The nation of Malaysia is in two parts: Peninsular Malaysia (also called West Malaysia or Malaya) on the southern end of the Malay Peninsula and Malaysian Borneo (East Malaysia) on the island of Borneo roughly 700 km (450 mi) to the east. East Malaysia includes two former British colonies, Sarawak and Sabah, plus a smaller territory called Labuan. Another former British protectorate, Brunei, is an independent enclave surrounded by Malaysia. Sarawak was ruled from 1842 to 1946 by Sir James Brooke and his descendents, who were known as the "White Rajahs," while Sabah was controlled by the British North Borneo Company from 1881 to 1946. After a period as crown colonies, both regions became states of Malaysia in 1963. Malaysia is a federal constitutional monarchy consisting of thirteen states and three federal territories. This page is for the lighthouses of the state of Sabah; there's another page for Sarawak. Also included are lighthouses of Labuan, a federal territory split off from the state of Sabah in 1984. Sabah occupies the northern tip of Borneo, facing northwest on the South China Sea and also northeast on the Sulu Sea. The lighthouses of Sabah are mostly in remote areas, so they attract few visitors and very little is known about them. Information and photos would be very welcome. The Malay term for a lighthouse is rumah api ("house of fire"); pulau is an island, terumbu is a reef, tanjung is a cape, bukit is a hill, sungai is a river, kuala is the mouth of a river, teluk is a bay, selat is a strait, and pelabuhan is a harbor. Aids to navigation in Malaysia are the responsibility of the Marine Department (Jabatan Laut). Sarawak and Sabah formerly had their own marine departments but they were merged with the Peninsular Malaya marine department in 2011. Special thanks to Ezmil Sahrani of GreenFinder Asia for permission to post several of his photos on this page. ARLHS numbers are from the ARLHS World List of Lights. MY numbers are Malaysian light list numbers, where known. Admiralty numbers are from volume F of the Admiralty List of Lights & Fog Signals. U.S. NGA List numbers are from Publication 112.
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Labuan Lighthouses
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Sabah Lighthouses
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![]() Pulau Kalampunian Light, Kudat Division photo copyright Ezmil Sahrani; used by permission |
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Information available on lost lighthouses: |
Notable faux lighthouses:
Adjoining pages: North: Spratly Islands | Northeast: Southwestern Philippines | East: Zamboanga and Sulu | Southeast: Northeastern Kalimantan | Southwest: Brunei
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Posted March 21, 2006. Checked and revised April 24, 2024. Lighthouses: 40. Site copyright 2024 Russ Rowlett and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.