History

Kuching has been described in history books as a riverine settlement, eight miles up Sarawak River. It was a trading post where commercial activities were concentrated along Main Bazaar and Gambier Street areas on the south bank, with the Astana and Malay villages around it on the north bank of Sarawak River.

Satok Bridge

From 1840 up to about the mid 1970's, the growth of Kuching had been a slow one. The gradual incremental growth of the residential areas did not appear to give rise to any serious congestion or pollution problem. Since then the picture has changed. Today, Kuching has grown to a City with a population of around 400,000, covering an area approximately 431 square kilometers, reaching out right to the South China Sea in the north. Terrain wise, the populated parts of Kuching City is flat, with very limited areas that are subjected to very difficult drainage problems.

Administration

Kuching is the capital city of the State of Sarawak within the Federation of Malaysia. It was proclaimed a City on 1st August 1988, and at the same time it was reconstituted administratively into two city councils, namely the Kuching North City Hall (DBKU) and the Council of the City of Kuching South (MBKS). These two administrative units cover a combined area of 431 square kilometers. However over the years, as a physical entity, Kuching has developed substantially outside the administrative boundaries of the City, into the adjacent local authority areas under the jurisdiction of the Padawan Municipal Council and Samarahan District Council.

Assets

Kuching is relatively free of the ills found in bigger cities. There is peace and harmony. Serious crimes are the exception rather than the norm. It has the award-winning Waterfront, the Cultural Village, a world-famous museum, affordable housing for most of its citizens, lots of space and greens from which we can still see blue skies. The two Local Authorities are already doing their part in making Kuching City pleasant and have won national awards for their efforts. Dewan Bandaraya Kuching Utara (DBKU) have their Vision of Kuching as a Beautiful, well-planned and cultured City, while the Vision for Majlis Bandaraya Kuching Selatan (MBKS) is Clean, green and beautiful Kuching.

Dewan Bandaraya Kuching Utara (DBKU)	Majlis Bandaraya Kuching Selatan (MBKS)
Kuching Waterfront during sunset	Kuching  Waterfront at night
Kuching Waterfront musical fountain ballad	Kuching Waterfront Sqaretower
Cat statues  in the middle of the City	The world famous Muzium Sarawak

Climate

The present living environment of Kuching city can be considered as pleasant even though the average daily temperature is around 32 C with an annual rainfall of around 160 inches and generally very high daily average humidity.