Borneo
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Borneo () is the third-largest island in the world, with an area of , and population of 23,053,723 (2020 national censuses). Situated at the geographic centre of
Maritime Southeast Asia Maritime Southeast Asia comprises the Southeast Asian countries of Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and East Timor. The terms Island Southeast Asia and Insular Southeast Asia are sometimes given the same meaning as ...
, it is one of the
Greater Sunda Islands The Greater Sunda Islands (Indonesian language, Indonesian and Malay language, Malay: ''Kepulauan Sunda Besar'') are four tropical islands situated within the Indonesian Archipelago, in the Pacific Ocean. The islands, Borneo, Java, Sulawesi and S ...
, located north of
Java Java is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea (a part of Pacific Ocean) to the north. With a population of 156.9 million people (including Madura) in mid 2024, proje ...
, west of
Sulawesi Sulawesi ( ), also known as Celebes ( ), is an island in Indonesia. One of the four Greater Sunda Islands, and the List of islands by area, world's 11th-largest island, it is situated east of Borneo, west of the Maluku Islands, and south of Min ...
, and east of
Sumatra Sumatra () is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the list of islands by area, sixth-largest island in the world at 482,286.55 km2 (182,812 mi. ...
. The island is crossed by the
equator The equator is the circle of latitude that divides Earth into the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Southern Hemisphere, Southern Hemispheres of Earth, hemispheres. It is an imaginary line located at 0 degrees latitude, about in circumferen ...
, which divides it roughly in half. The island is politically divided among three states. The sovereign state of
Brunei Brunei, officially Brunei Darussalam, is a country in Southeast Asia, situated on the northern coast of the island of Borneo. Apart from its coastline on the South China Sea, it is completely surrounded by the Malaysian state of Sarawak, with ...
in the north makes up 1% of the territory. Approximately 73% of Borneo is Indonesian territory, and in the north, the
East Malaysia East Malaysia (), or the Borneo States, also known as Malaysian Borneo, is the part of Malaysia on and near the island of Borneo, the world's third-largest island. East Malaysia comprises the states of Sabah, Sarawak, and the Federal Territory ...
n states of
Sabah Sabah () is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia located in northern Borneo, in the region of East Malaysia. Sabah has land borders with the Malaysian state of Sarawak to the southwest and Indonesia's North Kalima ...
and
Sarawak Sarawak ( , ) is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia. It is the largest among the 13 states, with an area almost equal to that of Peninsular Malaysia. Sarawak is located in East Malaysia in northwest Borneo, and is ...
make up about 26% of the island. The Malaysian federal territory of
Labuan Labuan (), officially the Federal Territory of Labuan (), is an island federal territory of Malaysia. It includes and six smaller islands off the coast of the state of Sabah in East Malaysia. Labuan's capital is Victoria, which is best kno ...
is situated on a small island just off the coast of Borneo.


Etymology

When the sixteenth-century
Portuguese explorer Portuguese maritime explorations resulted in numerous territories and maritime routes recorded by the Portuguese on journeys during the 15th and 16th centuries. Portuguese sailors were at the vanguard of European exploration, chronicling and mapp ...
Jorge de Menezes Jorge de Menezes (also spelt Meneses) (c. 1498 – 1537) was a Portuguese explorer. Due to a monsoon, he was forced to reside in Versya, posited by Pieter Anton Tiele as Waisai, between 1526 and 1527. Menezes called the region ''Ilhas dos Papuas' ...
made contact with the indigenous people of Borneo, they referred to their island as ''Pulu K'lemantang'', which became the name for modern-day Indonesian Borneo. The term ''kelamantan'' is used in Sarawak to refer to a group of people who consume
sago Sago () is a starch extracted from the pith, or spongy core tissue, of various tropical palm stems, especially those of ''Metroxylon sagu''. It is a major staple food for the lowland peoples of New Guinea and the Maluku Islands, where it is c ...
in the northern part of the island. According to Crowfurd, the word ''kelamantan'' is the name of a type of mango (''
Mangifera ''Mangifera'' is a genus of flowering plants in the cashew family, Anacardiaceae. It contains 64 species, with the best-known being the common mango ('' Mangifera indica''). The center of diversity of the genus is in the Malesian ecoregion of S ...
''), though he adds that the word is fanciful and unpopular. The local mango, called ''klemantan'', is still widely found in rural
Ketapang Ketapang, or ''Tau-pang'' in Teochew, is the administrative capital of Ketapang Regency (''Kabupaten Ketapang''), one of the regencies of West Kalimantan province on the island of Borneo in Indonesia. Ketapang town is located at and is a tow ...
and surrounding areas of West Kalimantan. Internationally it is known as Borneo, a name derived from European contact with the Brunei kingdom in the 16th century, during the
Age of Exploration The Age of Discovery (), also known as the Age of Exploration, was part of the early modern period and overlapped with the Age of Sail. It was a period from approximately the 15th to the 17th century, during which Seamanship, seafarers fro ...
. On a map from around 1601, Brunei city is referred to as Borneo, and the whole island is also labelled Borneo. The name may derive from the
Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...
word ' (), meaning either "water" or
Varuna Varuna (; , ) is a Hindu god. He is one of the earliest deities in pantheon, whose role underwent a significant transformation from the Vedic to the Puranic periods. In the early Vedic era, Varuna is seen as the god-sovereign, ruling the sky ...
, the Hindu god of rain. Another source states that it derives from the Sanskrit word ''kalamanthana'', meaning "burning weather", possibly to describe the island's hot and humid tropical weather. In the Indianized Malay era the name ''Kalamanthana'' was derived from the Sanskrit terms '' kala'' (time or season) and ''manthana'' (churning, kindling, or creating fire by friction), which possibly describes the hot weather. In 977 Chinese records began to use the term ''Bo-ni'' to refer to Borneo. In 1225 it was also mentioned by the Chinese official
Chau Ju-Kua Zhao Rukuo ( zh, t=趙汝适, s=赵汝适, p=Zhào Rǔkuò; 1170–1231), also romanised as Zhao Rugua, Chau Ju-kua, or misread as Zhao Rushi, was a Chinese government official and writer during the Song dynasty. He wrote a two-volume book titled ' ...
(趙汝适). The Javanese manuscript ''
Nagarakretagama The ''Nagarakretagama'' or ''Nagarakṛtāgama'', also known in Bali as ''Desawarnana'' or ''Deśavarṇana'', is an Old Javanese eulogy to Hayam Wuruk, a Javanese king of the Majapahit Empire. It was written on lontar as a ''kakawin'' by ...
'', written by
Majapahit Majapahit (; (eastern and central dialect) or (western dialect)), also known as Wilwatikta (; ), was a Javanese people, Javanese Hinduism, Hindu-Buddhism, Buddhist thalassocracy, thalassocratic empire in Southeast Asia based on the island o ...
court poet
Mpu Prapanca Mpu Prapanca wrote the '' Nagarakretagama'', written in Old Javanese, which tells the story of the Majapahit Empire and other stories of ancient Hindu- Javanese kingdoms. The Buddhist Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavi ...
in 1365, mentions the island as ''Nusa Tanjungnagara'', which means the "island of the
Tanjungpura Kingdom Tanjungpura Kingdom or Tanjompura was the name of an ancient 8th century kingdom that was located along the southwestern coast of Borneo Island, Borneo facing the Java Sea, a region that today corresponds to the Ketapang Regency of West Kalimantan ...
".


