Sampit is a large town located in
East Kotawaringin Regency,
Central Kalimantan
Central Kalimantan () is a provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia. It is one of five provinces in Kalimantan, the Indonesian part of Borneo. It is the largest province in Indonesia by area since 2022, bordered by West Kalimantan to the west ...
. Previously a timber port town, it has grown to be a medium-sized community with a population of 166,773 according to
Statistics Indonesia
Statistics Indonesia (), 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 available to the public. Annual surveys c ...
in 2019, with the economy having since divested from timber products. However, the town is not an
autonomous city
An autonomous city is a type of autonomous administrative division. The most prominent example of this is in Argentina, a federal country with 23 provinces and an autonomous city, officially called the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires. In recent y ...
and not an administrative division by despite having a sizeable population and urban built-up. It consists of 11 urban subdistricts (''kelurahan'') from Baamang District, Seranau District, and Mentawa Baru Ketapang District. The total area of the town is 751.45 square kilometres.
Etymology
The origin of the town's name is disputed. The name is thought to be derived from Chinese. 31 Chinese laborers worked for a plantation in the area during the colonial era, with "sam-it" roughly meaning 31.
History
Early history
The region was previously thought to be under a tribal kingdom founded by Dayak Ot Danum people between the 13th and 14th century although the existence of the kingdom is disputed. The region became part of the
Sultanate of Banjar in the early 16th century. The region was ceded to the Dutch East Indies by Sultan Adam of Banjar on 4 May 1826.
Modern history
During World War II, Sampit came under control of the Imperial Japanese Navy together with
Banjarmasin. The
Proclamation of Indonesian Independence
The Proclamation of Indonesian Independence (, or simply ''Proklamasi'') was read at 10:00 Tokyo Standard Time on Friday 17 August 1945 in Jakarta. The declaration marked the start of the diplomatic and armed resistance of the Indonesian Nati ...
was made by Indonesian nationalist in the town through radio and a Japanese newspaper ''Borneo Shimbun'' between September & October 1945. Unlike most of cities in Kalimantan which have been liberated by Allied forces of Australia, Sampit remained under Japanese control until 1946. Conflict between Indonesian nationalist and newly arrived Dutch troops continued until 1949.
Sampit became known worldwide following inter-ethnic violent communal clashes between the
Dayaks
The Dayak (; Van Ophuijsen Spelling System, older spelling: Dajak) or Dyak or Dayuh are the Indigenous groups, native groups of Borneo. It is a loose term for over 200 riverine and hill-dwelling ethnic groups, located principally in the central ...
and the
Madurese migrants during the
Sampit conflict which broke out on 17 February 2001 and lasted for 10 days.
There are a number of stories purportedly describing the incident that sparked the violence in 2001. One version claims that it was caused by an
arson
Arson is the act of willfully and deliberately setting fire to or charring property. Although the act of arson typically involves buildings, the term can also refer to the intentional burning of other things, such as motor vehicles, watercr ...
attack on a Dayak house. Rumours spread that the fire was caused by Madurese, and later a group of Dayaks began burning houses in a Madurese neighbourhood.
Another version says that the massacre was triggered by an earlier incident in December 2000 when a Dayak man was killed by three Madurese.
The clash was also thought to be triggered by perceived threat of Madurese economically dominating Dayaks, although this is not proven. The conflict has been described by
Inside Indonesia as an "ethnic fascism". Central and local government did little to stop the violence and some of the army generals and politicians of Dayak descent decided to use the violence to gain power.
Climate
Sampit has a
tropical rainforest climate
A tropical rainforest 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 southeast Florida, United States ...
(Af) with heavy rainfall year-round.
Infrastructure
Transportation
The town has a total of 474 kilometres of road, which mostly have been paved with asphalt. However, due to lack of enforcement of trucks weight moving on the road, around 18% of the roads are considered lightly to moderately damaged.
River transportation is an important part of the town's life, both intra-urban and to other cities such as Banjarmasin. Port of Sampit in Mentaya is used for both container and passenger. However, due to the river's relatively shallow depth, loading container in the port is dangerous and often caused the crane to damage parks, statues, and buildings around the port. Importance of the port for container and movement of goods have been reduced and now mostly used for passenger transportation only.
Angkots, while they have a presence in the town, has been in sharp decline due to competition with ride-hailing online app services such as
Gojek
PT Gojek Indonesia (stylized in all lower case and stylized ''j'' as goČ·ek, formerly styled as GO-JEK) is an Indonesian on-demand multi-service platform and digital payment technology group based in Jakarta. Gojek was first established in Ind ...
and
Grab. In addition, there's also a local online ride-hailing application exclusive to Sampit named ''Pas-Jek.'' Other alternatives include
bemo and
rickshaw.
The city is served by
H. Asan Airport.
Health and education
The town's main hospital, Dr. Murjani Sampit Regional Hospital is located in Mentawa Baru Hilir which on 2018 undergo a major expansion. A new four-storey building for the hospital was inaugurated in January 2021. There is one university in the town, Darwan Ali University, which is a private university. Several other higher education institutions such as Sampit Economy College and Teaching and Education College of Muhammadiyah also present in the town.
Others
Convenience store chains such as
Indomaret
PT Indomarco Prismatama, doing business as Indomaret, is an Indonesian chain of retail convenience stores with over 21,900 locations in 32 provinces across the nation. The chain, owned by Indoritel and headquartered in Jakarta, is the first and ...
have presence in the town. Other than that, there are also shopping malls in Sampit such as Borneo City Mall and Mentaya Shopping Center.
References
{{Reflist, 2
Populated places in Central Kalimantan
Regency seats of Central Kalimantan
East Kotawaringin Regency