| Kota Marudu District | |
| Native Name: | Daerah Kota Marudu |
| Native Name Lang: | ms |
| Settlement Type: | District |
| Leader Title: | District Officer |
| Leader Name: | Meirin Sugara |
| Coordinates: | 6.4897°N 116.7361°W |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Name: |  Malaysia |
| Subdivision Type1: | State |
| Subdivision Type2: | Division |
| Subdivision Name2: | Kudat |
| Seat Type: | Capital |
| Seat: | Kota Marudu |
| Area Total Km2: | 1917 |
| Population As Of: | 2010 |
| Population Total: | 66,374 |
| Website: | |
The Kota Marudu District (ms|Daerah Kota Marudu) is an administrative district in the Malaysian state of Sabah, part of the Kudat Division which includes the districts of Kota Marudu, Kudat and Pitas. The capital of the district is in Kota Marudu Town.
Kota means Fort. The name Marudu originated from the language of Balangigi people from the words of "Mairudu" or "Maiuludu" which means "a position located in the same place", referring to the geographical position of Marudu Bay which forms a large bay. Since then, the term Mairudu turns to Marudu and Mailudu becomes Maludu. Hence, Western writers often refer to Marudu as Marudu, Marudo or Maludu. The name Marudu was first mapped by a Dutch sailor in 1595 who sailed from Brunei and reached Marudu, Palawan and the Sulu Archipelago. While in the waters of Marudu, he found the Balangigi people or also called by the Spaniards as the "Camucones" became the sea troops of the Sultanates of Brunei and Sulu at the time.[1]
The district is once known as the stronghold of a local leader named Sharif Usman. The Sharif administer the area under the consent of the Sultanate of Sulu although he administer the place under his own as an independent chiefdom.[1] He later involved in a dispute with the colonial authorities of British North Borneo after being accused as a pirate and involved in a slave trade, where he was killed during a battle with the latter and his entire fort in the area was destroyed.[2]
See also: Demographics of Sabah. The population of Kota Marudu district according to the last census in 2010 is 66,374.[3] It consists mainly of Dusun (from the Gobukon, Tobilung, Tagahas, Bunduliwan-Tinagas, Kimaragang-Sonsogon, Garo, Luba and Talantang tribes), Rungus, Bajau, Orang Sungai (Tambanuo) and Chinese (mainly Hakkas). As in other districts of Sabah, there are a significant number of illegal immigrants from the nearby southern Philippines, notably from the Sulu Archipelago and Mindanao which are not included in the population statistics.