Geography


Geology

Borneo was formed through
Mesozoic The Mesozoic Era is the Era (geology), era of Earth's Geologic time scale, geological history, lasting from about , comprising the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous Period (geology), Periods. It is characterized by the dominance of archosaurian r ...
accretion of microcontinental fragments,
ophiolite An ophiolite is a section of Earth's oceanic crust and the underlying upper mantle (Earth), upper mantle that has been uplifted and exposed, and often emplaced onto continental crustal rocks. The Greek word ὄφις, ''ophis'' (''snake'') is ...
terranes and
island arc Island arcs are long archipelago, chains of active volcanoes with intense earthquake, seismic activity found along convergent boundary, convergent plate tectonics, tectonic plate boundaries. Most island arcs originate on oceanic crust and have re ...
crust onto a
Paleozoic The Paleozoic ( , , ; or Palaeozoic) Era is the first of three Era (geology), geological eras of the Phanerozoic Eon. Beginning 538.8 million years ago (Ma), it succeeds the Neoproterozoic (the last era of the Proterozoic Eon) and ends 251.9 Ma a ...
continental core. At the beginning of the
Cenozoic The Cenozoic Era ( ; ) is Earth's current geological era, representing the last 66million years of Earth's history. It is characterized by the dominance of mammals, insects, birds and angiosperms (flowering plants). It is the latest of three g ...
, Borneo formed a
promontory A promontory is a raised mass of land that projects into a lowland or a body of water (in which case it is a peninsula). Most promontories either are formed from a hard ridge of rock that has resisted the erosive forces that have removed the s ...
of
Sundaland Sundaland (also called Sundaica or the Sundaic region) is a biogeographical region of Southeast Asia corresponding to a larger landmass that was exposed throughout the last 2.6 million years during periods when sea levels were lower. It inc ...
which partly separated from Asian mainland by the proto-South China Sea. The oceanic part of the proto-South China Sea was
subducted Subduction is a geological process in which the oceanic lithosphere and some continental lithosphere is recycled into the Earth's mantle at the convergent boundaries between tectonic plates. Where one tectonic plate converges with a second plat ...
during the
Paleogene The Paleogene Period ( ; also spelled Palaeogene or Palæogene) is a geologic period and system that spans 43 million years from the end of the Cretaceous Period Ma (million years ago) to the beginning of the Neogene Period Ma. It is the fir ...
period and a large
accretionary complex An accretionary wedge or accretionary prism forms from sediments Accretion (geology), accreted onto the non-Subduction, subducting tectonic plate at a Convergent boundary, convergent plate boundary. Most of the material in the accretionary wedge ...
formed along the northwestern of the island of Borneo. In the
early Miocene The Early Miocene (also known as Lower Miocene) is a sub-epoch of the Miocene epoch (geology), Epoch made up of two faunal stage, stages: the Aquitanian age, Aquitanian and Burdigalian stages. The sub-epoch lasted from 23.03 ± 0.05 annum, Ma to ...
uplift of the accretionary complex occurred as a result of underthrusting of thinned continental crust in northwest. The uplift may have also resulted from shortening due to the counter-clockwise rotation of Borneo between 20 and 10
mega-annum A year is a unit of time based on how long it takes the Earth to orbit the Sun. In scientific use, the tropical year (approximately 365 solar days, 5 hours, 48 minutes, 45 seconds) and the sidereal year (about 20 minutes longer) are more exa ...
(Ma) as a consequence of Australia–Southeast Asia collision. Large volumes of
sediment Sediment is a solid material that is transported to a new location where it is deposited. It occurs naturally and, through the processes of weathering and erosion, is broken down and subsequently sediment transport, transported by the action of ...
were shed into basins, which scattered offshore to the west, north and east of Borneo as well into a
Neogene The Neogene ( ,) is a geologic period and system that spans 20.45 million years from the end of the Paleogene Period million years ago ( Mya) to the beginning of the present Quaternary Period million years ago. It is the second period of th ...
basin which is currently exposed in large areas of eastern and southern
Sabah Sabah () is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia located in northern Borneo, in the region of East Malaysia. Sabah has land borders with the Malaysian state of Sarawak to the southwest and Indonesia's North Kalima ...
. In southeast Sabah, the
Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first epoch (geology), geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and mea ...
to recent island arc terranes of the
Sulu Archipelago The Sulu Archipelago ( Tausug: Kapū'-pūan sin Sūg Sulat Sūg: , ) is a chain of islands in the Pacific Ocean, in the southwestern Philippines. The archipelago forms the northern limit of the Celebes Sea and southern limit of the Sulu Se ...
extend onshore into Borneo with the older
volcanic arc A volcanic arc (also known as a magmatic arc) is a belt of volcanoes formed above a subducting oceanic tectonic plate, with the belt arranged in an arc shape as seen from above. Volcanic arcs typically parallel an oceanic trench, with the arc ...
was the result of southeast dipping subduction while the younger volcanics are likely resulted from northwest dipping subduction the
Celebes Sea The Celebes Sea ( ; ) or Sulawesi Sea (; ) of the western Pacific Ocean is bordered on the north by the Sulu Archipelago and Sulu Sea and Mindanao Island of the Philippines, on the east by the Sangihe Islands chain, on the south by Sulawes ...
. Before sea levels rose at the end of the last ice age, Borneo was part of the mainland of Asia, forming, with
Java Java is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea (a part of Pacific Ocean) to the north. With a population of 156.9 million people (including Madura) in mid 2024, proje ...
and
Sumatra Sumatra () is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the list of islands by area, sixth-largest island in the world at 482,286.55 km2 (182,812 mi. ...
, the upland regions of a peninsula that extended east from present day
Indochina Mainland Southeast Asia (historically known as Indochina and the Indochinese Peninsula) is the continental portion of Southeast Asia. It lies east of the Indian subcontinent and south of Mainland China and is bordered by the Indian Ocean to th ...
. The
South China Sea The South China Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean. It is bounded in the north by South China, in the west by the Indochinese Peninsula, in the east by the islands of Taiwan island, Taiwan and northwestern Philippines (mainly Luz ...
and
Gulf of Thailand The Gulf of Thailand (), historically known as the Gulf of Siam (), is a shallow inlet adjacent to the southwestern South China Sea, bounded between the southwestern shores of the Indochinese Peninsula and the northern half of the Malay Peninsula. ...
now submerge the former low-lying areas of the peninsula. Deeper waters separating Borneo from neighbouring
Sulawesi Sulawesi ( ), also known as Celebes ( ), is an island in Indonesia. One of the four Greater Sunda Islands, and the List of islands by area, world's 11th-largest island, it is situated east of Borneo, west of the Maluku Islands, and south of Min ...
prevented a land connection to that island, creating the divide known as Wallace's Line between Asian and Australia-
New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; , fossilized , also known as Papua or historically ) is the List of islands by area, world's second-largest island, with an area of . Located in Melanesia in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is ...
biological regions. The island today is surrounded by the
South China Sea The South China Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean. It is bounded in the north by South China, in the west by the Indochinese Peninsula, in the east by the islands of Taiwan island, Taiwan and northwestern Philippines (mainly Luz ...
to the north and northwest, the
Sulu Sea The Sulu Sea (; Tausug: ''Dagat sin Sūg''; ; ) is a body of water in the southwestern area of the Philippines, separated from the South China Sea in the northwest by Palawan and from the Celebes Sea in the southeast by the Sulu Archipela ...
to the northeast, the Celebes Sea and the
Makassar Strait Makassar Strait () is a strait between the islands of Borneo and Sulawesi in Indonesia. To the north it joins the Celebes Sea, while to the south it meets the Java Sea. To the northeast, it forms the Sangkulirang Bay south of the Mangkalihat P ...
to the east, and the
Java Sea The Java Sea (, ) is an extensive shallow sea on the Sunda Shelf, between the Indonesian islands of Borneo to the north, Java to the south, Sumatra to the west, and Sulawesi to the east. Karimata Strait to its northwest links it to the South Ch ...
and
Karimata Strait The Karimata Strait (alternatively, Carimata or Caramata; ) is a wide strait that connects the South China Sea to the Java Sea, separating the Indonesian islands of Belitung to the west and Borneo (Kalimantan) to the east. It is the widest stra ...
to the south. To the west of Borneo are the
Malay Peninsula The Malay Peninsula is located in Mainland Southeast Asia. The landmass runs approximately north–south, and at its terminus, it is the southernmost point of the Asian continental mainland. The area contains Peninsular Malaysia, Southern Tha ...
and Sumatra. To the south and east are islands of Indonesia:
Java Java is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea (a part of Pacific Ocean) to the north. With a population of 156.9 million people (including Madura) in mid 2024, proje ...
and
Sulawesi Sulawesi ( ), also known as Celebes ( ), is an island in Indonesia. One of the four Greater Sunda Islands, and the List of islands by area, world's 11th-largest island, it is situated east of Borneo, west of the Maluku Islands, and south of Min ...
, respectively. To the northeast are the
Philippine Islands The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...
. With an area of , it is the third-largest island in the world, and is the largest island of Asia (the largest continent). Its highest point is
Mount Kinabalu Mount Kinabalu ( Dusun: ''Gayo Ngaran'' or ''Nulu Nabalu'', ) is the highest mountain in Malaysia and Borneo. With a height of , it is the third-highest peak of an island on Earth, the 28th highest peak in Southeast Asia, and 20th most prom ...
in Sabah, Malaysia, with an elevation of . The largest river system is the Kapuas in
West Kalimantan West Kalimantan () is a province of Indonesia. It is one of five Indonesian provinces comprising Kalimantan, the Indonesian part of the island of Borneo. Its capital and largest city is Pontianak. It is bordered by East Kalimantan and Central ...
, with a length of . Other major rivers include the Mahakam in
East Kalimantan East Kalimantan (Indonesian language, Indonesian: ) is a Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia. Its territory comprises the eastern portion of Borneo/Kalimantan. It had a population of about 3.03 million at the 2010 census (within the cu ...
( long), the Barito, Kahayan, and Mendawai in
South Kalimantan South Kalimantan () is a Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia. It is the second most populous province on the island of Kalimantan, the Indonesian territory of the island of Borneo after West Kalimantan. The provincial capital was Banjar ...
(, , and long respectively), Rajang in Sarawak ( long) and
Kinabatangan Kinabatangan () is the capital of the Kinabatangan District in the Sandakan Division of Sabah, Malaysia. Its population was estimated to be around 10,256 in 2010. Kinabatangan is mostly populated with the Orang Sungai The Orang Sungei (Ma ...
in Sabah ( long). Borneo has significant cave systems. In Sarawak, the Clearwater Cave has one of the world's longest underground rivers while
Deer Cave Deer Cave (), located near Miri, Sarawak, Malaysia, is a show cave attraction of Gunung Mulu National Park. It was surveyed in 1961 by G. E. Wilford of the British Borneo Geological Survey, who predicted that Mulu would yield many more caves ...
is home to over three million bats, with
guano Guano (Spanish from ) is the accumulated excrement of seabirds or bats. Guano is a highly effective fertiliser due to the high content of nitrogen, phosphate, and potassium, all key nutrients essential for plant growth. Guano was also, to a le ...
accumulated to over deep. The
Gomantong Caves The Gomantong Caves are an intricate cave system inside Gomantong Hill in Sandakan Division, Sabah, Malaysia. The hill is the largest limestone outcrop in the Lower Kinabatangan area. Description Situated in the Gomantong Forest Reserve, the ...
in Sabah has been dubbed as the "Cockroach Cave" due to the presence of millions of cockroaches inside the cave. The
Gunung Mulu National Park The Gunung Mulu National Park, also known simply as the Mulu National Park is a national park in Miri Division, Sarawak, Malaysia. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site that encompasses caves and Karst topography, karst formations in a mountainous ...
in Sarawak and Sangkulirang-Mangkalihat Karst in East Kalimantan which particularly a
karst Karst () is a topography formed from the dissolution of soluble carbonate rocks such as limestone and Dolomite (rock), dolomite. It is characterized by features like poljes above and drainage systems with sinkholes and caves underground. Ther ...
areas contains thousands of smaller caves.


Ecology

The Borneo
rainforest Rainforests are forests characterized by a closed and continuous tree Canopy (biology), canopy, moisture-dependent vegetation, the presence of epiphytes and lianas and the absence of wildfire. Rainforests can be generally classified as tropi ...
is estimated to be around 140 million years old, making it one of the oldest rainforests in the world. The current dominant tree group, the dipterocarps, has dominated the
Borneo lowland rain forests The Borneo lowland rain forests is an ecoregion, within the tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests biome, of the large island of Borneo in Southeast Asia. It supports approximately 15,000 plant species, 380 bird species and several mamm ...
for millions of years. It is the centre of the evolution and distribution of many endemic species of plants and animals, and the rainforest is one of the few remaining natural habitats for the endangered
Bornean orangutan The Bornean orangutan (''Pongo pygmaeus'') is an orangutan species endemic to the island of Borneo. It belongs to the only genus of great apes native to Asia and is the largest of the three ''Pongo'' species. It has a coarse, reddish coat and up ...
. It is an important refuge for many endemic forest species, including the
Borneo elephant The Borneo elephant, also called the Bornean elephant or the Borneo pygmy elephant, is a subspecies of Asian elephant ''(Elephas maximus)'' that inhabits northeastern Borneo, in Indonesia and Malaysia. Its origin remains the subject of debate. A ...
, the eastern Sumatran rhinoceros, the Bornean clouded leopard, the Bornean rock frog, the
hose's palm civet Hose's palm civet (''Diplogale hosei''), also known as Hose's civet, is a viverrid species endemic to the island of Borneo. It is listed on the IUCN Red List as Vulnerable because of an ongoing population decline, estimated to be more than 30% o ...
and the
dayak fruit bat The dayak fruit bat or dyak fruit bat (''Dyacopterus spadiceus'') is a relatively rare frugivorous megabat species found only on the Sunda Shelf of southeast Asia, specifically the Malay Peninsula south of the Isthmus of Kra, and the islands of ...
.
Peat swamp forests Peat swamp forests are tropical moist forests where waterlogged soil prevents dead leaves and wood from fully decomposing. Over time, this creates a thick layer of acidic peat. Large areas of these forests are being logged at high rates. Peat ...
occupy the entire coastline of Borneo. The soil of the peat swamp is comparatively infertile, while it is known to be the home of various bird species such as the
hook-billed bulbul The hook-billed bulbul (''Setornis criniger'') is a species of songbird in the bulbul family, Pycnonotidae. It is found in eastern Sumatra and Borneo, where its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest and subtropical or ...
,
helmeted hornbill The helmeted hornbill (''Rhinoplax vigil'') is a very large bird in the hornbill family. It is found on the Malay Peninsula, Sumatra, Borneo, Thailand and Myanmar. The casque (helmetlike structure on the head) accounts for some 11% of its 3  ...
and
rhinoceros hornbill The rhinoceros hornbill (''Buceros rhinoceros'') is a large species of forest hornbill ( Bucerotidae). In captivity it can live for up to 35 years. It is found in lowland and montane, tropical and subtropical climates and in mountain rain forests ...
. There are about 15,000 species of
flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (). The term angiosperm is derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek words (; 'container, vessel') and (; 'seed'), meaning that the seeds are enclosed with ...
s with 3,000 species of trees (267 species are
dipterocarp Dipterocarpaceae is a family of flowering plants with 22 genera and about 695 known species of mainly lowland tropical forest trees. Their distribution is pantropical, from northern South America to Africa, the Seychelles, India, Indochina, Indo ...
s), 221 species of terrestrial mammals and 420 species of resident birds in Borneo. There are about 440 freshwater fish species in Borneo (about the same as Sumatra and Java combined). The Borneo river shark is known only from the
Kinabatangan River The Kinabatangan River () is a river in Sandakan Division, in eastern Sabah, Malaysia. It is the second longest river in Malaysia, with a length of from its headwaters in the mountains of southwest Sabah to its outlet at the Sulu Sea, east of ...
. In 2010, the
World Wide Fund for Nature The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) is a Swiss-based international non-governmental organization founded in 1961 that works in the field of wilderness preservation and the reduction of human impact on the environment. It was formerly named th ...
(WWF) stated that 123 species have been discovered in Borneo since the "
Heart of Borneo The Heart of Borneo is a conservation agreement initiated by the World Wide Fund for Nature to protect a 220,000 km² forested region on Borneo island. The agreement was signed by the governments of Brunei, Indonesia and Malaysia in Bali on ...
" agreement was signed in 2007. The WWF has classified the island into seven distinct
ecoregion An ecoregion (ecological region) is an ecological and geographic area that exists on multiple different levels, defined by type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of land or water, and c ...
s. Most are lowland regions: *
Borneo lowland rain forests The Borneo lowland rain forests is an ecoregion, within the tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests biome, of the large island of Borneo in Southeast Asia. It supports approximately 15,000 plant species, 380 bird species and several mamm ...
cover most of the island, with an area of . *
Borneo peat swamp forests The Borneo peat swamp forests ecoregion, within the tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests biome, are on the island of Borneo, which is divided between Brunei, Indonesia and Malaysia. Location and description Peat swamp forests occur ...
* ''
Kerangas The Sundaland heath forests, also known as ''Kerangas'' forest, is a type of tropical moist forest found on the island of Borneo, which is divided between Brunei, Indonesia, and Malaysia, as well as on the Indonesian islands of Belitung and Ban ...
'' or Sundaland heath forests * Southwest Borneo freshwater swamp forests are found in the island's western and southern lowlands *
Sunda Shelf mangroves The Sunda Shelf mangroves ecoregion, in the mangrove biome, are on the coasts of the islands of Borneo and eastern Sumatra in Malaysia and Indonesia. They are home to the proboscis monkey. As well as being an important habitat for terrestrial an ...
* The
Borneo montane rain forests The Borneo montane rain forests is an ecoregion on the island of Borneo in Southeast Asia. It includes montane tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests, also known as a cloud forests. The ecoregion is partly in East Malaysia (Sabah and S ...
lie in the central highlands of the island, above the elevation. *The highest elevations of
Mount Kinabalu Mount Kinabalu ( Dusun: ''Gayo Ngaran'' or ''Nulu Nabalu'', ) is the highest mountain in Malaysia and Borneo. With a height of , it is the third-highest peak of an island on Earth, the 28th highest peak in Southeast Asia, and 20th most prom ...
are home to the
Kinabalu montane alpine meadows Mount Kinabalu (Dusun language, Dusun: ''Gayo Ngaran'' or ''Nulu Nabalu'', ) is the highest mountain in Malaysia and Borneo. With a height of , it is the List of islands by highest point, third-highest peak of an island on Earth, List of South ...
, a subalpine and alpine shrubland notable for its numerous endemic species, including many orchids. According to analysis of data from
Global Forest Watch Global Forest Watch (GFW) is an open-source web application to monitor global forests in near real-time. GFW is an initiative of the World Resources Institute (WRI), with partners including Google, USAID, the University of Maryland (UMD), Esri, ...
, the Indonesian portion of Borneo lost of tree cover between 2002 and 2019, of which was
primary forest An old-growth forest or primary forest is a forest that has developed over a long period of time without Disturbance (ecology), disturbance. Due to this, old-growth forests exhibit unique ecological features. The Food and Agriculture Organizati ...
, compared with Malaysian Borneo's of tree cover loss and of primary forest cover loss. As of 2020, Indonesian Borneo accounts for 72% of the island's tree cover, Malaysian Borneo 27%, and Brunei 1%. Primary forest in Indonesia accounts for 44% of Borneo's overall tree cover.


Conservation issues

The island historically had extensive rainforest cover, but the area was reduced due to heavy logging by the Indonesian and Malaysian
wood industry The wood industry or timber industry (sometimes lumber industry – when referring mainly to sawed boards) is the industry (economics), industry concerned with forestry, logging, timber trade, and the production of primary forest products and woo ...
, especially with the large demands of raw materials from industrial countries along with the conversion of forest lands for large-scale agricultural purposes. Half of the annual global
tropical timber Tropical timber may refer to any type of timber or wood that grows in tropical rainforests and tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests and is harvested there. Typical examples of worldwide industrial significance include, among others, t ...
acquisition comes from Borneo.
Palm oil Palm oil is an edible vegetable oil derived from the mesocarp (reddish pulp) of the fruit of oil palms. The oil is used in food manufacturing, in beauty products, and as biofuel. Palm oil accounted for about 36% of global oils produced from o ...
plantations have been widely developed and are rapidly encroaching on the last remnants of primary rainforest.
Forest fires A forest fire A wildfire, forest fire, or a bushfire is an unplanned and uncontrolled fire in an area of combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire may be more specifically identified as a bushfire ( in Au ...
since 1997, started by the locals to clear the forests for plantations were exacerbated by an exceptionally dry
El Niño EL, El or el may refer to: Arts and entertainment Fictional entities * El, a character from the manga series ''Shugo Chara!'' by Peach-Pit * Eleven (''Stranger Things'') (El), a fictional character in the TV series ''Stranger Things'' * El, fami ...
season, worsening the annual shrinkage of the rainforest. During these fires, hotspots were visible on
satellite images Satellite images (also Earth observation imagery, spaceborne photography, or simply satellite photo) are images of Earth collected by imaging satellites operated by governments and businesses around the world. Satellite imaging companies sell i ...
and the resulting
haze Haze is traditionally an atmospheric phenomenon in which dust, smoke, and other dry particulates suspended in air obscure visibility and the clarity of the sky. The World Meteorological Organization manual of codes includes a classificati ...
frequently affected Brunei, Indonesia and Malaysia. The haze could also reach southern
Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...
,
Cambodia Cambodia, officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. It is bordered by Thailand to the northwest, Laos to the north, and Vietnam to the east, and has a coastline ...
,
Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...
and the
Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...
as evidenced on the 2015 Southeast Asian haze. A study in 2018 found that
Bornean orangutan The Bornean orangutan (''Pongo pygmaeus'') is an orangutan species endemic to the island of Borneo. It belongs to the only genus of great apes native to Asia and is the largest of the three ''Pongo'' species. It has a coarse, reddish coat and up ...
s declined by 148,500 individuals from 1999 to 2015.


Topography

List of highest peaks in Borneo by elevation: *
Mount Kinabalu Mount Kinabalu ( Dusun: ''Gayo Ngaran'' or ''Nulu Nabalu'', ) is the highest mountain in Malaysia and Borneo. With a height of , it is the third-highest peak of an island on Earth, the 28th highest peak in Southeast Asia, and 20th most prom ...
*
Mount Trusmadi Mount Trusmadi or Trus Madi ( Dusun: ''Nulu Trusmadi'', ) is a mountain located at the Interior Division of Sabah, Malaysia. It is considered as the second highest mountain in both Sabah and Malaysia at , after Mount Kinabalu with Trusmadi of ...
* Raya Hill * Muruk Miau * Mount Wakid * Monkobo Hill * Mount Lotung *
Mount Magdalena Mount Magdalena () is a volcanic cone mountain located at the Tawau Division of Sabah, Malaysia. It reaches a height of approximately . By prominence Mount Magdalena is at number 24 out of 5,270 peaks in Malaysia and at 6th place out of 383 pea ...
* Talibu Hill


River systems

List of rivers in Borneo by length: *
Kapuas River The Kapuas River ( Old Indonesian spelling: 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 on the island of Borneo, the longest ri ...
*
Barito River The Barito River is the second longest river in Borneo, Indonesia after the Kapuas River with a total length of and a drainage basin of over in South Kalimantan, Indonesia. It originates in the Müller Mountain Range, from where it flows ...
*
Mahakam River The Mahakam River ( Indonesian: ''Sungai Mahakam'') is third longest river (with the third greatest volume discharge) in Borneo after the Kapuas River and the Barito River, it is located in East Kalimantan province of Indonesia. It flows from ...
*
Kahayan River The Kahayan River, or Great Dayak River, is the second largest river after the 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 ...
*
Mendawai River Mendawai River or Katingan River is a river of Borneo, it is located in Central Kalimantan, Indonesia. With a total length of . The longhouses of the Pendahara are located along the river in its upper course. The river has its source in the Schw ...
*
Kayan River The Kayan River is a river of Borneo island, flowing in the North Kalimantan province of Indonesia, about 1,600 km northeast of the capital Jakarta. Course The Kayan is a large river in Borneo. It is one of the largest and most important river ...
*
Rajang River The Rajang River () is a river in Sarawak, northwestern Borneo, Malaysia. The river originates in the Iran Mountains, flows through Kapit, and then towards the South China Sea. At approximately , the river is the seventh-longest in Borneo and th ...
*
Kinabatangan River The Kinabatangan River () is a river in Sandakan Division, in eastern Sabah, Malaysia. It is the second longest river in Malaysia, with a length of from its headwaters in the mountains of southwest Sabah to its outlet at the Sulu Sea, east of ...
*
Baram River The Baram River () is a river in Sarawak on the island of Borneo. The river originates in the Kelabit Highlands, a watershed demarcated by the Iran Mountains of East Kalimantan, which form a natural border with Sarawak. Geography The Baram ri ...
* Sembakung River *
Sesayap River Sesayap River is a river in Borneo island, flowing in North Kalimantan Province, Indonesia.Sungai Sesayap
at G ...
*
Pawan River Pawan River is a major river of West Kalimantan, Indonesia. It has a length of . Tributaries include the Keriau River. Hydrology In its mid course Pawan River passes through the little town of Tandjoengpoera (Tanjungpura). Pawan River passes th ...


