City Detail

Sandakan (Malaysian pronunciation: [ˈsaan daˈkan], Jawi: سنداکن‎, Chinese: 山打根; pinyin: Shāndǎgēn; Jyutping: saan1 daa2 gan1) 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 of the state in the administrative centre of Sandakan Division and was the former capital of British North Borneo. In 2010, the city had an estimated population of 157,330 while the surrounding municipal area had a total population of 396,290. The population of the municipal area had increased to 510,600 by 2020.Before the founding of Sandakan, Sulu Archipelago was the source of dispute between Spain and the Sultanate of Sulu for economic dominance in the region. By 1864, Spain had blockaded the Sultanate possessions in the Sulu Archipelago.