Labuan - The Digital Philatelist

Labuan, officially the Federal Territory of Labuan, is a Federal Territory of Malaysia. Its territory includes Labuan Island and six smaller islands, off the coast of the state of Sabah in East Malaysia. The name Labuan derives from the Malay word labuhan which means harbour.

For three centuries from the 15th century, the north and west coast of Borneo including the island of Labuan was part of the Sultanate of Brunei. In the 18th century, Labuan attracted British interest. James Brooke acquired the island for Britain through the Treaty of Labuan with the Sultan of Brunei, Omar Ali Saifuddin II on 18 December 1846. The British acquired the island to establish a naval station to protect their commercial interest in the region and to suppress piracy in the South China Sea. The British also believed the island could be the next Singapore.

The island became a Crown Colony in 1848. In 1849, the Eastern Archipelago Company became the first of several British companies to try to exploit Labuan coal deposits.Not proving itself a great commercial or strategic asset, administration of Labuan was handed to the British North Borneo Company in 1890. By 30 October 1906, the British Government proposed to extend the boundaries of the Straits Settlements to include Labuan. The proposal took effect from 1 January 1907.

In World War II, Labuan was occupied by Japan from 3 January 1942 until June 1945 and garrisoned by units of the Japanese 37th Army, which controlled North Borneo. The island served as the administrative centre for the Japanese forces. During the occupation, the Japanese Government changed the island name to Maida Island on 9 December 1942.

The liberation of Borneo by the Allied forces began on 10 June 1945 when the Australian Army launched an attack. Most of the Labuan island area including the main town of Victoria was under the control of Allied forces within four days of the landing on 10 June.

The name of Labuan was later restored by the British and the island was administered under the British Military Administration together with the rest of the Straits Settlements. Labuan then on 15 July 1946 joined the North Borneo Crown Colony, which in turn became a part of the state of Sabah and Malaysia in 1963.

In 1984, the Government of Sabah ceded Labuan to the federal government which later been accessed to a federal territory.