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Indonesia Regions
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Kalimantan
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East Kalimantan, long known as the ‘nation’s wallet’ for its strong contribution to the national economy, is a major producer of oil and gas and has more recently emerged as a major coal-mining area. With a land area of 220,400 sq. km. and a population of 2,452,000, it is one of Indonesia’s largest provinces and moves are underway for the creation of North Kalimantan province, bordering Malaysia’s Sabah state. Bontang is a major center for the natural gas industry and oil and gas reserves continue to be discovered off the coast of the province, in the Sulawesi Strait. While the capital of the province is at Samarinda, an important trading port for the logging industry, the most modern city is Balikpapan, a center of the oil and gas industry and site of an oil refinery first built by the Dutch colonial government. Further development is expected with plans for a coal liquefaction plant and a railway to carry coal.
 Central Kalimantan covers an area of 153,564 sq. km. and has a population of 1,800,000. Coal mining is an important industry, with the development of mines in the province that have become important sources of export income. Forestry has traditionally been an important focus of economic activity. Originally created in the late 1950s to give its Dayak peoples more independence from the Muslim population of South Kalimantan, its administrative capital is Palangkaraya.
South Kalimantan, with 3,054,129 people and a land area of 36,985 sq. km., is dominated by the Banjar people, a coastal Malay ethnic group. The capital, Bandjarmarsin, is sometimes referred to as the Venice of the East because of its extensive floating market. South Kalimantan, like other areas of the Indonesian part of Borneo island, has extensive coal reserves that have helped Indonesia to become the world’s largest exporter of thermal coal.
West Kalimantan completes the four provinces of Indonesian Borneo, with its capital Pontianak situated on the equator. With a population of 4,073,304 and a land area of 146,807 sq. km., the province is the homeland of the Dayak people, who make up some 35% of the population. The ethnic Chinese area of Singkawang is an important citrus-growing area, and most people in the province work either in agriculture or fisheries. State-owned miner PT Aneka Tambang Tbk. plans to develop an extensive bauxite resource in the province. |
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