the island of in made up of five islands: Gaya, Manukan, Sapi, Sulug and Mamutik.

Banggi Island or Banguey Island is located in the of Kudat District, Sabah in . With an area of 440.7 square kilometres separated from the Sabah mainland by the South Banggi Channel, it is the largest island fully in the country followed by of Sarawak, Langkawi Island of Kedah, and of Penang.

Photo: Cccefalon, CC BY-SA 3.0.
is a small town in southwestern Sabah, . The town does not have much in terms of attractions but travellers may find themselves here for one of several reasons: to whitewater-raft the Padas River, to catch or arriving on the train to/from Tenom, or to take a break while doing the overland trail between Sabah and .

Photo: Cccefalon, CC BY-SA 3.0.
is a small town in the interior region of Sabah state in the part of . The quiet and relaxed town is located in a valley and is in the heart of the area inhabited by the Murut people of Sabah.

Photo: johnjodeery, CC BY 2.0.
Island is a small island off the south-east coast of Sabah in . The island is known as one of the best destinations in the world.

Photo: stenley, CC BY 2.0.
The Turtle Islands National Park is made up of three islands in the Sulu Sea off the coast of Sabah's East Coast and near the maritime border with the . The three islands are…

Photo: Cccefalon, CC BY-SA 3.0.
is a small town in Sabah, that is 26 km from . It is most famous for its Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre. It also features Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre and Rainforest Discovery Centre.

Photo: Cccefalon, CC BY-SA 3.0.
Town is the capital of the District in the of Sabah, . Its population was estimated to be around 87,500 in 2023. The federal constituency represented in the Dewan Rakyat is .

Photo: matthew lee, CC BY 2.0.
is an island situated 300 km north of the coast of Sabah, in Malaysian . A part of the disputed , the island is also claimed by China, Taiwan, Vietnam and the Philippines, and is occasionally known in English as Swallow Reef.

Photo: Rob and Stephanie Levy, CC BY 2.0.
Conservation Area is a 438 square kilometres tract of relatively undisturbed lowland dipterocarp forest in Sabah, . It has an extensive diversity of tropical flora and fauna, including species such as the rare Bornean orangutan, gibbons, mousedeer, clouded leopards and over 270 bird species.

Photo: Cccefalon, CC BY-SA 3.0.
is in Sabah in Malaysian 6 km from Park. It is also the location of the War Memorial. has grown into a popular leisure destination with many resorts in the vicinity.

Photo: dboyfotopages, CC BY 2.0.
is famous reef and a private over-the-water resort, known worldwide as a great place for underwater macro photography in Sabah, Eastern .

Photo: Jonathan Muhiudeen, CC BY-SA 3.0.
is a small island that's part of the state of Sabah. This place is famous for excellent scuba diving. There are many wrecks and beautiful reefs to dive.

Sabah

Latitude of center
5.4257° or 5° 25′ 33″ north
Longitude of center
117.0326° or 117° 1′ 58″ east
Population
3,420,000
Elevation
110 metres (361 feet)
Abbreviation
“SBH”
Open­Street­Map ID
node 1775640129
Open­Street­Map feature
place=­state
Geo­Names ID
1733039
Wiki­data ID
Q179029
This page is based on OpenStreetMap, GeoNames, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons, and Wikivoyage.
We’d love your help improving our open data sources. Thank you for contributing.

Satellite Map

Discover Sabah from above in high-definition satellite imagery.
© Stadia Maps, Airbus DS, CNES, PlanetObserver, and Copernicus

