It had a population of more than 80,900 people in 2011, made up mainly by Dusun (Kimaragang Dusun, Tobilung, and more), Rungus, Bajau, Orang Sungai, Suluk, and Chinese (mostly Hakka and Hokkien).
In December 1914 he was Assistant District Officer at Semporna, and it was at this time that he compiled a vocabulary of Bajau words.
The Sama–Bajaw languages are a well established group of languages spoken by the Bajau ('Sea Gypsies') and Sama (Sinama) peoples of the Philippines and Malaysia, on Borneo and the Sulu Archipelago between Borneo and Mindanao.