Sri Aman
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Sri Aman is a town, and the capital of the Sri Aman District (2323.7 square kilometers) in Sri Aman Division, Sarawak, east Malaysia.Butuh adam The district population (year 2000 census) was 66,500, with an ethnic composition of 62.2% Iban, 22.4% Malay, 14.1% Chinese, and 0.6% Bidayuh.
Sri Aman is also called Bandar Sri Aman, and was formerly known as Simanggang. A market town and port on the Lupar River is about halfway between Kuching and Sarikei, it is situated in one of the few major agricultural areas of Sarawak. It is a trade center for timber, oil palm, rubber, and pepper.
Sri Aman is famous for the benak, the name given to the tidal bore of the Batang Lupar River[1]. The tidal bore comes in from the river mouth and fills up the river very rapidly in the course of about 10 minutes. The wave crest is up to 2 to 3 metres high. This is one among close to 400 rivers and estuaries in the world where this phenomenon happens. There is a timetable at the river which has the time and dates for when the tidal bore will occur, but the really big ones occur only a couple of times a year. The author Somerset Maugham almost lost his life at Simanggang during one of these tidal bores, and commemorated the event in his short story Yellow Streak.
Sri Aman is also a gateway for tourists to the Batang Ai National Park, and cultural tours to the Iban longhouses along the rivers.
[edit] Fort Alice
After defeating the last of the major Iban chieftains, Rentap, in 1861, Rajah Charles Brooke built Fort Alice in 1864 as a defensive structure controlling the Lupar River. It was built entirely of ‘belian’ (ironwood) timber with thick walls to withstand attacks. All of the original structure remains mostly intact, but in extremely dilapidated and run down condition. It is sadly in need of restoration work.
[edit] References
- ^ Chanson, H. (2009). Environmental, Ecological and Cultural Impacts of Tidal Bores, Benaks, Bonos and Burros. Proceedings of the International Workshop on Environmental Hydraulics IWEH09, Theoretical, Experimental and Computational Solutions, Valencia, Spain, 29-30 Oct., P.A. LOPEZ-JIMENEZ, V.S. FUERTES-MIQUEL, P.L. IGLESIAS-REY, G. LOPEZ-PATINO, F.J. MARTINEZ-SOLANO, and G. PALAU-SALVADOR Editors, Invited keynote lecture, 20 pages (CD-ROM).
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Coordinates: 1°15′N 111°27′E / 1.25°N 111.45°E
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