Kalimantan - Administration, Demographics

pop (2000e) 9 529 000. Group of four provinces in the Indonesian part of Borneo: Kalimantan Barat, West Kalimantan, or West Borneo, pop (2000e) 3 806 000, area 146 760 km²/56 649 sq mi, capital, Pontianak; Kalimantan Selatan, South Kalimantan, or South Borneo, pop (2000e) 3 053 000, area 37 660 km²/14 537 sq mi, capital, Banjarmasin; Kalimantan Tengah, Central Kalimantan, or Central Borneo, pop (2000e) 465 000, area 152 600 km²/58 904 sq mi, capital, Palangkaraya; Kalimantan Timur, East Kalimantan, or East Borneo, pop (2000e) 2 205 000, area 202 440 km²/78 142 sq mi, capital, Samarinda; coffee, copra, pepper, coal, timber, rubber, diamonds, gold; an active guerrilla separatist movement; ethnic unrest in 1997.

Kalimantan is bordered to the north by the Malaysian states of Sarawak and Sabah.

Administration

Kalimantan is divided into four provinces:

Central Kalimantan (Kalimantan Tengah), south of Kalimantan, with capital Palangkaraya East Kalimantan (Kalimantan Timur), northeast of Kalimantan, with capital Samarinda South Kalimantan (Kalimantan Selatan), southeast of Kalimantan, with capital Banjarmasin West Kalimantan (Kalimantan Barat), west of Kalimantan, with capital Pontianak

Demographics

The indigenous populations of Kalimantan are divided into Dayaks, Malays (particularly in West Kalimantan and along coastal lines), and Banjarese-Malay (in South Kalimantan). There are also many migrants from other parts of the region such as Buginese, Javanese, Madurese, and Chinese who are concentrated in West Kalimantan.

There was a war in the region between the indigenous Dayaks, who follow Kaharingan Hinduism, and Madurese immigrants, who were moved here as part of a government transmigration program that operated, in various forms, from 1905 until 2001. One of the groups is called "Senganan", and they live along the Kapuas river in Sanggau, West Kalimantan.

The Dayaks whose religion is mainly Islam, and who retained their Dayak identity, are Bakumpai who can be found in South Kalimantan and along the Mahakam River, East Kalimantan, as well as Lamandau in Central Kalimantan. East Kalimantan, as well as Lamandau in Central Kalimantan.