Papar
Town anddistrict capital
Pekan Papar Papar Town
Other transcription(s)
• Jawi	ڤاڤر
Colonial-era shoplots in Papar town.
Etymology: Brunei word "Tanah Rata"
Location of Papar Town in Papar District
Papar
Coordinates:5°44′00″N115°56′00″E / 5.73333°N 115.93333°E /5.73333; 115.93333
Country	Malaysia
State	Sabah
Division	West Coast
District	Papar
Administration	Papar District Council
Government
• Body	Papar District Council
• District Officer	Mohd Fuad Abdullah
• Executive Officer	Ahmad Jaludin Abd Karim
• MP	Yang Berhormat Datuk Armizan Mohd Ali
Population  (2020)
• Total	98,452[1]
	The population around Papar only and does not include the whole district of Papar administration.
Time zone	UTC+8 (MST)
Postal code	89608
Area code	088
Neighbourhood Area	Kinarut, Benoni,Kimanis
Tamu (Weekly Local Market)	Sunday
Number plate	SA (1980-2018) SY (2018-2023) SJ (2023-)
Website	mdpapar.sabah.gov.my pdpapar.sabah.gov.my

Papar (Malay:Pekan Papar) is the capital of thePapar District in theWest Coast Division ofSabah,Malaysia. Its population was estimated to be around 124,420 in 2010,^[2] which is divided betweenBruneian Malay^[3] (particularly in the villages of Benoni, Buang Sayang, Bongawan, Kampung Laut, Kelanahan, Takis, Kimanis and Kinarut),Kadazan-Dusun^[3] (concentrated in the villages of Rampazan, Limbahau, Kinarut, Kopimpinan, Lakut, Mondolipau, Kinuta, Bungug, Padawan, Koiduan, Ulu Kimanis, Sumbiling and Limputung), andBajau^[3] (mostly in the villages of Pengalat Besar, Pengalat Kecil, Kawang, Kuala, Sg Padang and Beringgis). There is also a sizeableChinese minority (including those of mixed-race orSino-Native origin),^[3] predominantly of theHakka subgroup, as well as smaller numbers of other races. The town is located 38 kilometres south of the state capital ofKota Kinabalu, with thePapar railway station in the town becoming one of the main stops of theSabah State Railway.

The Papar area is characterised by low-lying coastal areas which extend inland towards the Crocker Range.^[4] Such land was traditionally used for growing rice, and the flat paddy fields once common in the district may have given it its name. Despite the rapid expansion ofKota Kinabalu, the district is still dominated by paddy fields, which are largely worked by natives, and fruit orchards, most of which belong to theethnic Chinese minority. The town itself occupies the southern banks of thePapar River not far from the sea. There are also areas of tidal wetland that are home tomangrove trees and saltwater palm ornipah. Both banks are connected by two steel-concrete bridges, one (with a railway bridge) connecting directly into the town itself, and another much farther upriver (on the old Kota Kinabalu-Papar road) leading into the paddy plantation hamlets. The town has seen considerable growth in recent years but still preserves some of its older buildings and features. Important architectural features which can be seen in the Papar town includes the District Office, Papar Public Library, Papar Public Park, New Papar Market, OKK Mahali Park (which constitutes a large part of the new town), Salleh Sulong Hall and a new bigger Papar Community Hall which also hosts a weekly wet market on its compounds, a sports complex with a field, a stand and a gymnasium, and the new train station, which doubles as a bus and minivan station which serves the Kota Kinabalu-Papar-Beaufort route.

The well-knownShaw Brothers film company once operated Papar's sole cinema, calledNew Gaiety.^[5] It closed in the 1990s; however, a nearby street is still namedJalan Cinema ("Cinema Road") after the now-defunct theatre. Despite repair and refurbishment over the years, the Papar railway bridge looks much as it did in theSecond World War. It featured inAllied plans to retakeNorth Borneo from theJapanese Army. References to it and the Papar River can be found in reports on theAgas andSemut covert intelligence operations, and later in theStallion andOboe 6 attack plans.^[6]

Papar is a major hub for the proselytisation of Islam on the west coast of Sabah, owing to its large Muslim community. The district's first mosque was built near the Kampung Laut area around 1890. It is now known as theMasjid Daerah Papar (Papar District Mosque).^[7] Other mosques in the district include theMasjid Pekan Bongawan (Bongawan Town Mosque) andMasjid Haji Mohammad Yaakob (Haji Mohammad Yaakob Mosque), located inBongawan and Beringgis respectively. Beside the Muslim population, the Christian population has been estimated to have grown to about half of the total population in 2016. There are three Catholic churches and one Eastern Orthodox Church in the town centre, namely, St. Joseph which is located in Papar town, The Holy Rosary Church in Limbahau, St. Paul Parish in Jalan Kelatuan Gadong and St. Patrick Kinuta together with otherChristian denominations such as Basel, Anglican, Seventh-Day Adventist (SDA) andBorneo Evangelical Church (Sidang Injil Borneo - SIB). A number ofChinese temples are also located around the district and town centre with the presence of many Chinese population there.

Papar has atropical rainforest climate (Af) with heavy rainfall year-round.

• 
  One of the old shops of Papar.
• 
  Papar railway bridge.
• 
  Chinese-owned sundry shop in Papar town.
• 
  Papar District Mosque.
• 
  St. Joseph Catholic Church.
• 
  Kwong Fook Kung Temple.

Media related toPapar at Wikimedia Commons

• Papar District
• Towns in Sabah

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