Bintulu was a small fishing village within the Bruneian Empire prior to annexation by Rajah James Brooke in 1861.

Among the tourist attractions in Bintulu are Similajau National Park, Tumbina Park, Tanjung Batu beach, Jepak village, Kuan Yin Tong temple, Assyakirin mosque, Council Negri monument, Tamu Bintulu, and Pasar Utama markets.

On 4 August, he started his journey on a gunboat named "Heartsease", which was to send $6,000 to Brunei for concessions being made to James Brooke in the Mukah and Bintulu regions.

[19]The houses of the Melanau people were built in rows on both sides of the Kemena River, mostly furnished by Nipah and Sago palms.

[1][20][21] During World War II, Rajah Charles Vyner Brooke ordered the construction of airstrips in Kuching, Oya, Mukah, Bintulu, and Miri.

Construction of the Bintulu airstrip was started in 1934 under the direction of C. W. Bailey, a Works and Building Inspector for the British Royal Air Force (RAF).

[24] On 5 September 1942, Japanese Field Marshal Prince Maida (前田利为) boarded a plane from Kuching to Labuan to officiate an airport that bears his name.

[24][28] Chinese sawmill owners at Sibu and Bintulu were instructed by the Japanese to produce timber for repairs at oil fields and ship building.

The MARA bus line was an initiative by the Malaysian federal government to provide public transportation for the people.

Since 2007,[37] new residents have started several squatter areas in Bintulu due to inability to find affordable housing,[38] around Kidurong Industrial estate[39] and Sungai Sebatang.

[40] To address the issue, several low-cost housing projects were initiated by BDA and Sarawak state government to relocate the squatters.

[47] The town is located within the boundary of Bintulu District, with a population of 183,402[6] and a total area of 7,220.40 square kilometres (2,787.81 sq mi).

[61] The gangsters may have run businesses related to illegal logging, controlling the prices of diesel, eggs, fertiliser and gas cylinders.

[62][63] Unscrupulous businessmen who seek cheap labour have caused a rise in the number of illegal immigrants in Bintulu.

Most of them come from Britain, Australia, the Netherlands, Germany, South Africa, New Zealand, Japan, China, the United States, and Indonesia.

[86] Since the opening up of the Bintulu–Miri road in the 1970s, large-scale plantations of oil palm and cocoa has been developed in rural areas of Bintulu Division.

[88] However, as of 2015, Wilmar no longer buys raw palm oil produced from cleared forests and peat swamps in Sarawak because of environmental concerns.

MDF plants utilise wood waste purchased from sawmills and plywood mills in the Bintulu area and occasionally from the Tanjung Manis timber processing zone located at the mouth of the Rajang River.

Following a privatisation exercise, Bintulu Port Sdn Bhd (BPSB) was founded on 23 December 1992 and commenced operation on 1 January 1993.

The power plant is registered under the United Nations Clean Development Management (CDM) scheme as of 18 September 2010.

[110] Bintulu has a long-distance bus station, located at Medan Jaya, 5 km (3 mi) northeast of the town centre.

Among the areas served by the bus station are: Miri, Sibu, Kuching, Mukah, Sarikei, Oya, Dalat, Balingian, and Pontianak, Indonesia.

[60] The surroundings of the old airport were developed into commercial and residential projects while the runway is reserved for Bintulu International Kite Festival.

[119] The airport currently serves three major airlines: Malaysia Airlines (MAS), Air Asia, and MASwings,[117] connecting to domestic destinations such as: Sibu, Miri, Kuching, Kuala Lumpur, and Kota Kinabalu,[120] and the first international destination, Singapore will start the direct flight since 26 December 2017.

During this period of closure, the campus was used as the site for Maktab Perguruan Sains Bintulu (Bintulu Science Teachers' Training College) from 1994[138] to July 1999 when it was moved to Kota Samarahan as Institut Pendidikan Guru Kampus Tun Abdul Razak (Tun Abdul Razak Teachers' Training Institute Campus).

[139] The UPM campus is currently located 13 km (8 mi) away from the town centre, occupying 715 ha (1,767 acres), which can accommodate up to 2,200 students.

[142] There is also a technical school located 15 km (9 mi) away from the town, near Tanjung Kidurong, occupying 20 ha (49 acres) of land.

Among the daily activities in this village are Sago processing, fish drying, and the manufacturing of Belacan, Cencaluk (salted shrimp), Terendak (Melanau headgear), and Tutop (a type of food cover).

The park was gazetted in 1976, covering an area of 8,996 ha (22,230 acres) (89.96 km2 (35 sq mi) with sandy beaches, rocky headlands, jungle streams, and forests.

There are over 150 stalls selling a variety of items such as garments, electric goods, vegetables, fruits, food and drinks.