 Sandakan is the second-largest town in the state of Sabah, East Malaysia, on the north-eastern of island of Borneo. It is located on the east coast of the island and had a population of 347,334 as of the 2000 census.
It is the administrative centre of Sandakan Division and was the former capital of British North Borneo. Sandakan is known as the gateway for ecotourism destinations in Sabah, such as the Sepilok Orang Utan Sanctuary, Turtle Islands Park, Kinabatangan River and Gomantong Caves.The area is also infamous as the site of a World War II Japanese airfield, built by the forced labour of 6,000 Javanese civilians and Allied prisoners of war. In 1945 the surviving prisoners were sent on the Sandakan Death Marches; only about 10 of them survived the war. |
