1877-1918 1945-1963






North Borneo 1918-1945



North Borneo, because of the Chinese policy to prevent further emigration and because of a sluggish world economy after World War I, saw a rather quiet development compared to the prewar decades.
In 1942 Sabah was occupied by the Japanese. British soldiers were interned and badly treated (death marches); in 1943 a group of them revolted. They managed to occupy Jesselton and hold it for a day against the Japanese forces.Late in World War II, both Sandakan and Jesselton (Kota Kinabalu) were bombed by the US Airforce. Capital Sandakan was liberated by Australian forces on October 19th 1945.

In 1931 the population of North Borneo numbered 270,223; in 1936 it was estimated at 285,000. Capital Sandakan in 1931 had 13,826 inhabitants. In 1934 NB had 316 km of railway line; in 1938, 199 cars, 60 buses and trucks were registered. In 1936, state expenses were 203,148 Pounds Sterling, state revenues 341,586 Pounds. Main export articles included rubber and timber, main import articles grains, textiles, food.






EXTERNAL
FILES 		History of Sabah, from Info Sabah; from Sabah Tourism
History of Sandakan, from Info Sabah, timeline
DOCUMENTS World Statesmen : Malay States by Ben Cahoon, scroll down for Sabah
REFERENCE Hübner's Weltstatistik, 73rd edition, edited by Ernst Rösner, Wien 1939
Article Borneo, in : Britannica Book of the Year 1946, p.133 (on events in 1945) [G]
Article : Borneo (British) : Sarawak, in : Statesman's Yearbook 1919 pp.101-104, 1924 pp.104-107, 1925 pp.107-108, 1926 pp.95-98, 1928 pp.98-99, 1929 pp.96-99, 1932 pp.98-100, 1937 pp.103-106, 1943 pp.90-93 [G]
Article : Borneo, British - British North Borneo, in : Americana Annual 1927 pp.109-110, 1928 pp.100-101, 1930 pp.115-116, 1931 p.113, 1932 p.110, 1933 pp.100-101, 1934 p.112, 1935 p.104, 1936 p.92, 1937 p.81, 1938 pp.83-84, 1939 p.90, 1940 p.78, 1943 pp.104-105, 1944 pp.97-98 [G]
Article : Borneo - British North Borneo, in : Americana Annual 1945 pp.99-100, 1946 pp.105-107 [G]
Article : British North Borneo, in : New International Year Book 1919 p.118, 1920 p.104, 1921 p.104, 1923 p.108, 1925 p.109, 1928 p.116, 1930 p.116, 1932 p.116, 1933 p.111, 1934 p.101, 1935 p.103, 1938 p.107, 1939 p.95 [G]
Article : British Malaya, in : New International Year Book Events of 1940 pp.90-91, 1941 pp.82-83, 1942 pp.94-95, 1943 pp.81-82, 1944 pp.83-84 [G]
Article : British North Borneo, in : Funk & Wagnall's New Standard Year Book 1932 p.96, 1933 p.127, 1934 p.110, 1935 p.102, 1936 p.89, 1937 p.87, 1938 pp.89-90 [G]


This page is part of World History at KMLA
First posted on May 8th 2002, last revised on August 25th 2007

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