Malaysian Borneo

East Malaysia (Malaysia Timur), also known as Sabah, Sarawak and Labuan (Sabah, Sarawak dan Labuan) or Malaysian Borneo, is the part of Malaysia located on the island of Borneo. It consists of the Malaysian states of Sabah, Sarawak, and the Federal Territory of Labuan. It lies to the east of Peninsular Malaysia (West Malaysia), which is located on the Malay Peninsula. The two are separated by the South China Sea. While East Malaysia is less populated and less developed than West Malaysia, its land mass is larger and it has notably more natural resources, chiefly oil and gas reserves.

Some parts of present-day East Malaysia, especially the coastal regions, were once part of the thalassocracy of the Sultanate of Brunei. However, most parts of the interior region consisted of independent tribal societies.

In 1658, the northern and eastern coasts of Sabah were ceded to the Sultanate of Sulu while the west coast of Sabah and most of Sarawak remained part of Brunei. Beginning in the mid 19th century, Sabah and Sarawak became British protectorates, and, in 1946, they became separate British colonies.

Sabah (formerly British North Borneo) and Sarawak were separate British colonies from Malaya, and did not become part of the Federation of Malaya in 1957. However, each voted to become part of the new Federation of Malaysia along with the Federation of Malaya and Singapore in 1963. Previously, there were efforts to unite Brunei, Sabah, and Sarawak under the North Borneo Federation but that failed after the Brunei Revolt occurred.

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