Total population | |
---|---|
112,900 (2020)[1] (Malaysia) | |
Regions with significant populations | |
Malaysia Indonesia Brunei | |
Languages | |
Murutic languages, Sabah Malay, Sarawak Malay, Standard Malay, English (those resident in Sabah, Sarawak and Labuan), Brunei Malay (those living in Temburong district) and Indonesian (those resident in Kalimantan) | |
Religion | |
Christianity (82%), Islam (16%), Animism (2%) | |
Related ethnic groups | |
Tidung, Sino-Murut, Dayak, Kadazan-Dusun, Lundayeh, Orang Ulu and other Austronesian peoples |
The Murut, alternatively referred to as Tagol/Tahol,[2] constitute an indigenous ethnic community comprising 29 distinct sub-ethnic groups dwelling within the northern inland territories of Borneo. Characterized by their rich cultural diversity, the Murutic languages form a linguistic family encompassing approximately half a dozen closely intertwined Austronesian languages. Murut populations exhibit dispersion in Malaysia's Sabah and the northern part of Sarawak, as well as in the country of Brunei and the Indonesian North Kalimantan Province. Furthermore, the Murut people have close connections with the Tidung, who historically inhabited Borneo's east coast region that underwent processes of Islamization and Malayalization,