The Belayan River is a river of

Borneo Borneo (; id, Kalimantan) is the third-largest island in the world and the largest in Asia. At the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, in relation to major Indonesian islands, it is located north of Java, west of Sulawesi, and eas ...

, Indonesia, 1300 km northeast of the capital

Jakarta Jakarta (; , bew, Jakarte), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta ( id, Daerah Khusus Ibukota Jakarta) is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Lying on the northwest coast of Java, the world's most populous island, Jakarta ...

. It is a tributary of the

Mahakam River The Mahakam River (Indonesian: ''Sungai Mahakam'') is third longest and volume discharge river in Borneo after Kapuas River and Barito River, it is located in Kalimantan, Indonesia. It flows from the district of Long Apari in the highlands of ...

Hydrology

The river traverses three districts in the upstream area of

Kutai Kartanegara Regency Kutai Kartanegara Regency (abbreviated as ''Kukar'') is a regency of East Kalimantan province, Indonesia. It has a land area of 27,263.10 km2 and a water area of 4,097 km2, geographically located between 1°18′40″S and 116°31′36 ...

, namely Kenohan, Kembang Janggut, and Tabang.Sungai Belayan, Urat Nadi Warga Hulu Kukar
STV Samarinda. 21 March 2018. The high flow rate during flooding constantly eroded the land on the river banks, causing damages to the houses built next to it. Belayan flows into the

near Muhuran, Kotabangun, and Bukit Tinjawang.

Geography

The river flows in the eastern area of

island with predominantly

tropical rainforest climate A tropical rainforest climate, humid tropical climate or equatorial climate is a tropical climate sub-type usually found within 10 to 15 degrees latitude of the equator. There are some other areas at higher latitudes, such as the coast of southea ...

(designated as ''Af'' in the Köppen-Geiger climate classification). The annual average temperature in the area is 23 °C. The warmest month is March, when the average temperature is around 24 °C, and the coldest is January, at 22 °C. The average annual rainfall is 2780 mm. The wettest month is December, with an average of 351 mm rainfall, and the driest is August, with 138 mm rainfall.

Uses

The Belayan River is vital for the population along its banks for transportation, water source for daily life, and also for occupation for some inhabitants, such as fish and gold. The river is important for the people of three districts, Kenohan, Kembang Janggut, and Tabang, even for centuries was the only access route to those three districts. At the upstream of Belayan there are some villages of Dayak Kenyak tribe, such as Ritan Baru, Tabang District, which can be reached about one or two days by boat or ferry from

Samarinda Samarinda is the capital city of the Provinces of Indonesia, Indonesian province of East Kalimantan on the island of Borneo. The city lies on the banks of the Mahakam River with a land area of . Samarinda ranks first on East Kalimantan Human dev ...

. It took about two days and one night to travel from Tabang to Tenggarong using river transportation. The local Dayak tribe is known for wood sculptures and other handicrafts. Along the river there are many ports to transport coals from the mines in Kutai Kartanegara for export. Due to sedimentation, the Belayan River needs to be dredged regularly, so that it flows steadily to the downstream and doesn't cause much flooding.Sungai Belayan akan Dikeruk
Koran Kaltim. 8 August 2017.

Ecology

The Belayan River is a

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

of Mahakam or Irrawaddy dolphin (''Orcaella brevirostris''), one of the river animals in the

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...

Red List of Threatened Species The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biologi ...

, and also of little egret (''Egretta garzetta''). Sungai Belayan, Anak Sungai Mahakam Dalam Bingkai Imaji
Yunaidi Joepoet. Ransel Kosong. Oktober 2013.

Hydrology

Geography

Uses

Ecology

See also

References

Further reading