The geography of Malaysia includes both the physical and the human geography of Malaysia, a Southeast Asian country made up of two major landmasses separated by water—Peninsular Malaysia to the west and East Malaysia to the east—and numerous smaller islands that surround those landmasses. Peninsular Malaysia is on the southernmost part of the Malay Peninsula, south of Thailand, north of Singapore and east of the Indonesian island of Sumatra; East Malaysia comprises most of the northern part of Borneo, and shares land borders with Brunei to the north and Indonesian Borneo to the south.
Mount Kinabalu is the highest mountain in Borneo and Malaysia. With an elevation of 4,095 metres (13,435 ft), it is the third-highest peak of an island on Earth, the 28th highest peak in Southeast Asia, and 20th most prominent mountain in the world. The mountain is located in Ranau district, West Coast Division of Sabah, Malaysia. It is protected as Kinabalu Park, a World Heritage Site.
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.
The Ranau District is an administrative district in the Malaysian state of Sabah, part of the West Coast Division which includes the districts of Kota Belud, Kota Kinabalu, Papar, Penampang, Putatan, Ranau and Tuaran. The capital of the district is in Ranau Town. The landlocked district bordering the Sandakan Division to the east until it meets the Interior Division border. Ranau sits 108 km (67 mi) east of Kota Kinabalu and 227 km (141 mi) west of Sandakan. As of the 2010 Census, the population of the district was 94,092, an almost entirely Dusun ethnic community.
Crocker Range National Park was established in 1984, although the area had previously been under protection as a forest reserve. It covers the north-south Crocker Range, of 1200-1800 metre mountains in Sabah, Malaysia. In the vicinity of park headquarters, there is a resort that provides accommodation and food services. Other visitors facilities such as an exhibition centre, insectarium, fernarium, observation tower and trekking trail can also be found.
The Bornean ferret badger, also known as Everett's ferret badger or the Kinabalu ferret badger, is a small, nocturnal and omnivorous mammal that is endemic to the island of Borneo. It is a member of the family Mustelidae and is one of six species of the genus Melogale. It is listed as endangered on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species due to its small distribution range, which includes Kinabalu National Park and Crocker Range National Park.
Nepenthes rajah is a carnivorous pitcher plant species of the family Nepenthaceae. It is endemic to Mount Kinabalu and neighbouring Mount Tambuyukon in Sabah, Malaysian Borneo. Nepenthes rajah grows exclusively on serpentine substrates, particularly in areas of seeping ground water where the soil is loose and permanently moist. The species has an altitudinal range of 1,500–2,650 m (4,920–8,690 ft) above sea level and is thus considered a highland or sub-alpine plant. Due to its localised distribution, N. rajah is classified as an endangered species by the IUCN and listed on CITES Appendix I.
Mount Tambuyukon or Tamboyukon is a mountain located at the West Coast and Kudat divisions of Sabah, Malaysia. It is considered the third-highest mountain in the country with height at 2,579 metres (8,461 ft), lying north of the highest Mount Kinabalu.
Nepenthes lowii, or Low's pitcher-plant, is a tropical pitcher plant endemic to Borneo. It is named after Hugh Low, who discovered it on Mount Kinabalu. This species is perhaps the most unusual in the genus, being characterised by its strongly constricted upper pitchers, which bear a greatly reduced peristome and a reflexed lid with numerous bristles on its lower surface.
The Crocker Mountains form a range that separates the West Coast and Interior divisions of Sabah, Malaysia. At an average height of 1,800 metres (5,906 ft), it is the highest mountain range in the state. It is named after a 19th century British administrator of North Borneo, William Maunder Crocker.
Poring is a small tourist resort in Sabah, Malaysia. Located 40 km south-east of the Kinabalu National Park Headquarters, in the district of Ranau, Poring is situated in lowland rainforest, contrasting with the montane and submontane rainforest of Kinabalu National Park. The name Poring comes from a Kadazandusun word for a bamboo species found in the area.
Danum Valley Conservation Area is a 438 square kilometres tract of relatively undisturbed lowland dipterocarp forest in Sabah, Malaysia. It has an extensive diversity of tropical flora and fauna, including such species as the rare Bornean orangutans, gibbons, mousedeer, clouded leopards and over 270 bird species. Activities offered are jungle treks, river swimming, bird watching, night jungle tours and excursions to nearby logging sites and timber mills.
Mesilou, named after Mesilou River, is an area situated at approximately 2,000 m (6,562 ft) above sea level on the East Ridge of Mount Kinabalu in Kinabalu National Park, Sabah, Malaysian Borneo. It is the site of the Mesilou Nature Resort, which is owned and operated by Sutera Sanctuary Lodges.
Mount Trusmadi or Trus Madi is a mountain located at the Interior Division of Sabah, Malaysia. It is considered as the second highest mountain in both Sabah and Malaysia at 2,642 metres (8,668 ft), after Mount Kinabalu with Trusmadi offering a tougher climbing challenge than the latter.
The Trusmadi Range or Trus Madi Range is a mountain range in Interior Division and parts of West Coast Division of Sabah, Malaysia that also separates the west and east coast of Sabah aside from the main Crocker Mountains. With a length of about 80 kilometres, the range includes the state's second highest peak, Mount Trusmadi, after which it is named.
The Borneo montane rain forests is an ecoregion on the island of Borneo in Southeast Asia. It includes montane tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests, also known as a cloud forests. The ecoregion is partly in East Malaysia and Indonesia (Kalimantan).
Nepenthes of Mount Kinabalu is a monograph by Shigeo Kurata on the tropical pitcher plants of Mount Kinabalu and the surrounding area of Kinabalu National Park in Sabah, Borneo. It was published in 1976 by Sabah National Parks Trustees as the second booklet of the Sabah National Parks series. The monograph is Kurata's most important work on Nepenthes and significantly contributed to popular interest in these plants. It is noted for its high quality colour photographs of plants in habitat. In the book's preface, Kurata writes:
While Nepenthes were often enumerated as an important component of the flora of this mountain, a book on this genus—relating exclusively to Kinabalu had never been published to this date. With such a situation and the interest shown by visitors to the Kinabalu National Park in the genus, Mr. D.V. Jenkins, Assistant Director, Sabah National Parks was prompted to publish a guide book on the species found within the park and I was delighted to be asked to write the text.
The island of Borneo is located on the Sunda Shelf, which is an extensive region in Southeast Asia of immense importance in terms of biodiversity, biogeography and phylogeography of fauna and flora that had attracted Alfred Russel Wallace and other biologists from all over the world.
The Greater Sunda Islands are four tropical islands situated within the Indonesian Archipelago, in the Pacific Ocean. The islands, Borneo, Java, Sulawesi and Sumatra, are internationally recognised for their ecological diversity and rich culture. Together with the Lesser Sunda Islands to their southeast, they comprise the archipelago known as the Sunda Islands.
Mount Alab is a mountain located at the border of the West Coast as well as the Interior divisions of Sabah, Malaysia. The mountain is located approximately 30 km (19 mi) from Sabah's capital of Kota Kinabalu, where it can be highly visible from the city on a clear sky and easily recognisable with the presence of telecommunications tower near its peak, approximately at 5°49′47″N116°20′30″E. With a height of 1,951 metres (6,401 ft), it is the highest mountain within the Crocker Range in Sabah outside the protected park area and lies to the south of the highest peak on Borneo island, the Mount Kinabalu.
