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Besut District
District of Malaysia
Daerah Besut
Other transcription(s)
• Jawi	داءيره بسوت
• Chinese	勿述县 Wùshù xiàn (Hanyu Pinyin)
FlagSeal
Location of Besut District in Terengganu
Besut DistrictLocation of Besut District in Malaysia
Coordinates: 5°35′N 102°30′E / 5.583°N 102.500°E / 5.583; 102.500
Country	Malaysia
State	Terengganu
Seat	Kampung Raja
Local area government(s)	Besut District Council
Government
• District officer	Haji Rozali bin Salleh
Area
• Total	1,233.68 km (476.33 sq mi)
Population
• Total	140,952
• Estimate	175,800
• Density	110/km (300/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+8 (MST)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+8 (Not observed)
Postcode	22xxx
Calling code	+6-09-6
Vehicle registration plates	T D

Besut (Terengganuan and Kelantanese: Besuk; Jawi: بسوت) is a district in the Terengganu federal state of Malaysia. It is bordered by the state of Kelantan to the north and west and the South China Sea to the east. It is the northern gateway to Terengganu. Kota Putera is the district capital, though Jertih is more developed. Another major town is the fishing port of Kuala Besut. There are other small towns such as Tembila, Jabi, and Pasir Akar.

History

There is a lack of written evidence on this district. The records by Munshi Abdullah in his book, Kisah Pelayaran Abdullah ke Kelantan, and Tuhfat al-Nafis by Raja Ali Haji touched a bit on Besut. Due to this, there are many stories that tell the matters regarding the origin of Besut. There is a legend that recounts the tale of how Besut got its name. According to this story, when the region was under Siamese rule, the district was named "Besut" which originated from the Siamese word "Be" meaning "district" and "sut" which means "a distant area" or "at the end." This story could be plausible since Besut is located quite far from Bangkok.

Part of Patani Empire

Besut was originally a land belonging to the Patani Sultanate. This can be proven through the reign of Raja Sakti I of Kelantan who united Patani under his administrative influence when the Ratu Kuning of Patani had died and had no heirs while Terengganu was under the protection of Patani. Patani's control over Besut only lasted 161 years when the Patani Sultanate was attacked by Siam in 1780 which caused Kelantan to split into two blocks namely East Kelantan and West Kelantan while Terengganu fled and took refuge with the Sultanate of Johore.

Administrative divisions

Besut District is divided into 16 mukims, which are:

• Bukit Kenak
• Bukit Puteri
• Hulu Besut
• Jabi
• Kampung Raja
• Keluang
• Kerandang
• Kuala Besut
• Kubang Bemban
• Lubuk Kawah
• Pasir Akar
• Pelagat
• Pengkalan Nangka
• Perhentian Islands
• Tembila
• Tenang

Population

Historical population

Year	Pop.	±%
1991	107,900	—
2000	120,199	+11.4%
2010	136,563	+13.6%
2020	154,168	+12.9%
Graphs are unavailable due to technical issues. Updates on reimplementing the Graph extension, which will be known as the Chart extension, can be found on Phabricator and on MediaWiki.org.
Source:

As of 2010, there are approximately 140,952 people in Besut District, of various ethnicity, with the Malays being the majority. Other ethnic groups include Chinese and Siamese. Meanwhile, the dominant minority ethnic Chinese population are more concentrated near Jertih town.

Education

Besut has education institutions which are developed by both the central and Terengganu state governments such as, Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin, Institute of Teacher's Education Sultan Mizan Campus, MARA Junior Science College (Kota Putra & Besut campuses), Kolej Komuniti Besut, Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Tengku Mahmud, Sekolah Menengah Agama Maarif, Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Agama Nurul Ittifaq, Madrasah Moden MAIDAM Besut and Sekolah Menengah IMTIAZ, Sekolah Menengah Agama Ittifakiah, among others. Hence, Besut is known as one of the best educational hub towns in Malaysia.

Tourism

There are a number of travel destinations that are located here, many of them islands or beaches. The most popular of all tourist sites in Besut are Perhentian Islands, one of the top island destinations in the world according to the CNN. Perhentian Islands lie about 10.8 nautical miles (20 km) to the north east of Kuala Besut and are made up of islands such as Perhentian Besar, Perhentian Kecil, and Susu Dara. The islands are well known for their tropical reefs, scuba diving, and snorkeling.

Besides Perhentian Islands, beaches are also among the top local places to visit. The beaches here are Air Tawar, Dendong, and Bukit Keluang beach. In the interior parts of the district, visitors can experience the tropical forest in areas such as Lata Tembakah and Lata Belatan, or climb the 1039m-high Gunung Tebu (Mount Tebu). Tourists can also enjoy bathing in the natural hot springs of Kolam Air Panas La or La Hot Springs. The water here contains sulphur and can reach 49 °C.

Federal Parliament and State Assembly Seats

List of Besut district representatives in the Federal Parliament (Dewan Rakyat)

List of Besut district representatives in the State Legislative Assembly of Terengganu

See also

• Districts of Malaysia

References

1. Administrator. "Laman Web Rasmi Pejabat Daerah Dan Tanah Besut". pdtbesut.terengganu.gov.my.
2. Administrator. "Laman Web Rasmi Pejabat Daerah Dan Tanah Besut". pdtbesut.terengganu.gov.my.
3. ^ "Population Distribution and Basic Demographic Characteristics, 2010" (PDF). Department of Statistics, Malaysia. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 May 2014. Retrieved 19 April 2012.
4. "Poket Stats Negeri Terengganu ST3 2020" (PDF). Department of Statistics Malaysia. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 January 2022. Retrieved 7 January 2021.
5. "Portal Rasmi Majlis Daerah Besut - Sejarah Besut". Archived from the original on 2014-07-27. Retrieved 2014-10-09.
6. ^ primuscoreadmin (2015-10-08). "Besut Info". Official Portal of Besut District Council (MDB) (in Malay). Retrieved 2023-04-06.
7. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2014-10-09.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
8. "Key Findings of Population and Housing Census of Malaysia 2020" (pdf) (in Malay and English). Department of Statistics, Malaysia. ISBN 978-967-2000-85-3.
9. "Masyarakat Siam Besut sambut Loy Krathong". Utusan Online.
10. "Malaysian beaches on CNN top list - Nation - The Star Online".
11. "Portal Rasmi Majlis Daerah Besut - Pulau Perhantian". Archived from the original on 2014-04-23. Retrieved 2014-10-09.
12. "Portal Rasmi Majlis Daerah Besut - Tempat - Tempat Menarik". Archived from the original on 2014-04-22. Retrieved 2014-10-09.

• Besut District