Sandakan is the second-largest city in Sabah

Sabah

Sabah is one of 13 member states of Malaysia. It is located on the northern portion of the island of Borneo. It is the second largest state in the country after Sarawak, which it borders on its southwest. It also shares a border with the province of East Kalimantan of Indonesia in the south...

, East Malaysia

East Malaysia

East Malaysia, also known as Malaysian Borneo, is the part of Malaysia located on the island of Borneo. It consists of the Malaysian states of Sabah and Sarawak, and the Federal Territory of Labuan. It lies to the east from Peninsular Malaysia , which is located on the Malay Peninsula. The two are...

, on the north-eastern coast of Borneo

Borneo

Borneo is the third largest island in the world and is located north of Java Island, Indonesia, at the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia....

. It is located on the east coast of the island and it is the administrative centre of Sandakan Division

Sandakan Division

Sandakan Division is an administrative division of Sabah, East Malaysia, on the island of Borneo. 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...

 and was the former capital of British North Borneo

North Borneo

North Borneo was a British protectorate under the sovereign North Borneo Chartered Company from 1882 to 1946. After the war it became a crown colony of Great Britain from 1946 to 1963, known in this time as British North Borneo. It is located on the northeastern end of the island of Borneo. It is...

. Sandakan is known as the gateway for ecotourism

Ecotourism

Ecotourism is a form of tourism visiting fragile, pristine, and usually protected areas, intended as a low impact and often small scale alternative to standard commercial tourism...

 destinations in Sabah, such as the Sepilok Orang Utan Rehabilitation Centre, the Rainforest Discovery Centre, Turtle Islands Park, Kinabatangan River

Kinabatangan River

The Kinabatangan River is located in Sabah, eastern Malaysia, on the island of Borneo. It is the second longest river in Malaysia, with a length of 560 kilometers from its headwaters in the mountains of southwest Sabah, to its outlet at the Sulu Sea, east of Sandakan.Kinabatangan is known for its...

 and Gomantong Caves

Gomantong Caves

The Gomantong Caves are an intricate cave system inside Gomantong Hill. The hill is the largest limestone outcrop in the Lower Kinabatangan area, Sandakan division, in the Malaysian state of Sabah. Situated in a Sabah Parks forest reserve, the caves and the surrounding area are a protected area...

.

The area is also infamous as the site of a World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 Japan

Empire of Japan

The Empire of Japan is the name of the state of Japan that existed from the Meiji Restoration on 3 January 1868 to the enactment of the post-World War II Constitution of...

ese airfield, now known as Sandakan Airport

Sandakan Airport

Sandakan Airport is a domestic airport that serves Sandakan, a city in the state of Sabah in Malaysia. It is located about 13 kilometers from the town. In 2005, the airport handled 621,513 passengers and registered 10,876 flights.-Airlines and destinations:...

, which was built by the forced labour of 6,000 Javanese civilians and Allied

Allies of World War II

The Allies of World War II were the countries that opposed the Axis powers during the Second World War . Former Axis states contributing to the Allied victory are not considered Allied states...

 prisoners of war.