Kalimantan

Indonesian part of the island of Borneo

Kalimantan is the Indonesian part of the island of Borneo. It's 73% of the island's area being 539,237.77 square kilometers (208,201 sq mi) and has about 72.1% of the population, which was around 23 million in 2020. The rest of Borneo belongs to Brunei and East Malaysia. In Indonesia, "Kalimantan" means the whole island of Borneo. The Indonesian Kalimantan is divided into five provinces. It used to be one province until 1956 when it split into three – East Kalimantan, South Kalimantan, and West Kalimantan. In 1957, Central Kalimantan became its own province. Then, on October 25, 2012, North Kalimantan separated from East Kalimantan, making it five provinces.[1]

Kalimantan shown in red on the Borneo Island.

In 2019, Indonesia's President Joko Widodo suggested moving the capital to Kalimantan, and in January 2022, the Indonesian government agreed to the idea. The move is expected to take around 10 years.[2]

Demographics

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Kalimantan is a big place, covering 539,237.77 square kilometers. The three main groups of people there are the Banjarese, Dayak, and Javanese, making up 26.31%, 21.78%, and 18.18% of the population. Most people follow Sunni Islam (87%), but there's also a significant Christian population (10%).

Historical population
YearPop.±%
1971 5,154,774—    
1980 6,723,086+30.4%
1990 9,099,874+35.4%
1995 10,470,843+15.1%
2000 11,331,558+8.2%
2005 12,541,554+10.7%
2010 14,297,069+14.0%
2015 15,320,017+7.2%
2020 16,625,796+8.5%
Sources: Statistics Indonesia[3]

References

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  1. "Kalimantan". Britannica. Retrieved 2023-11-24.
  2. Vérité, Clément (2022-01-18). "Nusantara will replace Jakarta as the new capital of Indonesia". Newsendip. World news you missed. Retrieved 2023-11-24.
  3. "Penduduk Indonesia menurut Provinsi 1971, 1980, 1990, 1995, 2000 dan 2010". Archived from the original on 2013-07-01. Retrieved 2013-07-17.