Map of Sandakan, Malaysia

Sandakan is a city in Sabah, Malaysia, with a population of about 439,050. It lies at 5.8402°N, 118.1179°E. Sandakan is about 1,846 km (1,147 mi) east of Kuala Lumpur, the capital. The nearest city on our map is Lahad Datu, 94 km to the south.

Sandakan at a glance

Where is Sandakan?

• The 12th largest city in Malaysia by recorded population.
• The 2nd largest city in Sabah on this site.
• Located in the Northern and Eastern hemispheres.
• Daylight ranges from about 11 h 47 min on the shortest day to 12 h 28 min on the longest day (around 21 December and 21 June).

Cities near Sandakan

• Lahad Datu — 94 km south
• Semporna — 161 km south
• Tawau — 179 km south
• Keningau — 224 km west
• Kota Kinabalu — 227 km west
• Putatan — 228 km west
• Tarakan — 287 km south, Indonesia
• Jolo — 320 km east, Philippines
• Bandar Labuan — 323 km west
• Labuan — 324 km west

Largest cities in Sabah

• Kota Kinabalu — 500,421
• Tawau — 372,615
• Lahad Datu — 105,622
• Putatan — 78,340
• Keningau — 77,650
• Semporna — 62,641
• Bandar Labuan — 54,752

Largest cities in Malaysia

• Kuala Lumpur — 1,453,975
• Johor Bahru — 858,118
• Kampung Baru Subang — 833,571
• Petaling Jaya — 807,879
• Ipoh — 759,952
• Shah Alam — 740,750
• Malacca — 579,000
• Kota Bharu — 568,900
• Kuantan — 548,014
• Sungai Petani — 544,851

Map of Malaysia and all its cities →

Sources: place names, coordinates, populations and time zones from GeoNames (CC BY 4.0, data retrieved October 2026). Population figures are the latest values recorded in GeoNames; depending on the country they refer to the city proper, a municipality or a wider urban area, so they can differ from census or metro-area figures. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.