History


Early history

In November 2018, scientists reported the discovery of the oldest known figurative art painting, over 40,000 (perhaps as old as 52,000) years old, of an unknown animal, in the cave of
Lubang Jeriji Saléh Lubang Jeriji Saléh is a limestone cave complex in Indonesia, located within the Sangkulirang-Mangkalihat Karst in the remote jungle of the Bengalon district of East Kutai Regency, East Kalimantan province, on Borneo island. In 2018, a team ...
on the island of Borneo. It has been proposed, based on house construction styles, linguistic and genetic evidence, that Madagascar may have been first populated from southern Borneo. According to ancient Chinese (977), Indian and Japanese manuscripts, western coastal cities of Borneo had become trading ports by the first millennium AD. In Chinese manuscripts, gold,
camphor Camphor () is a waxy, colorless solid with a strong aroma. It is classified as a terpenoid and a cyclic ketone. It is found in the wood of the camphor laurel (''Cinnamomum camphora''), a large evergreen tree found in East Asia; and in the kapu ...
,
tortoise Tortoises ( ) are reptiles of the family Testudinidae of the order Testudines (Latin for "tortoise"). Like other turtles, tortoises have a shell to protect from predation and other threats. The shell in tortoises is generally hard, and like o ...
shells,
hornbill ivory Hornbill ivory (also called "golden jade" or ''calao ivoire'' in French) is a precious ornamental material derived from the helmeted hornbill (''Buceros vigil''), a large bird of the Malay Peninsula, Sumatra, and Borneo. Many hornbill species h ...
,
rhinoceros A rhinoceros ( ; ; ; : rhinoceros or rhinoceroses), commonly abbreviated to rhino, is a member of any of the five extant taxon, extant species (or numerous extinct species) of odd-toed ungulates (perissodactyls) in the family (biology), famil ...
horn, crane crest,
beeswax Bee hive wax complex Beeswax (also known as cera alba) is a natural wax produced by honey bees of the genus ''Apis''. The wax is formed into scales by eight wax-producing glands in the abdominal segments of worker bees, which discard it in o ...
,
lakawood Lakawood, or laka wood (), is a reddish aromatic heartwood used as incense in China, India and South East Asia. It also had a number of other uses in the past, for example as a dye and for medicinal purposes. The name lakawood can refer to the wo ...
(a scented heartwood and root wood of a thick
liana A liana is a long-Plant stem, stemmed Woody plant, woody vine that is rooted in the soil at ground level and uses trees, as well as other means of vertical support, to climb up to the Canopy (biology), canopy in search of direct sunlight. T ...
, ''Dalbergia parviflora''),
dragon's blood Dragon's blood is a bright red resin which is obtained from different species of a number of distinct plant genera: '' Calamus'' spp. (previously ''Daemonorops'') also including '' Calamus rotang'', '' Croton'', '' Dracaena'' and ''Pterocarpus'' ...
,
rattan Rattan, also spelled ratan (from Malay language, Malay: ''rotan''), 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 clos ...
, edible bird's nests and various spices were described as among the most valuable items from Borneo. The
Indians Indian or Indians may refer to: Associated with India * of or related to India ** Indian people ** Indian diaspora ** Languages of India ** Indian English, a dialect of the English language ** Indian cuisine Associated with indigenous peoples o ...
named Borneo ''Suvarnabhumi'' (the land of gold) and also ''Karpuradvipa'' (Camphor Island). The Javanese named Borneo ''Puradvipa'', or Diamond Island.
Archaeological Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...
findings in the Sarawak river delta reveal that the area was a thriving centre of trade between India and China from the 6th century until about 1300. Stone pillars bearing inscriptions in the
Pallava script The Pallava script, or Pallava Grantha, is a style of Grantha script named after the Pallava dynasty of Southern India (Tamilakam) and is attested to since the 4th century CE. In India, the Pallava script evolved from Tamil-Brahmi. The Gran ...
, found in
Kutai Kutai is a historical region in what is now the Indonesian province of East Kalimantan on the island of Borneo. The region shares its name with the native ethnic group of the region (known as 'the Kutai people'), with a total population arou ...
along the
Mahakam River The Mahakam River ( Indonesian: ''Sungai Mahakam'') is third longest river (with the third greatest volume discharge) in Borneo after the Kapuas River and the Barito River, it is located in East Kalimantan province of Indonesia. It flows from ...
in
East Kalimantan East Kalimantan (Indonesian language, Indonesian: ) is a Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia. Its territory comprises the eastern portion of Borneo/Kalimantan. It had a population of about 3.03 million at the 2010 census (within the cu ...
and dating to around the second half of the 4th century, constitute some of the oldest evidence of
Hindu Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...
influence in Southeast Asia. By the 14th century, Borneo became a
vassal state A vassal state is any state that has a mutual obligation to a superior state or empire, in a status similar to that of a vassal in the feudal system in medieval Europe. Vassal states were common among the empires of the Near East, dating back to ...
of
Majapahit Majapahit (; (eastern and central dialect) or (western dialect)), also known as Wilwatikta (; ), was a Javanese people, Javanese Hinduism, Hindu-Buddhism, Buddhist thalassocracy, thalassocratic empire in Southeast Asia based on the island o ...
(in present-day Indonesia), later changing its allegiance to the
Ming dynasty The Ming dynasty, officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming was the last imperial dynasty of ...
of China. Pre-Islamic Sulu, then known locally as
Lupah Sug In the Philippine history, the ''Lupah Sug'' ( Jawi:) was a predecessor state before the establishment of Sultanate of Sulu. History Hindu principality of Maimbung Sulu that time was called ''Lupah Sug'' and ruled by the Indianised Hindu pr ...
, stretched from Palawan and the Sulu archipelago at the Philippines; to
Sabah Sabah () is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia located in northern Borneo, in the region of East Malaysia. Sabah has land borders with the Malaysian state of Sarawak to the southwest and Indonesia's North Kalima ...
,
Eastern Eastern or Easterns may refer to: Transportation Airlines *China Eastern Airlines, a current Chinese airline based in Shanghai * Eastern Air, former name of Zambia Skyways *Eastern Air Lines, a defunct American airline that operated from 192 ...
, and Northern Kalimantan in Borneo. The Sulu empire rose as a rebellion and reaction against former Majapahit Imperialism against Sulu which Majapahit briefly occupied. The religion of
Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...
entered the island in the 10th century, following the arrival of Muslim traders who later converted many indigenous peoples in the coastal areas. The Sultanate of Brunei declared independence from Majapahit following the death of the Majapahit emperor in the mid-14th century. During its golden age under
Bolkiah Bolkiah ibni Sulaiman (Jawi script, Jawi: ; died 17 July 1524) or commonly known as Nakhoda Ragam (Jawi script, Jawi: ), was the sixth List of sultans of Brunei, sultan of Brunei from 1485 until his death in 1524, he ascended the throne upon t ...
from the 15th to the 17th century, the Bruneian sultanate ruled almost the entire coastal area of Borneo (lending its name to the island due to its influence in the region) and several islands in the Philippines. During the 1450s, Shari'ful Hashem Syed Abu Bakr, an Arab born in
Johor Johor, also spelled Johore,'' is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia in the south of the Malay Peninsula. It borders with Pahang, Malacca and Negeri Sembilan to the north. Johor has maritime borders with Singapore ...
, arrived in Sulu from Malacca. In 1457, he founded the
Sultanate of Sulu The Sultanate of Sulu (; ; ) is a Sunni Muslim subnational monarchy in the Philippines, Republic of the Philippines that includes the Sulu Archipelago, coastal areas of Zamboanga City and certain portions of Palawan in today's Philippines. H ...
; he titled himself as "Paduka Maulana Mahasari Sharif Sultan Hashem Abu Bakr". Following its independence in 1578 from Brunei's influence, Sulu began to expand its
thalassocracy A thalassocracy or thalattocracy, sometimes also maritime empire, is a state with primarily maritime realms, an empire at sea, or a seaborne empire. Traditional thalassocracies seldom dominate interiors, even in their home territories. Examples o ...
to parts of the northern Borneo. Both the sultanates who ruled northern Borneo had traditionally engaged in trade with China by means of the frequently-arriving Chinese
junk Junk may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Junk'' (film), a 2000 Japanese horror film * '' J-U-N-K'', a 1920 American film * ''Junk'' (novel), by Melvin Burgess, 1996 * ''Junk'', a novel by Christopher Largen * '' Junk: Record of the Last ...
s. Despite the thalassocracy of the sultanates, Borneo's interior region remained free from the rule of any kingdoms.


