River · Malaysia
Rajang
Rajang is the longest river of Malaysia and flows through the rainforest of Sarawak. It starts in the mountains of central Borneo. Near the town of Sarikei it reaches the South China Sea.
Picture credit: Cerevisae (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Cerevisae (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Cerevisae (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Wikimedia Commons
Where is the Rajang?
The river starts here: Iran Mountains in central Borneo.
It ends in the South China Sea in Sarawak.
Countries on the river: Malaysia.
The story behind it
The Rajang is the main road of Sarawak, because in the rainforest there are few streets. Fast passenger boats race between the towns of Kapit and Sibu, loaded with schoolchildren, rice and boxes of tools. Above Kapit the water squeezes through the Pelagus rapids, where the river boils over rocks and only skilled pilots pass. Along the banks stand longhouses in which many families live under one roof, and behind them rise palms, wild figs and enormous hardwood trees. Hornbills fly across the water with heavy wingbeats. Every year logs are floated down to the coast, and the river often runs brown with mud from the hills. Measurements of its length do not agree, so some books call it a little shorter and others a little longer than 565 kilometres.
Questions children ask
How long is the Rajang?
The Rajang is usually given as 565 kilometres long. Not every source agrees, because the many bends and side arms are hard to follow. Even so, it is clearly the longest river in Malaysia.
Which country does the Rajang flow through?
Where does the Rajang end?
It flows into the South China Sea through a wide delta in Sarawak. The water splits into several arms between mangroves and muddy islands. Cargo ships reach the port of Sibu through these channels.
Where these numbers come from
Every figure on this page was checked against public reference sources before publication. Where sources genuinely disagree, the text says so.
Last checked: