Mukah

Mukah is a coastal town on the island of Borneo in Sarawak, Malaysia, standing at the mouth of the Mukah River beside the South China Sea. It was historically called Muka, and since 1 March 2002 it has been the capital and administrative centre of the Mukah Division. The town sits on peat land that is still covered by peat swamp forest, and its people are mostly Melanau, for whom sago processing and fishing are the main livelihoods, which is why statues of a red snapper and a prawn stand in the town. The source gives about 49,900 people for Mukah town and 2,536 square kilometres for the surrounding district. The area passed into the Bruneian Empire in the 13th century and was sold to the Raj of Sarawak in 1860. Mukah is reached by road from Sibu, by air from Kuching and Miri, and it holds the Kaul festival each April.