British and Dutch control

After the fall of Malacca in 1511, Portuguese merchants traded regularly with Borneo, and especially with Brunei from 1530. Having visited Brunei's capital, the Portuguese described the place as surrounded by a
stone wall Stone walls are a kind of masonry construction that has been used for thousands of years. The first stone walls were constructed by farmers and primitive people by piling loose field stones into a dry stone wall. Later, mortar and plaste ...
. While Borneo was seen as rich, the Portuguese did not make any attempts to conquer it. The Spanish had sailed from Spanish America and conquered the Brunei's provinces in the Philippines and incorporated it into the Mexico-Centered
Viceroyalty of New Spain New Spain, officially the Viceroyalty of New Spain ( ; Nahuatl: ''Yankwik Kaxtillan Birreiyotl''), originally the Kingdom of New Spain, was an integral territorial entity of the Spanish Empire, established by Habsburg Spain. It was one of several ...
. The Spanish visit to Brunei led to the
Castilian War The Castilian War, also called the Spanish Expedition to Borneo, was a conflict between the Spanish Empire and several Muslim states in Southeast Asia, including the Sultanates of Brunei, Sulu, and Maguindanao. It is also considered as part of ...
in 1578. The British began to trade with Sambas of southern Borneo in 1609, while the Dutch only began their trade in 1644: to Banjar and Martapura, also in the southern Borneo. The Dutch tried to settle the island of
Balambangan Balambangan Island () is an island in Kudat Division, Sabah, Malaysia. It is located off the northern tip of Borneo and is situated just about 3 kilometres west of Banggi Island. It is now part of the Tun Mustapha Marine Park. History Alexand ...
, north of Borneo, in the second half of the 18th century, but withdrew by 1797. In 1812, the sultan in southern Borneo ceded his forts to the
British East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company that was founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to Indian Ocean trade, trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (South A ...
. The British, led by
Stamford Raffles Sir Thomas Stamford Bingley Raffles (5 July 1781 – 5 July 1826) was a British Colonial Office, colonial official who served as the List of governors of the Dutch East Indies, governor of the Dutch East Indies between 1811 and 1816 and lieut ...
, then tried to establish an intervention in Sambas but failed. Although they managed to defeat the sultanate the next year and declared a blockade on all ports in Borneo except Brunei,
Banjarmasin Banjarmasin is the largest city in South Kalimantan, Indonesia. It was the capital of the province until 15 February 2022. The city is located on a delta island near the junction of the Barito and Martapura rivers. Historically the centre of t ...
and
Pontianak Pontianak, also known as Khuntien in Teochew and Hakka, is the capital of the Indonesian province of West Kalimantan, founded first as a trading port on the island of Borneo, occupying an area of 118.21 km2 in the delta of the Kapuas R ...
, the project was cancelled by the British governor-general
Lord Minto Earl of Minto, in the County of Roxburgh, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1813 for Gilbert Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound, 1st Baron Minto. The current earl is Gilbert Timothy George Lariston Elliot-Murray-Kynynm ...
in India as it was too expensive. At the beginning of British and Dutch exploration on the island, they described the island of Borneo as full of
head hunters ''Head Hunters'' is the twelfth studio album by American pianist, keyboardist and composer Herbie Hancock, released October 26, 1973, on Columbia Records. Recording sessions for the album took place in the evening at Wally Heider Studios and D ...
, with the indigenous in the interior practising
cannibalism Cannibalism is the act of consuming another individual of the same species as food. Cannibalism is a common ecological interaction in the animal kingdom and has been recorded in more than 1,500 species. Human cannibalism is also well document ...
, and the waters around the island infested with
pirates Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and valuable goods, or taking hostages. Those who conduct acts of piracy are call ...
, especially between the north eastern Borneo and the southern Philippines. The Malay and Sea Dayak pirates preyed on maritime shipping in the waters between Singapore and Hong Kong from their haven in Borneo, along with the attacks by
Illanun The Iranun are an Austronesian ethnic group native to southwestern Mindanao, Philippines. They are ethnically and culturally closely related to the Maranao, and Maguindanaon, all three groups being denoted as speaking Danao languages and gi ...
s of the
Moro pirates The Sulu Sea, Sulu and Celebes Seas, a semi-enclosed sea area and porous region that covers an area of space around 1 million square kilometres, have been subject to illegal maritime activities since the pre-colonial era and continue to pose ...
from the southern Philippines, such as in the
Battle off Mukah The Battle off Mukah was a naval engagement fought in May 1862 between boats of the Sarawak and pirates. After the kidnapping of Sarawakian citizens some time before, two small gunboats encountered the pirates off Mukah on the northern coast ...
. The Dutch began to intervene in the southern part of the island upon resuming contact in 1815, posting ''
resident Resident may refer to: People and functions * Resident minister, a representative of a government in a foreign country * Resident (medicine), a stage of postgraduate medical training * Resident (pharmacy), a stage of postgraduate pharmaceut ...
s'' to Banjarmasin, Pontianak and Sambas and ''assistant-residents'' to Landak and Mampawa. The Sultanate of Brunei in 1842 granted large parts of land in Sarawak to the British adventurer
James Brooke James Brooke (29 April 1803 – 11 June 1868), was a British soldier and adventurer who founded the Raj of Sarawak in Borneo. He ruled as the first White Rajahs, White Rajah of Sarawak from 1841 until his death in 1868. Brooke was born and ra ...
, as a reward for his help in quelling a local rebellion. Brooke established the
Raj of Sarawak The Raj of Sarawak, Kingdom of Sarawak or State of Sarawak, was a kingdom founded in 1841 in northwestern Borneo and was in a Protectorate, treaty of protection with the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom from 1888. It ...
and was recognised as its rajah after paying a fee to the sultanate. He established a monarchy, and the Brooke dynasty (through his nephew and great-nephew) ruled Sarawak for 100 years; the leaders were known as the
White Rajahs The White Rajahs of Sarawak were a hereditary monarchy of the Brooke family, who founded and ruled the Raj of Sarawak as a sovereign state, located on the northwest coast of the island of Borneo in Maritime Southeast Asia, from 1841 to 1946. Of ...
. Brooke also acquired the island of
Labuan Labuan (), officially the Federal Territory of Labuan (), is an island federal territory of Malaysia. It includes and six smaller islands off the coast of the state of Sabah in East Malaysia. Labuan's capital is Victoria, which is best kno ...
for
Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...
in 1846 through the
Treaty of Labuan The Treaty of Labuan was signed between Great Britain and the Brunei Sultanate on 18 December 1846. Under this treaty, the Sultan of Brunei ceded the island of Labuan to Great Britain. Background Labuan had belonged to Brunei since the reig ...
with the sultan of Brunei,
Omar Ali Saifuddin II Omar Ali Saifuddin II (died 18 November 1852) was the 23rd Sultan of Brunei from 1828 until his death in 1852. During his reign, Western powers such as the United Kingdom and the United States visited the country. His reign saw the British ad ...
on 18 December 1846. The region of northern Borneo came under the administration of
North Borneo Chartered Company The North Borneo Chartered Company (NBCC), also known as the British North Borneo Company (BNBC), was a British chartered company formed on 1 November 1881 to administer and exploit the resources of North Borneo (present-day Sabah in Malaysia) ...
following the acquisition of territory from the Sultanates of Brunei and Sulu by a German businessman and adventurer named
Baron von Overbeck Gustav Overbeck (4 March 1830 – 8 April 1894) from 1867 von Overbeck, in 1873 Baron von Overbeck, in 1877 Maharaja of Sabah and Rajah of Gaya and Sandakan, was a German businessman, adventurer and diplomat. Early life Overbeck was the son of ...
, before it was passed to the British Dent brothers (comprising
Alfred Dent Sir Alfred Dent, (12 December 1844 – 23 November 1927) was a British colonial merchant and entrepreneur. He was a founder of the British North Borneo Company. Life Dent was born in London to Thomas Dent. He was educated at Eton College whi ...
and Edward Dent). Further expansion by the British continued into the Borneo interior. This led the 26th sultan of Brunei,
Hashim Jalilul Alam Aqamaddin Hashim Jalilul Alam Aqamaddin (1824 – 10 May 1906) was the 25th Sultan of Brunei from 1885 until his death in 1906. Pengiran Anak Hashim or Hashim Jalilul was a prominent and controversial figure in Bruneian history. Many Western visitors' ...
to appeal the British to halt such efforts, and as a result a Treaty of Protection was signed in 1888, rendering Brunei a British protectorate. Before the acquisition by the British, the Americans also managed to establish their temporary presence in northwestern Borneo after acquiring a parcel of land from the Sultanate of Brunei. A company known as
American Trading Company of Borneo The American Trading Company of Borneo was a chartered company formed by Joseph William Torrey, Thomas Bradley Harris and several Chinese investors shortly after the acquisition over a parcel of land in northern Borneo from the Sultanate of Bru ...
was formed by
Joseph William Torrey Col. Joseph William Torrey, Rajah of Ambong and Marudu, (April 22, 1828, in Bath, Maine – June 22, 1885, in Boston, Massachusetts) was an American merchant, president of the American Trading Company of Borneo and co-founder of the American c ...
,
Thomas Bradley Harris Thomas Bradley Harris (October 29, 1826 in New York City; – May 22, 1866 in Ellena, Borneo) was an American businessman and co-founder of the American colony of "Ellena" together with Joseph William Torrey on the island of Borneo. Early lif ...
and several Chinese investors, establishing a colony named "Ellena" in the
Kimanis Kimanis (Chinese: 金馬利) is a Malaysian town and a parliamentary constituency of Papar District on the west coast of Sabah. It is located approximately 45 kilometres south of the city of Kota Kinabalu, halfway between Papar and Beaufor ...
area. The colony failed and was abandoned, due to denials of financial backing, especially by the US government, and to diseases and riots among the workers. Before Torrey left, he managed to sell the land to the German businessman, Overbeck. Meanwhile, the Germans under William Frederick Schuck were awarded a parcel of land in northeastern Borneo of the Sandakan Bay from the Sultanate of Sulu where he conducted business and exported large quantities of arms,
opium Opium (also known as poppy tears, or Lachryma papaveris) is the dried latex obtained from the seed Capsule (fruit), capsules of the opium poppy ''Papaver somniferum''. Approximately 12 percent of opium is made up of the analgesic alkaloid mor ...
, textiles and tobacco to Sulu before the land was also passed to Overbeck by the sultanate. Prior to the recognition of Spanish presence in the Philippine archipelago, a protocol known as the
Madrid Protocol of 1885 The Madrid Protocol of 1885 was an agreement between the United Kingdom, Germany, and Spain to recognize the sovereignty of Spain over the Sulu Archipelago as well as the limit of Spanish influence in the region. Under the agreement, Spain reli ...
was signed between the governments of the United Kingdom, Germany and Spain in
Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...
to cement Spanish influence and recognise their sovereignty over the Sultanate of Sulu—in return for Spain's relinquishing its claim to the former possessions of the sultanate in northern Borneo. The British administration then established the first railway network in northern Borneo, known as the North Borneo Railway. During this time, the British sponsored a large number of Chinese workers to migrate to northern Borneo to work in European plantation and mines, and the Dutch followed suit to increase their economic production. By 1888, North Borneo, Sarawak and Brunei in northern Borneo had become British
protectorate A protectorate, in the context of international relations, is a State (polity), state that is under protection by another state for defence against aggression and other violations of law. It is a dependent territory that enjoys autonomy over ...
. The area in southern Borneo was made Dutch protectorate in 1891. The Dutch who already claimed the whole Borneo were asked by Britain to delimit their boundaries between the two colonial territories to avoid further conflicts. The British and Dutch governments had signed the
Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1824 The Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1824, also known as the Treaty of London (), was a treaty signed between the United Kingdom and the Netherlands in London on 17 March 1824. The treaty was to resolve disputes arising from the execution of the Angl ...
to exchange trading ports in
Malay Peninsula The Malay Peninsula is located in Mainland Southeast Asia. The landmass runs approximately north–south, and at its terminus, it is the southernmost point of the Asian continental mainland. The area contains Peninsular Malaysia, Southern Tha ...
and
Sumatra Sumatra () is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the list of islands by area, sixth-largest island in the world at 482,286.55 km2 (182,812 mi. ...
that were under their controls and assert spheres of influence. This resulted in indirectly establishing British- and Dutch-controlled areas in the north (Malay Peninsula) and south (Sumatra and Riau Islands) respectively. In 1895, Marcus Samuel received a concession in the Kutei area of east Borneo, and based on
oil seep A petroleum seep is a place where natural liquid or gaseous hydrocarbons escape to the Earth's atmosphere and surface, normally under low pressure or flow. Seeps generally occur above either natural terrestrial or underwater petroleum accumul ...
ages in the
Mahakam River The Mahakam River ( Indonesian: ''Sungai Mahakam'') is third longest river (with the third greatest volume discharge) in Borneo after the Kapuas River and the Barito River, it is located in East Kalimantan province of Indonesia. It flows from ...
delta Delta commonly refers to: * Delta (letter) (Δ or δ), the fourth letter of the Greek alphabet * D (NATO phonetic alphabet: "Delta"), the fourth letter in the Latin alphabet * River delta, at a river mouth * Delta Air Lines, a major US carrier ...
, Mark Abrahams struck oil in February 1897. This was the discovery of the Sanga Sanga Oil Field, a refinery was built in
Balikpapan Balikpapan is a seaport city in East Kalimantan, Indonesia. Located on the east coast of the island of Borneo, the city is the financial center of Kalimantan. Balikpapan is the city with the largest economy in Kalimantan with an estimated 20 ...
, and discovery of the
Samboja Samboja () is a district in Kutai Kartanegara Regency, East Kalimantan, Indonesia. As of 2023, it was inhabited by 41,607 people, and currently has the total area of 284.93 km2. Its district seat is located at the village of Kampung Lama. ...
Oil Field followed in 1909. In 1901, the Pamusian Oil Field was discovered on
Tarakan Tarakan is an island and co-extensively the sole city within the Indonesian province of North Kalimantan. The island city is the largest urban area in North Kalimantan population-wise and is located in northern Borneo, midway along the coast of ...
, and the
Bunyu Bunyu is an oil-rich Indonesian island situated to the north of Tarakan City, in the eastern Celebes Sea off the north-eastern coast of Borneo in North Kalimantan province. The administrative area comprising Bunyu District is composed of eleven ...
Oil Field in 1929.
Royal Dutch Shell Shell plc is a British multinational oil and gas company, headquartered in London, England. Shell is a public limited company with a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) and secondary listings on Euronext Amsterdam and the New ...
discovered the
Miri Miri () is a coastal city in north-eastern Sarawak, Malaysia, located near the border of Brunei, on the island of Borneo. The city covers an area of , located northeast of Kuching and southwest of Kota Kinabalu. Miri is the second largest ...
Oil Field in 1910, and the Seria oil field in 1929.


