Borneo

Main article: Borneo

Further information: Geography of Borneo, History of Borneo, Ecology of Borneo

Location and Geography

Borneo is the third-largest island in the world. It covers an area of 748,168 km². The island sits at the centre of Maritime Southeast Asia. It is north of Java, west of Sulawesi, and east of Sumatra. The island is crossed by the equator, which splits it roughly in half. In Indonesia, the island is called Kalimantan.

Biodiversity and Ecosystems

Borneo is very rich in wildlife. It has seven unique ecoregions and large areas of some of the oldest tropical rainforests in the world. Many rare animals and plants live there.

People and Cultures

Borneo is home to hundreds of different Indigenous groups. These groups have many cultures and languages. Many are loosely grouped under the name "Dayak".

History

Borneo has been an important place for trade for a long time. Later, it was part of the Majapahit Empire. It was also ruled by the Sultanate of Sulu and the Sultanate of Brunei.

Modern Borneo

Today, Borneo is shared by three countries. These are the small country of Brunei, part of Indonesia, and the East Malaysian states of Sabah and Sarawak. People on Borneo work in many jobs. These include oil and gas, agriculture, timber, and tourism.

Etymology

The island of Borneo has many names from different cultures. In the 1300s, a book from Java called Nagarakretagama called it Nusa Tanjungnagara, meaning "island of the Tanjungpura Kingdom".

When Portuguese explorers came in the 1500s, the people called their island Pulu K'lemantang. This later became the name Kalimantan, used today in Indonesia. Some think this name comes from a special type of mango. Others believe it means "burning weather" because the island is hot.

The name Borneo began when Europeans met the Brunei kingdom in the 1500s. Early maps named the island Borneo, maybe from an old Sanskrit word for "water" or linked to a rain god. Chinese records from the 900s called the island Bo-ni, and today in Chinese it is 婆羅洲.

Geography

See also: Geological history of Borneo

Borneo was formed a long time ago from pieces of land joining together. It is in Maritime Southeast Asia, surrounded by seas and islands. The equator runs almost through the middle of it, and it is the third-largest island in the world.

The island has many rivers. The Kapuas River is the longest. It also has some of the oldest rainforests in the world, with many special plants and animals. But these forests are sometimes damaged by people, like when trees are cut down for wood or farms.

History

Early history

Archaeological evidence from Samang Buat Cave in Lahad Datu, Sabah, shows that humans lived there as early as 46,000 years ago. This makes it an important place in Southeast Asian history. Tools found in Mansuli Valley in the same area are even older, dating back 235,000 years.

In Tingkayu Valley, Kunak, Sabah, old tools were found, showing people lived there between 28,000 and 30,000 years ago. In Niah Cave, Sarawak, signs of humans go back about 40,000 years. Scientists found very old tools and remains there.

In November 2018, scientists found one of the oldest known paintings, more than 40,000 years old, in the cave of Lubang Jeriji Saléh on Borneo. It shows an unknown animal.

Ancient manuscripts from China, India, and Japan mention that by the first millennium AD, western Borneo had become busy trading ports. Traders brought valuable items like gold, camphor, tortoise shells, hornbill ivory, rhinoceros horn, crane crest, beeswax, and spices.

Stone pillars with writing from the Pallava script found in Kutai along the Mahakam River in East Kalimantan show that Hindu ideas reached Southeast Asia early on. By the 14th century, Borneo became part of Majapahit. Islam arrived in the 10th century, brought by traders who later converted many coastal people.

The Sultanate of Brunei became independent from Majapahit in the mid-14th century. During its golden age from the 15th to the 17th century, it ruled much of coastal Borneo and nearby islands. In 1457, the Sultanate of Sulu was founded. Both sultanates traded often with China.

British and Dutch control

Main articles: British Borneo and Dutch East Indies

After the fall of Malacca in 1511, Portuguese traders visited Borneo, especially Brunei. The Spanish tried to control Brunei’s areas in the Philippines, leading to the Castilian War in 1578. The British began trading with Sambas in southern Borneo in 1609, and the Dutch started in 1644.

The Dutch set up places in southern Borneo in 1815. In 1842, the Sultanate of Brunei gave land in Sarawak to British adventurer James Brooke, who became its leader. He and his family ruled Sarawak for 100 years, known as the White Rajahs. Brooke also got the island of Labuan for Great Britain in 1846.

Before the British took over, Americans tried to set up a colony called “Ellena” in northwestern Borneo but failed. The Germans also got land in northeastern Borneo.

In 1888, northern Borneo became a British protectorate, and southern Borneo became Dutch. The British and Dutch agreed on their borders in 1891.

In the late 1800s, oil was discovered in east Borneo, leading to the growth of oil fields and refineries.

World War II

See also: Japanese occupation of British Borneo and Japanese occupation of the Dutch East Indies

During World War II, Japanese forces took control of Borneo from 1941 to 1945. Many people moved to the interior to escape and find food. Some people in Borneo resisted the Japanese.

After Japan’s surrender, Indonesia declared independence, but the Dutch tried to take back control.

Recent history

In 1961, Tunku Abdul Rahman of Federation of Malaya wanted to create a larger country called the Federation of Malaysia, including Sarawak, North Borneo, Singapore, and Brunei. Indonesia and the Philippines opposed this.

In 2019, the president of Indonesia announced plans to move the country’s capital from Jakarta to a new location in East Kalimantan on Borneo.

Demographics

The people who live on Borneo are called Borneans. In 2020, about 23 million people lived on the island. Most of them live in cities along the coast. There are also small towns and villages deeper inside the island, near the rivers.

Borneo is home to many different groups of people with their own languages and traditions. One group is called the Dayak, which includes people like the Iban, Bidayuh, Kayan, Kenyah, and Ngaju. Historically, many of these people lived together in special houses called longhouses and worked the land in a way that let them move to new spots when needed.

Administration

Borneo is divided among three countries. A small part belongs to the sultanate of Brunei, including an area named Temburong. Another part is in Indonesia and is split into several provinces like East, South, West, North, and Central Kalimantan. The last part is in Malaysia, in the states of Sabah and Sarawak, plus a small group of islands called the Federal Territory of Labuan.

Economy

Borneo's economy is based on farming, cutting down trees for wood, and mining. It also relies on oil and gas, as well as tourism that focuses on nature and wildlife. Brunei makes a lot of money from oil and gas. In Malaysia, the areas of Sabah and Sarawak export a lot of wood. Sabah is also famous for growing rubber, cacao, and vegetables, and for fishing. Both Sabah and Sarawak, along with a place called Labuan, sell liquefied natural gas and petroleum. In Indonesia, the areas known as Kalimantan mainly work in mining, but they are also involved in cutting trees and looking for oil and gas.

Further information: List of Indonesian provinces by GDP, List of Indonesian provinces by GRP per capita, and List of Malaysian states by GDP

Human Development Index by territory

Further information: List of Indonesian provinces by Human Development Index and List of Malaysian states by Human Development Index

HDI is a way to see how well people are living. It looks at things like how long people live, their health, their schooling, and their money. This helps us know how good life is in different places.