Sandakan Division ( ms, Bahagian Sandakan) is an administrative division of

Sabah Sabah () is a state of Malaysia located in northern Borneo, in the region of East Malaysia. Sabah borders the Malaysian state of Sarawak to the southwest and the North Kalimantan province of Indonesia to the south. The Federal Territory ...

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federal constitutional monarchy consists of thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two regions: Peninsular Malaysia and Borneo's East Mal ...

. It stretches diagonally from the northeastern coast of Sabah to the state's central region. With an area of 28,205 square kilometres, it occupies 38.3% of Sabah's territory, and is thus the largest of the five administrative divisions of Sabah. It also has approximately 19.4% of Sabah's total population, with the major inhabitants comprising the Chinese, Orang Sungai,

Kadazan-Dusun Kadazan-Dusun (also written as Kadazandusun or Mamasok Kadazan-Dusun) also less-known as "Mamasok Sabah" are two indigenous peoples of Sabah, Malaysia—the ethnic groups Kadazan and Dusun. The Kadazandusun is the largest native group of Bu ...

, Suluk and Bajau Simunul. The main towns are

Sandakan Sandakan (, Jawi: , ) formerly known at various times as Elopura, is the capital of the Sandakan District in Sabah, Malaysia. It is the second largest city in Sabah after Kota Kinabalu. It is located on the Sandakan Peninsula and east coast ...

, Beluran,

Kinabatangan Kinabatangan ( ms, Pekan Kinabatangan) is the capital of the Kinabatangan District in the Sandakan Division of Sabah, Malaysia. Its population was estimated to be around 10,256 in 2010. Kinabatangan is mostly populated with the Orang Sungai ...

Telupid Telupid ( ms, Pekan Telupid) is the capital of the Telupid District in the Sandakan Division of Sabah, Malaysia. History Telupid was first settled around 1940s and became the major route for the Sandakan Death Marches during World War II. At ...

and Tongod. Sandakan port is the second largest after

Kota Kinabalu , image_skyline = , image_caption = From top, left to right, bottom:Kota Kinabalu skyline, Wawasan intersection, Tun Mustapha Tower, Kota Kinabalu Coastal Highway, the Kota Kinabalu City Mosque, the Wism ...

. The port serves as a major timber export gateway. The Sandakan Airport serves the Sandakan division.

Districts

Sandakan Division is subdivided into the following administrative districts: * Beluran District (8,345 km²) ( Beluran Town) * Kinabatangan District (8,000 km²) ( Kinabatangan Town) * Sandakan District (2,266 km²) ( Sandakan City) * Telupid District (1,935 km²) ( Telupid Town) * Tongod District (10,052 km²) ( Tongod Town)

Member of Parliament (Dewan Rakyat)

History

The present divisions of Sabah is largely inherited from the division of the

North Borneo Chartered Company The North Borneo Chartered Company (NBCC), also known as the British North Borneo Company (BNBC) was a British chartered company formed on 1 November 1881 to administer and exploit the resources of North Borneo (present-day Sabah in Malaysia). ...

. Following the acquisition of

North Borneo (I persevere and I achieve) , national_anthem = , capital = Kudat (1881–1884);Sandakan (1884–1945);Jesselton (1946) , common_languages = English, Kadazan-Dusun, Bajau, Murut, Sabah Malay, Chinese etc. , ...

under the

royal charter A royal charter is a formal grant issued by a monarch under royal prerogative as letters patent. Historically, they have been used to promulgate public laws, the most famous example being the English Magna Carta (great charter) of 1215, b ...

issued in 1881, the administrative division introduced by

Baron von Overbeck Gustav Overbeck (from 1867 von Overbeck, in 1873 Baron von Overbeck, in 1877 Maharaja of Sabah and Rajah of Gaya and Sandakan; born 4 March 1830 in Lemgo; died 8 April 1894 in London) was a German businessman, adventurer and diplomat. Biogra ...

was continued by the establishment of two residences comprising West Coast Residency and East Coast Residency. Seat of the two residents was in

, where the governor was based. Each resident, in turn, was divided into several provinces managed by a district officer.The original position was initially Magistrates-in-charge. As North Borneo progresses, the number of residencies has increased to five including: Tawau Residency (also known as East Coast Residency), Sandakan Residency, West Coast Residency, Kudat Residency, and Interior Residency; the provinces were initially named after the members of the board: Alcock, Cunlife, Dewhurst, Keppel, Dent, Martin, Elphinstone, Myburgh and Mayne. The senior residents occupied Sandakan and the West Coast, while the other three resident with the second class residencies occupied Interior, East Coast and Kudat. The residents of Sandakan and West Coast were members of the Legislative Council, the Legislative Assembly of the Company. The division into residencies was maintained when North Borneo became a Crown Colony after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. On 16 September 1963, with the

formation of Malaysia The Malaysia Agreement or the Agreement relating to Malaysia between United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Federation of Malaya, North Borneo, Sarawak and Singapore (MA63) was the agreement which combined North Borneo, Sarawak, ...

, North Borneo which subsequently became the state of Sabah took over the administrative structure through the Ordinance on Administrative Units. At the same time, the

Yang di-Pertua Negeri In Malaysia, the Yang di-Pertua Negeri ( in Malay) is a constitutional title given to the head of state in states without a Ruler, namely: Penang, Malacca, Sabah and Sarawak. This is in constrast to a Ruler () which is a constitutional title giv ...

, the head of state of Sabah, was authorised by proclamation to divide the state into divisions and districts.The most recent such proclamation dates from 2009
Administrative Divisions Proclamation 2009
The abolition of the residency term was in favour of the division term that took place in 1976. Today, the division has only formal significance and no longer constitutes its own administrative level. The resident's post was also abolished, as Sabah's municipal administration is in the hands of the district officers.

Districts

Member of Parliament (Dewan Rakyat)

History

See also

Notes

Literature

References

Further reading