World War II

During World War II, Japanese forces gained control and occupied most areas of Borneo from 1941 to 1945. In the first stage of the war, the British saw the Japanese advance to Borneo as motivated by political and territorial ambitions rather than economic factors. The occupation drove many people in the coastal towns to the interior, searching for food and escaping the Japanese. The Chinese residents in Borneo, especially with the Sino-Japanese War in
Mainland China "Mainland China", also referred to as "the Chinese mainland", is a Geopolitics, geopolitical term defined as the territory under direct administration of the People's Republic of China (PRC) in the aftermath of the Chinese Civil War. In addit ...
mostly resisted the Japanese occupation. Following the formation of resistance movements in northern Borneo such as the Jesselton Revolt, many innocent indigenous and Chinese people were executed by the Japanese for their alleged involvement. In Kalimantan, the Japanese also killed many Malay intellectuals, executing all the Malay sultans of West Kalimantan in the Pontianak incidents, together with Chinese people who were already against the Japanese for suspecting them to be threats. Sultan Muhammad Ibrahim Shafi ud-din II of Sambas was executed in 1944. The sultanate was thereafter suspended and replaced by a Japanese council. The Japanese also set-up ''Pusat Tenaga Rakjat'' (PUTERA) in the Indonesian archipelago in 1943, although it was abolished the following year when it became too nationalistic. Some of the Indonesian nationalist like
Sukarno Sukarno (6 June 1901 – 21 June 1970) was an Indonesian statesman, orator, revolutionary, and nationalist who was the first president of Indonesia, serving from 1945 to 1967. Sukarno was the leader of the Indonesian struggle for independenc ...
and Hatta who had returned from Dutch exile began to co-operate with the Japanese. Shortly after his release, Sukarno became president of the Central Advisory Council, an advisory council for south Borneo,
Celebes Sulawesi ( ), also known as Celebes ( ), is an island in Indonesia. One of the four Greater Sunda Islands, and the world's 11th-largest island, it is situated east of Borneo, west of the Maluku Islands, and south of Mindanao and the Sulu Archi ...
, and
Lesser Sunda The Lesser Sunda Islands (, , ), now known as Nusa Tenggara Islands (, or "Southeast Islands"), are an archipelago in the Indonesian archipelago. Most of the Lesser Sunda Islands are located within the Wallacea region, except for the Bali pr ...
, set up in February 1945. After the
fall of Singapore The fall of Singapore, also known as the Battle of Singapore, took place in the South–East Asian theatre of the Pacific War. The Empire of Japan captured the British stronghold of Singapore, with fighting lasting from 8 to 15 February 1942. S ...
, the Japanese sent several thousand of British and Australian
prisoners of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of war for a ...
to camps in Borneo such as Batu Lintang camp. From the
Sandakan camp The Sandakan camp, also known as Sandakan POW Camp ( Malay: Kem Tawanan Perang Sandakan), was a prisoner-of-war camp established during World War II by the Japanese in Sandakan in the Malaysian state of Sabah. This site has gained notoriety as t ...
site, only six of some 2,500 prisoners survived after they were forced to march in an event known as the Sandakan Death March. In addition, of the total of 17,488 Javanese labourers brought in by the Japanese during the occupation, only 1,500 survived mainly due to starvation, harsh working conditions and maltreatment. The Dayak and other indigenous people played a role in
guerrilla warfare Guerrilla warfare is a form of unconventional warfare in which small groups of irregular military, such as rebels, partisans, paramilitary personnel or armed civilians, which may include recruited children, use ambushes, sabotage, terrori ...
against the occupying forces, particularly in the
Kapit Division Kapit Division (), formed on 2 April 1973, is one of the twelve administrative divisions in Sarawak, Malaysia. It has a total area of , and is the largest of the administrative divisions of Sarawak. Its population (year 2020 census) was 134,800 ...
. They temporarily revived headhunting of Japanese toward the end of the war, with Allied
Z Special Unit Z Special Unit () was a joint Allied special forces unit formed during the Second World War to operate behind Japanese lines in South East Asia. Predominantly Australian, Z Special Unit was a specialist clandestine operation, direct action, lo ...
provided assistance to them. Australia contributed significantly to the liberation of Borneo. The Australian Imperial Force was sent to Borneo to fight off the Japanese. Together with other Allies, the island was completely liberated in 1945.


