[32][33][34] The earliest known human settlement in the region existed 20,000–30,000 years ago, as evidenced by stone tools and food remains found by excavations along the Darvel Bay area at Madai-Baturong caves near the Tingkayu River.

[55] This was in addition to the discovery of Chinese ceramics from a shipwreck in Tanjung Simpang Mengayau estimated to be from between 960 and 1127 AD from the Song dynasty and the Vietnamese Đông Sơn drum in Bukit Timbang Dayang on Banggi Island that was between 2,000 and 2,500 years old.

[63][66] The seafaring Bajau-Suluk and Illanun people then arrived from the Sulu Archipelago and started settling on the coasts of north and eastern Borneo,[68] many of them fleeing from the oppression of Spanish colonialism.

[72] In 1761, Alexander Dalrymple, an officer of the British East India Company, concluded an agreement with the Sultan of Sulu to allow him to set up a trading post in northern Borneo, although this was to prove a failure.

[89] Local Chinese formed a resistance, known as the Kinabalu Guerillas, led by Albert Kwok, with broad support from various ethnic groups in northern Borneo such as Dusun, Murut, Suluk and Illanun peoples.

[132] This was continued under the Sabah People's United Front (BERJAYA) administration led by Harris Salleh with a total of 73,000 Filipino refugees from the southern Philippines were registered.

[161] British Army senior officer Michael Carver then reminded the Philippines that Britain would honour its obligations under the Anglo-Malayan Defence Agreement (AMDA) if fighting broke out.

[115] Malaysia however, considers this dispute as a "non-issue", as it interprets the 1878 agreement as that of cession and that it deems that the residents of Sabah had exercised their right to self-determination when they joined to form the Malaysian federation in 1963.

[169] A group of 200 armed Filipinos identifying themselves as the Royal Security Forces of the Sultanate of Sulu and North Borneo landed in the district of Lahad Datu and took control of the Tanduo village in 2013, with the objective of reinforcing the Philippine claim over the eastern region of Sabah.

The attorney general at the time offered to start making yearly payments again and to pay 48,000 Malaysian ringgit (about $10,400) for past dues and interest, but only if the heirs gave up their claim.

[178] The ruling highlighted irregularities in the arbitration process led by Gonzalo Stampa and raised concerns about practices such as forum shopping and unregulated litigation funding in European courts.

[180][181] Keith Ellison, former vice-chairman of the Democratic National Committee and Minnesota attorney general, pointed out that the case highlighted the enormous scope for "corruption", irresponsible profiteering, and foreign influence operations to subvert arbitration proceedings".

[182] Following Malaysia's legal victory in the French Court, Paul Cohen argued that the ruling allows the Sulu heirs to lease Sabah to other nations, such as China and the Philippines.

[65][185] Further attempts by several Filipino politicians such as Ferdinand Marcos to "destabilise" Sabah proved to be futile and led to the Jabidah massacre in Corregidor Island, Philippines.

[193] Barter trade activity was resumed on 1 February 2017 upon the agreement by both Malaysian and the Philippine authorities to fortify their respective borders with increased surveillance and security enforcement.

[223] Kinabalu National Park was inscribed as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 2000 for its richness in plant diversity combined with its unique geological, topographical, and climatic conditions.

[258] Well-known indigenous practices, such as "maganu totuo" or "montok kosukopan", "tuwa di powigian", "managal" or "tagal" and "meminting", have helped to maintain resources and prevent their depletion.

Although in recent years the tourism industry has been affected by attacks and kidnapping of tourists by militant groups based in the southern Philippines, it remained stable with the increase of security in eastern Sabah and the Sulu Sea.

Based on 2014 survey, Sabah GDP recorded a 5.0% growth and remained as the largest contributor in agriculture sector with 18.1%, followed by Sarawak, Johor, Pahang and Perak.

[319][320] Thus Sabah has start to exploring alternative ways to generate electricity with the usage of renewable energy such as solar, mini hydro, biomass, geothermal and micro-algae and tidal technologies.

[332] As a counter-measure, the Malaysian Ministry of Domestic Trade, Co-operatives and Consumerism (MDTCAC) has temporarily cancelled all permits to sell gas cylinders into neighbouring countries with a new policy will be implemented to control such illegal activities.

[342] The mobile telecommunications in Sabah are mostly use 4G and 3G and there is also a free rural Wi-Fi services provided by the federal government known as the Kampung Tanpa Wayar 1Malaysia (KTW) although Malaysia's government-provided public internet speeds are among the slower than many other countries.

[343][344] The previous state internet traffic are routed through a hub in Malaysia's capital of Kuala Lumpur, passing through a submarine cable connecting the Peninsular with Kota Kinabalu.

[26] By 2016, the federal government has start to establish the first internet gateway for East Malaysia with the laying of 60 terabyte submarine cable which are developed by a private company named Xiddig Cellular Communications Sdn.

[399] Thus to prevent the continuous shortage of doctors, the federal government has initiated various measure to produce more physicians with massive funds has been allocated to healthcare sector in every year country budget.

There are large Rungus People, Orang Sungai, Bruneian Malays, Lundayeh, Suluk and other Bumiputera ethnic minorities,[427] while the Chinese makes up the main non-indigenous population.

[452][453] Christianity plays an important part to the indigenous cultures in the interior side in the daily lives of the Kadazan-Dusun, Lundayeh, Murut and Rungus beside their old practice of the traditional Animism and Paganism.

[467] Every ethnic groups in Sabah are known for their traditional music instruments,[468] the coastal people of Bajau, Brunei Malays, Bugis, Illanun, Kedayan and Suluks known for their gendang, kompang and kulintangan;[469] while the interior people such as the Dusun known with their bungkau, sompoton and turali, the Lun Bawang/Lun Dayeh with their bass, the Kadazan with their tongkungon, the Murut with their tagunggak, the Rungus with their sundatang, tontog and turuding;[470][471] suling is mostly played by all the interior ethnic groups of Kadazan-Dusun, Murut, Rungus and Lun Bawang/Lun Dayeh in the state.

[488] Apart from these, Sabah also features a number of snacks like amplang, cincin, lidah, roti kahwin, UFOs pinjaram and Sandakan tart[489] and dessert like lamban, nuba tingaa, punjung, sinamu and Tuaran coconut pudding.

[501] "Bat*21" (1988), another American film depicting the Vietnam War was shot at various locations in the suburbs north of Kota Kinabalu, including Menggatal, Telipok, Kayu Madang and Lapasan.