In Other Languages

From Achinese to Yue Chinese—“Sabah” goes by many names.
  • Achinese: “Sabah”
  • Arabic: “صباح”
  • Armenian: “Սաբահ”
  • Asturian: “Sabah”
  • Azerbaijani: “Sabah”
  • Balinese: “Sabah”
  • Banjar: “Sabah, Malaysia”
  • Banjar: “Sabah”
  • Basque: “Sabah”
  • Belarusian: “Сабах”
  • Bengali: “সাবাহ”
  • Betawi: “Sabah”
  • Bosnian: “Sabah”
  • Breton: “Sabah”
  • Buginese: “Saba”
  • Buginese: “Sabaha”
  • Buginese: “Sabaq”
  • Buginese: “ᨔᨅ”
  • Buginese: “ᨔᨅᨖ”
  • Bulgarian: “Сабах”
  • Burmese: “ဆာဘား”
  • Catalan: “Sabah”
  • Cebuano: “Sabah (estado)”
  • Cebuano: “Sabah”
  • Central Bikol: “Sabah”
  • Central Kurdish: “سەباح”
  • Chinese: “Sabah”
  • Chinese: “沙巴”
  • Chinese: “沙巴州”
  • Croatian: “Sabah”
  • Czech: “Sabah”
  • Danish: “Sabah”
  • Dimli (individual language): “Sabah”
  • Dutch: “Sabah”
  • Esperanto: “Sabaho”
  • Estonian: “Sabah”
  • Estonian: “Sabahi osariik”
  • Finnish: “Sabah”
  • French: “Bornéo du Nord”
  • French: “Sabah”
  • Galician: “Sabah”
  • Georgian: “საბაჰი”
  • German: “As-sabah”
  • German: “Britisch Nordborneo”
  • German: “Britisch-Nordborneo”
  • German: “MY-12”
  • German: “Sabah”
  • Greek: “Σαμπάχ”
  • Gujarati: “સબાહ”
  • Hakka Chinese: “Sabah”
  • Hebrew: “סבאח”
  • Hebrew: “סבה”
  • Hindi: “सबा”
  • Hindi: “साबाह राज्य”
  • Hungarian: “Sabah”
  • Iban: “Sabah”
  • Iloko: “Sabah”
  • Indonesian: “Sabah”
  • Inupiaq: “Sabah”
  • Italian: “Sabah”
  • Japanese: “サバ”
  • Japanese: “サバ州”
  • Javanese: “Sabah”
  • Kadazan Dusun: “Pogun Sabah”
  • Kadazan Dusun: “Sabah”
  • Kannada: “ಸಬಾಹ್”
  • Kazakh: “Сабах”
  • Komering: “Sabah”
  • Korean: “사바주”
  • Lao: “ຊາບາ”
  • Latvian: “Sabaha”
  • Lithuanian: “Sabahas”
  • Macedonian: “Сабах”
  • Malay: “Negeri Sabah Di Bawah Bayu”
  • Malay: “Negeri Sabah”
  • Malay: “Sabah Di Bawah Bayu”
  • Malay: “Sabah”
  • Malay: “سابه دباوه بايو”
  • Malay: “سابه”
  • Malay: “نݢري سابه دباوه بايو”
  • Malay: “نݢري سابه”
  • Malayalam: “സാബഹ്”
  • Marathi: “साबा”
  • Mazanderani: “صباح”
  • Min Dong Chinese: “Sabah”
  • Min Nan Chinese: “Sabah”
  • Minangkabau: “Sabah”
  • Northern Frisian: “Sabah”
  • Norwegian Bokmål: “Sabah”
  • Norwegian: “Sabah”
  • Ossetian: “Сабах”
  • Persian: “صباح”
  • Piemontese: “Sabah”
  • Polish: “Sabah”
  • Portuguese: “Sabá”
  • Portuguese: “Sabah”
  • Quechua: “Sabah suyu”
  • Romanian: “Sabah”
  • Russian: “Сабах”
  • Scots: “Sabah”
  • Serbian: “Сабах”
  • Sinhala: “සබාහ්”
  • Slovenian: “Sabah”
  • Spanish: “Sabah”
  • Sundanese: “Sabah”
  • Swahili: “Sabah”
  • Swedish: “Sabah”
  • Tagalog: “Sabah”
  • Tamil: “சபஹ்”
  • Tamil: “சபா”
  • Tamil: “சாபா”
  • Tatar: “Сабах штаты”
  • Telugu: “సబా”
  • Thai: “ซาบะฮ์”
  • Thai: “ซาบาห์”
  • Thai: “รัฐซาบะฮ์”
  • Thai: “รัฐซาบาห์”
  • Turkish: “Sabah”
  • Ukrainian: “Сабаг”
  • Ukrainian: “Сабах”
  • Urdu: “صباح”
  • Vietnamese: “Sabah”
  • Waray (Philippines): “Sabah”
  • West Coast Bajau: “Sabah”
  • Western Armenian: “Սապահ”
  • Wu Chinese: “沙巴”
  • Yue Chinese: “沙巴”

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About Mapcarta. Data © OpenStreetMap contributors and available under the Open Database License". Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license, except for photos, directions, and the map. Description text is based on the Wikivoyage page “Sabah”. Photo: basl, CC BY-SA 2.0.