Central Kalimantan ( id, Kalimantan Tengah) is a

province of Indonesia A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman '' provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions out ...

. It is one of five provinces in Kalimantan, the Indonesian part 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 ea ...

. Its provincial capital is

Palangka Raya Palangka Raya is the capital and largest city of the Indonesian province of Central Kalimantan. The city is situated between the Kahayan and the Sabangau rivers on the island of Borneo. As of the 2020 census, the city has a population of 293,50 ...

and in 2010 its population was over 2.2 million, while the 2015 Intermediate Census showed a rise to 2.49 million and the 2020 Census showed a total of 2.67 million. The population growth rate was almost 3.0% per annum between 1990 and 2000, one of the highest provincial growth rates in Indonesia during that time; in the subsequent decade to 2010 the average annual growth rate slowed markedly to around 1.8%, but it rose again in the decade beginning 2010. More than is the case in other province in the region, Central Kalimantan is populated by the

Dayaks The Dayak (; older spelling: Dajak) or Dyak or Dayuh are one of the native groups of Borneo. It is a loose term for over 200 riverine and hill-dwelling ethnic groups, located principally in the central and southern interior of Borneo, each w ...

, the indigenous inhabitants of Borneo.

History

Since the eighteenth century the central region of Kalimantan and its Dayak inhabitants were ruled by the Muslim

Sultanate of Banjar Sultanate of Banjar or Sultanate of Banjarmasin ( Banjar: كسلطانن بنجر, Kasultanan Banjar) was a sultanate located in what is today the South Kalimantan Province of Indonesia. For most of its history, its capital was at Banjarmasi ...

. Following Indonesian independence after World War II, Dayak tribes demanded a province separate from South Kalimantan province. In 1957 South Kalimantan was divided to provide the Dayak population with greater autonomy from the Muslim population in the province. The change was approved by the Indonesian Government on 23 May 1957 under Presidential Law No. 10 Year 1957, which declared Central Kalimantan the seventeenth province of Indonesia. President Sukarno appointed the Dayak-born national hero Tjilik Riwut as the first Governor and

Palangkaraya Palangka Raya is the capital and largest city of the Indonesian province of Central Kalimantan. The city is situated between the Kahayan and the Sabangau rivers on the island of Borneo. As of the 2020 census, the city has a population of 293,50 ...

the provincial capital.

Geography

Central Kalimantan is the largest Indonesian province by area with a size of , about 1.5 times the size of the island of

Java Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's mos ...

. It is bordered by

West Kalimantan West Kalimantan ( id, Kalimantan Barat) is a province of Indonesia. It is one of five Indonesian provinces comprising Kalimantan, the Indonesian part of the island of Borneo. Its capital city is Pontianak. The province has an area of 147,307&nbs ...

and

East Kalimantan East Kalimantan ( Indonesian: ) is a province of Indonesia. Its territory comprises the eastern portion of Borneo. It had a population of about 3.03 million at the 2010 census (within the current boundary), 3.42 million at the 2015 census, and 3 ...

provinces to the north, by the Java Sea to the south, by South Kalimantan and East Kalimantan provinces to the east, and by West Kalimantan province to west. The Schwaner Mountains stretch from the north-east of the province to the south-west, 80% of which is covered in dense forest, peatland swamps,

mangrove A mangrove is a shrub or tree that grows in coastal saline or brackish water. The term is also used for tropical coastal vegetation consisting of such species. Mangroves are taxonomically diverse, as a result of convergent evolution in severa ...

s, rivers and traditional agriculture land. Highland areas in the north-east are remote and not easily accessible. Non-volcanic mounts are scattered in this area including Kengkabang, Samiajang, Liang Pahang and Ulu Gedang. The centre of the province is covered with tropical forest, which produces

rattan Rattan, also spelled ratan, is the name for roughly 600 species of Old World climbing palms belonging to subfamily Calamoideae. The greatest diversity of rattan palm species and genera are in the closed- canopy old-growth tropical fores ...

resin In polymer chemistry and materials science, resin is a solid or highly viscous substance of plant or synthetic origin that is typically convertible into polymers. Resins are usually mixtures of organic compounds. This article focuses on n ...

and valuable timber such as

Ulin ''Eusideroxylon zwageri'' is a rare timber tree native to the Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia and Philippines region. It is known colloquially in English as Bornean ironwood, billian, or ulin. Distribution It is native to Brunei; Flores, Java, Kali ...

and Meranti. The southern lowlands are dominated by peatland swamps that intersect with many rivers.

Sabangau National Park Sabangau National Park (sometimes spelled Sebangau) is a national park in Central Kalimantan, a province of Indonesia in Kalimantan, the Indonesian part of the island of Borneo established in 2004. Between 1980 and 1995 the site was a massive ...

is a protected peatland area internationally acknowledged as sanctuary for the endangered

Orangutan Orangutans are great apes native to the rainforests of Indonesia and Malaysia. They are now found only in parts of Borneo and Sumatra, but during the Pleistocene they ranged throughout Southeast Asia and South China. Classified in the genu ...

