Sandakan, on the northeast coast of Sabah in Malaysian Borneo, is a city where history, wildlife, and culture come together. Once a major trading port known as “Little Hong Kong” for its bustling connections to the wider world, Sandakan has retained its multicultural character, with influences from Chinese, Malay, and Indigenous communities visible in its temples, markets, and cuisine.
Bad Gastein is a mountain spa town in the Gastein Valley of Salzburg province, set at about 1,000 meters above sea level within the Hohe Tauern region. The town is built on steep slopes around the Gasteiner Ache, with historic buildings rising above the valley and mountains surrounding the settlement. Its most distinctive feature is the Gastein Waterfall, which drops through the center of town in three stages.
Gdynia is a Baltic Sea port city in northern Poland, forming part of the Tricity urban area with Gdańsk and Sopot. Its character is closely connected to the sea, with a large commercial harbor, marinas, beaches, and a waterfront city center. Unlike many Polish cities, Gdynia has a relatively modern urban fabric, with much of its central district shaped by interwar modernist architecture.
Krujë sits on a rocky hilltop above central Albania and has long been a symbol of the country’s history and independence. At Krujë Castle ancient stone walls rise above the town and offer striking views of the surrounding hills and valleys, and inside the fortress visitors find the Skanderbeg Museum, where armor, documents and displays recount the life and battles of Albania’s national hero.
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Western Sahara, (formerly Spanish Sahara), northwestern Africa, former overseas province of Spain partitioned in 1976 between Mauritania and Morocco, and since 1979, occupied entirely by Morocco. Western Sahara encompasses about 267,000 sq. km (about 103,000-sq mi.); Morocco, bound it on the north, on the northeast by Algeria, on the east and
south by Mauritania, and on the west by the Atlantic Ocean. With a hot, arid climate, and composed mostly of rocky and sandy soils, the region is not suitable for sedentary agriculture, but some sheep, goats, and camels are raised by nomadic herders.