area 484 330 km²/186 951 sq mi. Island in SE Asia, E of Sumatra, N of Java, W of Sulawesi; comprises the Malaysian states of Sarawak and Sabah and the former British protectorate of Brunei (N); remainder comprises the four provinces of Kalimantan, part of Indonesia; formerly divided between the British and the Dutch; mountainous (N), rising to 4094 m/13 432 ft at Mt Kinabalu in Sabah; interior densely forested; rice, pepper, copra, tobacco, oil, bauxite, iron.
Borneo (administratively divided between Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei) is the third largest island in the world. Borneo is considered to be part of the geographic region of Southeast Asia.
Borneo is only a western reference and the term is rarely used locally; the name Borneo itself was only given by the Dutch during their colonial period. In Indonesia, the island is always referred to as Kalimantan while in Malaysia the northern section is referred to as East Malaysia, as opposed to western reference of Malaysian Borneo.
Geography
Borneo is the third largest island in the world, surrounded by the South China Sea to the north and northwest, the Sulu Sea to the northeast, the Celebes Sea and the Makassar Strait to the east, and the Java Sea and Karimata Strait to the south.
To the west of Borneo are the Malay Peninsula and Sumatra.
Borneo's highest point is Mount Kinabalu in Sabah, Malaysia, with an elevation of 4,095 m (13,435 ft.) above sea level.
Administration
Borneo is divided administratively into:
The Indonesian provinces of East, South, West and Central Kalimantan.History
The whole of Borneo was controlled by the Malay Brunei Sultanate Empire during its golden age from the 15th to 17th centuries, after the fall of the Malacca Sultanate in Southeast Asia. However, the northern part of Borneo was later controlled by the Malay Sulu Sultanate (1473–1899) and subsequently the North Borneo Company gained control.
In the early 19th century, British and Dutch colonists entered into agreement to exchange trading ports under their controls; the eastern side of Borneo under the Dutch colonial empire and western side under the British. China sent several vessels to trade in Borneo. Some of the Chinese beads and wares found their way deep into the interior of Borneo.
During the Second World War, Japanese forces gained control of Borneo (1941–45) and decimated many local populations and Malay intellectuals, including the elimination of the Malay Sultanate of Sambas in Kalimantan . Borneo was the main site of the confrontation between Indonesia and Malaysia between 1962 and 1966, as well as the communist revolts to gain control of the whole area. In recent times, the Philippines claimed that the northern part of Borneo is within their territorial rights and had made several confrontational claims against Malaysia.
Ecology
Borneo is very rich in biodiversity compared to many other areas (MacKinnon et al. There are about 15,000 species of flowering plants with 3,000 species of trees (267 species are dipterocarps), 221 species of terrestrial mammals and 420 species of resident birds in Borneo (MacKinnon et al. The remaining Borneo rainforest is the only natural habitat for the endangered Bornean orangutan.
The World Wildlife Fund divides the island into seven distinct ecoregions. The Borneo lowland rain forests cover most of the island, with an area of 427,500 km². Other lowland ecoregions are the Borneo peat swamp forests, the Kerangas or Sundaland heath forests, the Southwest Borneo freshwater swamp forests, and the Sunda Shelf mangroves. The Borneo montane rain forests lie in the central highlands of the island, above the 1000 meter elevation.
The island historically had extensive rainforest cover, but the area is shrinking rapidly due to heavy logging for the needs of the Malaysian plywood industry. One half of the annual tropical timber acquisition of the whole world comes from Borneo.
In order to combat overpopulation in Java, the Indonesian government started a massive transmigration (transmigrasi) of poor farmers and landless peasants into Borneo in the 70's and 80's, to farm the logged areas, albeit with little success as the fertility of the land has been removed with the trees and what soil remains is washed away in tropical downpours.
Ethnic and Biological Diversity
There are over 30 ethnic groups living in Borneo, making the population of this island one of the most variegated of human social groups.
Certain indigenous people (e.g.
The type of rainforests found in Borneo include the high diversity mixed dipterocarp forest, the rare peat swamp forests and heath forest.
Researchers scouring swamps in the heart of Borneo island have discovered a venomous species of snake that can change its skin color.
World Wildlife Fund has stated that 361 animal and plant species have been discovered in Borneo since 1996, underscoring its unparalleled biodiversity.
User Comments Add a comment…