Shakotan (積丹町, Shakotan-chō) is a town located in Shakotan District, Shiribeshi Subprefecture, Hokkaido, Japan. As of 2012, the town had a population of 2,480 and a density of 10 persons per km². The total area of the town is 238.20 square kilometres (91.97 sq mi), and located 90 kilometres (56 mi) west of Sapporo, the capital and economic hub of Hokkaido. Shakotan occupies the north of the Shakotan Peninsula. It was founded in 1869 as part of the short-lived Shiribeshi Province, which was dissolved in 1882 to become Hokkaido. Shakotan, along with neighboring Otaru, is home to Japan's only national-level marine sanctuary.