Sandakan Division () is an administrative division of

Sabah Sabah () is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia located in northern Borneo, in the region of East Malaysia. Sabah has land borders with the Malaysian state of Sarawak to the southwest and Indonesia's North Kalima ...

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

. 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 The Orang Sungei (Malay language, Malay word for "River People") are a group of Indigenous peoples, indigenous people native to the state of Sabah, Malaysia. Groups of communities live along the rivers of Kinabatangan, Labuk, Kudat, Pitas, Saba ...

Kadazan-Dusun Kadazandusun (also written as Kadazan-Dusun or Mamasok) are the largest ethnic group in Sabah, Malaysia, an amalgamation of the closely related indigenous peoples, indigenous Kadazan people, Kadazan and Dusun people, Dusun peoples. "Kadazandus ...

, Suluk and Bajau Simunul. The main towns are

Sandakan Sandakan () 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 sta ...

, Beluran, Kinabatangan, Telupid and Tongod. Sandakan port is the second largest after

Kota Kinabalu Kota Kinabalu (; formerly known as Jesselton), colloquially referred to as KK, is the state capital of Sabah, Malaysia. It is also the capital of the Kota Kinabalu District as well as the West Coast Division of Sabah. The city is located on the ...

. 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)

Members 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 North Borneo (usually known as British North Borneo, also known as the State of North Borneo) was a British Protectorate, British protectorate in the northern part of the island of Borneo, (present-day Sabah). The territory of North Borneo wa ...

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, but ...

issued in 1881, the administrative division introduced by Baron von Overbeck 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 (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. On 16 September 1963, with the formation of Malaysia, 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 Governor, officially Yang di-Pertua Negeri (Jawi script, Jawi: , ) is a constitutional title given to the head of state in States and federal territories of Malaysia, states without a ruler, namely: Penang, Malacca, Sabah and S ...

, 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

Members of Parliament (Dewan Rakyat)

History

See also

Notes

Literature

References

Further reading