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In 1840
the British used the previously-uninhabited island
as a base for operations against piracy and later
as a station for the submarine cable between Singapore
and Hong Kong. The Sultan of Brunei ceded Labuan
to Britain in 1846, and the island became a Crown
Colony in 1848. It was made a part of North Borneo
on 1 January 1890, then on 30 October 1906 joined
to the Straits Settlements.
Labuan was
occupied by Japan from December 1941 to June 1945,
after which it was under British military administration
(along with the rest of the Straits Settlements),
then joined to British North Borneo, on 15 July
1946, which in turn became a part of Malaysia
in 1963.
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