In the late 1800s, the British North Borneo Company There have not been any official or popular adjectives, or demonyms, to describe the people of Kota Kinabalu. A simple way to describe the people of the city can be "orang K.K.", where orang means "person" or "people" in Malay. The terms "K.K-ites" and "K.K-ians" have also been used to a limited extent. People from Sabah are called Sabahan.

Ethnicity and religion

The city's population today is a mixture of many different races and ethnicities. The city consists of mainly Kadazans, Chinese, Bajaus and Malays. Most of the Chinese people in the city are Hakkas and can be found mainly in the Luyang area.

The area of Penampang is populated mainly by Kadazans, while the Bajaus mainly reside in Likas, Sembulan and Karambunai. This does not suggest that the people are socially segregated. In fact, the people of the city have lived peacefully side by side for many years, not being affected by larger racial conflicts, such as the May 13 Incident in Peninsular Malaysia.

The Kadazans here mainly practice Christianity. The Bajaus and Malays follow Islam. The Chinese are mainly Buddhists or Christians. There are a small number of Hindus, Sikhs, Animists, and a small number of secularists also exist.

There is also a sizeable Filipino population in the city. The first wave of migrants arrived in the late 15th century during the Spanish colonization, while some are refugees arriving in the early 1970s because of the troubles in southern Philippines. A significant number of them today, however, consists of migrant workers arriving from the late 1970s onwards.

Most of the earlier migrants have been naturalized as Malaysian citizens, however there still remains some living without proper documentation around the city as illegal immigrants. Most of the Filipino migrants are Suluks coming from the southern parts of Philippines. There are also a number of Indonesian migrants living around the city, mostly coming from Flores of the Lesser Sunda Islands.

There is a small population of Indians, Pakistanis and Eurasians scattered around the city. More recently the number of expatriates living in the city, either temporarily or permanently, have also increased. Most have come from South Korea, Japan, Australia, and Europe.

Intermarriage is not an uncommon practice here. The most common of which are intermarriages between Kadazans and Chinese and they are known as Sino-Kadazans or simply "Sinos".

Languages

The people mainly speak Bahasa Malaysia, with a distinct Sabahan accent. However, many still speak the language or dialect of their mother tongue when speaking with person of the same race or ethnicity. Mandarin and Huìyáng Hakka (惠阳客家话) are still widely spoken by the Chinese.

The number of Bahasa Kadazandusun speakers is thought to have dropped significantly throughout Sabah especially in larger towns or cities like Kota Kinabalu. However, some efforts can be seen to have been taken by some to revive the usage of the language.

Kadazan has been considered an endangered language, along with the culture of ethnic Kadazans. Today most of the people are also able to converse in basic English, and quite a number of families have even adopted it as their first language. The national education system provides compulsory English language instruction.