. Recently the peat swamp forests have been damaged by the

Mega Rice Project The Mega Rice Project was initiated in 1996 in the southern sections of Kalimantan, the Indonesian section of Borneo. The goal was to turn one million hectares of unproductive and sparsely populated peat swamp forest into rice paddies in an effo ...

, which unsuccessfully sought to turn large areas into

rice paddies A paddy field is a flooded field of arable land used for growing semiaquatic crops, most notably rice and taro. It originates from the Neolithic rice-farming cultures of the Yangtze River basin in southern China, associated with pre-Au ...

. The province's climate is wet weather equatorial zone with an eight-month rainy season, and 4 months of dry season. Rainfall or precipitation is 2,776—3,393 mm per year with an average of 145 rainy days annually.

Rivers

Central Kalimantan has numerous rivers from the catchment areas to the north in the Schwaner Mountains, flowing to the Java Sea. The major rivers include: *

Barito River The Barito River is the second longest river in Borneo after the Kapuas River with a total length of and with a drainage basin of in South Kalimantan, Indonesia. It originates in the Muller Mountain Range, from where it flows southward in ...

(900 km) *

Kapuas River The Kapuas River (or Kapoeas River) is a river in the Indonesian part of Borneo island, at the geographic center of Maritime Southeast Asia. At in length, it is the longest river in the island of Borneo and the longest river of IndonesiaMacK ...

(600 km) *

Kahayan River The Kahayan river, or Great Dayak River, is the second largest river after Barito River in Central Kalimantan, a province of Indonesia in Kalimantan – the Indonesian part of the island of Borneo. With a total length of and with a drainage bas ...

(600 km) * Katingan River (600 km) * Mentaya (Sampit) River (400 km) * Seruyan River (350 km) *

Lamandau River Lamandau River ( id, Sungai Lamandau) is a river of Kalimantan, southern-central Borneo, Indonesia. Downstream after passing the village of Nanga Bulik it becomes the Kotawaringin River. The ancient town of Kotawaringin is located in the valley ...

(300 km) *

Arut River Arut River is a river in the province of Kalimantan Tengah, island of Borneo, Indonesia, about 700 km northeast of the capital Jakarta.

(250 km) * Sabangau River (200 km) * Kumai River (179 km) *

Jelai River The Jelai River ( ms, Sungai Jelai) is a 97.14 km long river in Pahang, Malaysia. See also * List of rivers of Malaysia This is an incomplete list of rivers that are at least partially in Malaysia. The rivers are grouped by strait or sea ...

(100 km) Rivers are an important mode of

transportation Transport (in British English), or transportation (in American English), is the intentional movement of humans, animals, and goods from one location to another. Modes of transport include air, land (rail and road), water, cable, pipeline, ...

and a primary location for settlement. With relatively undeveloped infrastructure, the province's economy relies heavily on the rivers.

Administrative divisions

Central Kalimantan is administratively divided into thirteen regencies (''kabupaten'') - each headed by a regent - and one city (''kotamadya''), the latter being

(the provincial capital). These are as follows: In addition to the civil service, Central Kalimantan also recognises a traditional governing system led by traditional leaders known as ''Demang''. The province is divided into 67 traditional law areas known as ''Kademangan'', headed by ''Demang''. The system is intended to culturally recognise and preserve the customs and heritage of the Dayak tribes.

Railroads

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

n company had been contracted to build railroads from Central Kalimantan to

for coal transportation, with an estimated cost of US$2.4 billion, that was expected to start in 2013 and be completed by 2017.

Demographics

Religion

Ethnic groups

The three major Dayak tribes in Central Kalimantan are the Ngaju, Ot Danum and Dusun Ma'anyan Ot Siang. The three major tribes extended into several branches of prominent Dayak tribes in Central Kalimantan such as Lawangan, Taboyan, Dusun Siang, Boyan, Bantian, Dohoi and Kadori. In addition to the indigenous Dayak tribes, there are also ethnic groups from other areas of Indonesia, including Malays, Javanese, Madurese, Batak,

Toraja The Torajans are an ethnic group indigenous people, indigenous to a mountainous region of South Sulawesi, Indonesia. Their population is approximately 1,100,000, of whom 450,000 live in the List of regencies and cities of Indonesia, regency of ...

, Ambonese,

Bugis The Bugis people (pronounced ), also known as Buginese, are an ethnicity—the most numerous of the three major linguistic and ethnic groups of South Sulawesi (the others being Makassar and Toraja), in the south-western province of Sulawe ...

, Palembang, Minang, Banjarese, Makassar, Papuan, Balinese, Acehnese and also

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...

References

External links

* * Official statistics for the province provided by

Statistics Indonesia Statistics Indonesia ( id, Badan Pusat Statistik, BPS, ), is a non-departmental government institute of Indonesia that is responsible for conducting statistical surveys. Its main customer is the government, but statistical data is also availabl ...

may be accessed (in Indonesian) a
BPS-Statistics of Kalimantan Tengah Province
{{Authority control . Provinces of Indonesia States and territories established in 1957 1957 establishments in Indonesia