Sabah (Negeri Sabah), referred to as Sabah, formerly known as North Borneo, is one of the thirteen states of Malaysia, the capital of Kota Kinabalu. Located in the northeastern part of Kalimantan Island, with an area of 74,500 square kilometers and a total population of 3,853,800 (2017), the state has a tropical rainforest climate, and is known as the "land under the wind". Sabah consists of five provinces, namely West Coast, Inland, Kuta, Sandakan and Tawau, with a gross state product of RM73.8 billion in 2016 and a per capita income of RM21,081, which is lower than the Malaysian per capita income of RM38,887. Sabah was ruled by the British from 1881 to 1963, until it became autonomous from August 1963 (defense, foreign affairs, finance, and home affairs were still in the hands of the British colonial government).On September 16, 1963, Sabah joined Malaysia.In 1984, the Sabah state government split Labuan to establish it as a federal territory, and it is Malaysia's only offshore financial center.