Bisaya (Borneo)
Sabah Bisaya traditional costume | |
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| c. 140,000 | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Brunei: 45,000 Malaysia Sarawak: 7,000 (1984) Sabah: 74,000 United States: 14,000 | |
| Languages | |
| Sabah Bisaya, Brunei Bisaya, Sabah Malay, Sarawak Malay, Brunei Malay, Standard Malay, English | |
| Religion | |
| Majority Islam (Sabah and Brunei) and significant minorities of Christianity and Animism (Sarawak) | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Lotud, Dusuns, Murut, Lun Bawang/Lundayeh, Kadazan-Dusun, Dayaks, Other Indigenous peoples of Brunei |
The Bisaya are a group of indigenous people from the northwest coast of East Malaysia and Brunei, on the island of Borneo. Their populations are concentrated around the towns of Beaufort and Kuala Penyu in southern Sabah (where they are included under the Kadazan-Dusun group of peoples), Labuan Federal Territory, and in Limbang District of Sarawak (in which they are grouped under the Orang Ulu designation). The Bisaya tribe bears many similarities to the Tatana Dusun tribe, especially in terms of language, as there is a high degree of mutual intelligibility between the two groups. Nowadays, most Bisaya in Sabah are Muslim, while those living in Sarawak are mostly Christians. In Brunei, they are referred to as Dusun, Jati Dusun, and Bisaya.