Sampit

Sampit is a large town in the East Kotawaringin Regency of Central Kalimantan Province in Indonesia. It is located near the Sampit River and used to be a place where timber was loaded onto ships. Over time, Sampit has grown into a community of about 166,773 people, as counted by Statistics Indonesia in 2019.

Today, Sampit is not just a place for timber anymore. Its economy has changed, and it has become a medium-sized town with homes, schools, and shops. Even though it has many people and buildings, it is not considered an autonomous city on its own.

The town covers a large area of 651.32 square kilometres and, by mid-2024, the number of people living there had grown to about 171,624. It includes eleven urban villages and two rural villages spread across several districts.

Etymology

The town of Sampit has a name with many ideas about where it comes from. Some believe the name comes from a Chinese word. Long ago, 31 Chinese workers lived there, and their word for the number 31 was “sam-it.” Another idea is that an explorer named Daniel Beekman wrote about a tool called a sumpit used by people living inside Borneo, and that name changed over time to become Sampit.

History

Early history

The area around Sampit was once thought to belong to an old tribal kingdom led by the Ot Danum people from the 1300s to the 1400s, although this is not certain. Later, it became part of the Sultanate of Banjar in the early 1500s. In 1826, the ruler of Banjar gave the region to the Dutch.

Modern history

See also: Kalimantan Physical Revolution and Sampit conflict

During World War II, Sampit was controlled by the Imperial Japanese Navy along with Banjarmasin. Indonesian leaders announced their country's independence in Sampit through radio and a Japanese newspaper called Borneo Shimbun between September and October 1945. Unlike many other cities in Kalimantan, which were freed by Australian forces, Sampit stayed under Japanese control until 1946. Fighting between Indonesian leaders and Dutch soldiers who arrived continued until 1949.

In February 2001, serious fights broke out between local Dayaks and people from Madura. These fights lasted for ten days and caused a lot of trouble. Some believe it started when a fire damaged a Dayak house, and others think it began after a Dayak man was hurt by three people from Madura earlier in 2000. The government did not do much to stop the fighting, and some leaders used the situation to try to gain more power.

Climate

Sampit has a tropical rainforest climate with lots of rain all year long.

Infrastructure

Sampit has many roads for cars and trucks, but some are in need of repair. The river is very important for travel, with a port used mostly for passengers now. There are also ride services like Gojek and Grab, as well as other local transport options.

The town has a main hospital that was expanded recently, and there is one university along with a few other schools. You can find convenience stores like Indomaret and shopping malls such as Borneo City Mall and Mentaya Shopping Center.