What is "sibu"

Sibu is an inland town at the central region of Sarawak and the capital of Sibu District in Sibu Division, Sarawak, Malaysia. The town is located on the island of Borneo. The town covers an area of . It is located at the confluence of the Rajang and Igan Rivers, some 60 kilometres from the South China Sea and approximately north-east of the state capital Kuching. The population is mainly dominated by Chinese especially the Fuzhou people. Other ethnic groups such as indigenous Melanau, Malay, and Iban are also present in this region. The town population as of the year 2010 is 162,676.

Sibu was settled by James Brooke in 1862 when he built a fort in the town to fend off attacks by indigenous Dayak people. Following this, a small group of Chinese Hokkien people settled around the fort to carry out business activities safely in the town. In 1901, Wong Nai Siong led a large scale migration numbering 1,118 Foochow Chinese from Fujian province of China into Sibu. This made Sibu being referred popularly as "New Fuzhou". Sibu bazaar and the first hospital in Sibu was built by the Brooke government. Lau King Howe Hospital and a number of Methodist schools and churches were built in the 1930s. However, the town of Sibu was burnt to the ground twice in 1889 and in 1928 but it was rebuilt after that. There was no fierce fighting in Sibu during the Japanese occupation of Sarawak in 1941. The Japanese installed a new Resident at Sibu in June 1942 and Sibu was renamed to "Sibu-shu" in August 1942. After the Japanese surrender in 1945, Sarawak was ceded to the British as Crown Colony. This has caused a dissatisfaction amongst a group of young Melanau people in Sibu who were pro-independence. As a result, the second British Governor of Sarawak, Sir Duncan George Stewart was assassinated by Rosli Dhobi when he visited Sibu in December 1949. Rosli was later hanged to death at Kuching Central Prison in 1950. Sibu and the Rajang basin also became the centre of communist activities from 1950 and it continued even after the Sarawak independence in 1963. A Rajang Security Command (RASCOM) was then established to curb Communist activities in the area. Communist insurgency in Sarawak was significantly impaired in 1973 and later ended in 1990. Sibu was upgraded to the municipality status in 1981. The town received a royal visit in September 2001. The town is also a gateway to Sarawak Corridor of Renewable Energy (SCORE) since 2008. In 2011, 110th anniversary of Foochow settlement was celebrated in Sibu.

Sibu is the main tourist gateway to the Upper Rajang River, with its small riverine towns and its many Iban and Orang Ulu longhouses. Among the notable landmarks in Sibu are Wisma Sanyan, the tallest building in Sarawak, Lanang Bridge (one of the longest river bridge in Sarawak) and the biggest town square in Malaysia near the Wisma Sanyan. Lau King Howe Memorial Museum is the first and the only medical museum in Malaysia. Sibu Central Market is the biggest indoor market in Sarawak. Among the tourists attractions in Sibu are Sibu Heritage Centre, Tua Pek Kong Temple, Bawang Assan longhouses, Sibu Old Mosque, Jade Dragon Temple, Bukit Aup Jubilee Park, Bukit Lima Forest Park, Sibu Night Market, Borneo Cultural Festival (BCF), and Sibu International Dance Festival (SIDF). Timber and shipbuilding industries are the two major economic activities in Sibu.

Sibu may refer to:

• Sibu, Sarawak in East Malaysia
• Sibu District
• Sibu Division
• Sibu (federal constituency), represented in the Dewan Rakyat
• Sibu (crater), an impact crater on Mars
• Pulau Sibu, an island off the eastern coast of peninsular Malaysia
• Sibu (goddess), name of a goddess in the Bribri tribe, in Costa Rica

Sibu crater is an impact crater lying situated within the Margaritifer Sinus quadrangle (MC-19) region on the surface of the planet Mars, located in the Valles Marineris hemisphere in an area southeast of the Jones crater.

It is located at and is 17.63 kilometres in diameter. It was named after the town of Sibu in Sarawak, Malaysia in 1976.

Sibu is a federal constituency in Sarawak, Malaysia, that has been represented in the Dewan Rakyat since 1978.

The federal constituency was created in the 1977 redistribution and is mandated to return a single member to the Dewan Rakyat under the first past the post voting system.