Recent history

In May 1945, officials in Tokyo suggested that whether northern Borneo should be included in the proposed new country of Indonesia should be separately determined based on the desires of its indigenous people and following the disposition of
Malaya Malaya refers to a number of historical and current political entities related to what is currently Peninsular Malaysia in Southeast Asia: Political entities * British Malaya (1826–1957), a loose collection of the British colony of the Straits ...
. Sukarno and
Mohammad Yamin Muhammad Yamin (24 August 1903 – 17 October 1962) was an Indonesian poet, politician, historian and national hero who played a key role in the writing of the draft preamble to the 1945 constitution. Early life and education Yamin was born ...
meanwhile continuously advocated for a
Greater Indonesia Greater Indonesia () was an irredentism, irredentist political concept that sought to bring the so-called Malay race together, by uniting the territories of the Dutch East Indies (and Portuguese Timor) with British Malaya and British Borneo. It ...
n republic. Towards the end of the war, Japan decided to give an early independence to a new proposed country of Indonesia on 17 July 1945, with an Independence Committee meeting scheduled for 19 August 1945. However, following the
surrender of Japan The surrender of the Empire of Japan in World War II was Hirohito surrender broadcast, announced by Emperor Hirohito on 15 August and formally Japanese Instrument of Surrender, signed on 2 September 1945, End of World War II in Asia, ending ...
to the Allied forces, the meeting was shelved. Sukarno and Hatta continued the plan by unilaterally declaring independence, although the Dutch tried to retake their colonial possession in Borneo. The southern part of the island achieved its independence through 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 ...
on 17 August 1945. The southern part saw guerrilla conflicts followed by Dutch blockades to cut supplies for nationalist within the region. While nationalist guerrillas supporting the inclusion of southern Borneo in the new Indonesian republic were active in Ketapang, and to lesser extent in Sambas where they rallied with the red-white flag which became the
flag of Indonesia The national flag of Indonesia is a simple Bicolour (flag), bicolor with two horizontal bands, red (top) and white (bottom) with an overall ratio of 2:3. It was introduced and hoisted in public during the Proclamation of Indonesian Independence ...
, most of the Chinese residents in southern Borneo expected to be liberated by Chinese Nationalist troops from mainland China and to integrate their districts as an overseas province of
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
. Meanwhile, Sarawak and Sabah in northern Borneo became separate British crown colonies in 1946. In 1961, Prime Minister
Tunku Abdul Rahman Tunku Abdul Rahman (8 February 19036 December 1990), commonly referred to as Tunku, was a Malaysian statesman who served as prime minister of Malaysia from 1957 to 1970. He previously served as the only chief minister of Federation of Malaya ...
of the independent
Federation of Malaya Malaya, officially the Federation of Malaya, was a country in Southeast Asia from 1948 to 1963. It succeeded the Malayan Union and, before that, British Malaya. It comprised eleven states – nine Malay states and two of the Straits Settleme ...
desired to unite Malaya, the British colonies of
Sarawak Sarawak ( , ) is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia. It is the largest among the 13 states, with an area almost equal to that of Peninsular Malaysia. Sarawak is located in East Malaysia in northwest Borneo, and is ...
,
North Borneo North Borneo (usually known as British North Borneo, also known as the State of North Borneo) was a British Protectorate, British protectorate in the northern part of the island of Borneo, (present-day Sabah). The territory of North Borneo wa ...
,
Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...
and the protectorate of
Brunei Brunei, officially Brunei Darussalam, is a country in Southeast Asia, situated on the northern coast of the island of Borneo. Apart from its coastline on the South China Sea, it is completely surrounded by the Malaysian state of Sarawak, with ...
under the proposed
Federation of Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...
. The idea was heavily opposed by the governments in both Indonesia and the Philippines as well from communist sympathisers and nationalists in Borneo. Sukarno, as the president of the new republic, perceiving the British trying to maintain their presence in northern Borneo and the Malay Peninsula, decided to launch a military infiltration, later known as the ''
confrontation Confrontation is an element of conflict wherein parties confront one another, directly engaging one another in the course of a dispute between them. A confrontation can be at any scale, between any number of people, between entire nations or cu ...
'', from 1962 to 1969. As a response to the growing opposition, the British deployed their armed forces to guard their colonies against Indonesian and communist revolts. Australia and New Zealand also participated in these measures. The Philippines opposed the newly proposed federation, claiming the eastern part of North Borneo (today the Malaysian state of Sabah) as part of its territory as a former possession of the
Sultanate of Sulu The Sultanate of Sulu (; ; ) is a Sunni Muslim subnational monarchy in the Philippines, Republic of the Philippines that includes the Sulu Archipelago, coastal areas of Zamboanga City and certain portions of Palawan in today's Philippines. H ...
. The Philippine government mostly based their claim on the Sultanate of Sulu's
cession The act of cession is the assignment of property to another entity. In international law it commonly refers to land transferred by treaty. Ballentine's Law Dictionary defines cession as "a surrender; a giving up; a relinquishment of jurisdicti ...
agreement with the British North Borneo Company, as by now the sultanate had come under the jurisdiction of the Philippine republican administration, which therefore should inherit the Sulu former territories. The Philippine government also claimed that the heirs of the sultanate had ceded all their territorial rights to the republic. The Sultanate of Brunei at first welcomed the proposal of a new larger federation. Meanwhile, the Brunei People's Party led by A.M. Azahari desired to reunify Brunei, Sarawak and North Borneo into one federation known as the
North Borneo Federation The North Borneo Federation, also known as North Kalimantan (), was a proposed political entity which would have comprised the British colonies of Sarawak, British North Borneo (now known as the Malaysian state of Sabah) and the protectorate o ...
(), where the
sultan of Brunei The Sultan of Brunei is the monarchical head of state of Brunei and head of government in his capacity as prime minister of Brunei. Since independence from the British in 1984, only one sultan has reigned, though the royal institution dates bac ...
would be the head of state for the federation—though Azahari had his own intention to abolish the Brunei monarchy, to make Brunei more democratic, and to integrate the territory and other former British colonies in Borneo into Indonesia, with the support from the latter government. This directly led to the
Brunei Revolt The Brunei revolt () or the Brunei rebellion of 1962 was a December 1962 insurrection in the British protectorate of Brunei by opponents of its monarchy's proposed inclusion in the Federation of Malaysia. The insurgents were members of the ...
, which thwarted Azahari's attempt and forced him to escape to Indonesia. Brunei withdrew from being part of the new Federation of Malaysia due to some disagreements on other issues while political leaders in Sarawak and North Borneo continued to favour inclusion in a larger federation. With the continuous opposition from Indonesia and the Philippines, the
Cobbold Commission The Cobbold Commission, was a Commission of Enquiry set up to determine whether the people of North Borneo (now Sabah) and Sarawak supported the proposal to create the Federation of Malaysia consisting of Malaya, Brunei, Singapore, North Borne ...
was established to discover the feeling of the native populations in northern Borneo; it found the people greatly in favour of federation, with various stipulations. The federation was successfully achieved with the inclusion of northern Borneo through the
Malaysia Agreement The Malaysia Agreement,; or the Agreement relating to Malaysia between United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Federation of Malaya, North Borneo, Sarawak and Singapore (MA63) was a legal document which agreed to combine Nor ...
on 16 September 1963. To this day, the area in northern Borneo is still subjected to attacks by Moro pirates since the 18th century and militant from groups such as
Abu Sayyaf Abu Sayyaf (; , ASG), officially known by the Islamic State as the Islamic State – East Asia Province, was a Jihadist militant and piracy, pirate group that followed the Wahhabi doctrine of Sunni Islam. It was based in and around Jolo and B ...
since 2000 in the frequent cross border attacks. During the administration of Philippine president
Ferdinand Marcos Ferdinand Emmanuel Edralin Marcos Sr. (September 11, 1917 – September 28, 1989) was a Filipino lawyer, politician, dictator, and Kleptocracy, kleptocrat who served as the tenth president of the Philippines from 1965 to 1986. He ruled the c ...
, Marcos made some attempts to destabilise the state of Sabah, although his plan failed and resulted in the
Jabidah massacre The Jabidah massacre on March 18, 1968, was the assassinations or executions of Moro army recruits who allegedly mutinied upon learning the true nature of their mission. It is acknowledged as a major flashpoint that ignited the Moro insurg ...
and later the insurgency in the southern Philippines. In August 2019, Indonesian president
Joko Widodo Joko Widodo (; born 21 June 1961), often known mononymously as Jokowi, is an Indonesian politician, engineer, and businessman who served as the seventh president of Indonesia from 2014 to 2024. Previously a member of the Indonesian Democratic ...
announced a Capital of Indonesia#Move to Nusantara, plan to move the capital of Indonesia from Jakarta to a newly established location in the
East Kalimantan East Kalimantan (Indonesian language, Indonesian: ) is a Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia. Its territory comprises the eastern portion of Borneo/Kalimantan. It had a population of about 3.03 million at the 2010 census (within the cu ...
province in Borneo.


Demographics

The demonym for Borneo is Bornean. Borneo had 23,053,723 inhabitants (in 2020 Censuses), a population density of . Most of the population lives in coastal cities, although the hinterland has small towns and villages along the rivers.


Territories by population, size, and timezone

May includes the offshore islands and its populations
Due to its size, Brunei is further subdivided into 4 districts (Districts of Brunei, mukim), which is similar to the size of smaller administrative units in Indonesia (Districts of Indonesia, kecamatan) and Malaysia (List of districts in Malaysia, daerah)


20 largest cities and towns in Borneo by population

* *


Urbanisation by region

Data based on the projection in the former territories in East Kalimantan Province (prior to the separation of North Kalimantan in 2012)


Major ethnicities by region

Based on alphabetical order


Religion


Administration

The island of Borneo is divided administratively by three countries. * The independent sultanate of
Brunei Brunei, officially Brunei Darussalam, is a country in Southeast Asia, situated on the northern coast of the island of Borneo. Apart from its coastline on the South China Sea, it is completely surrounded by the Malaysian state of Sarawak, with ...
(main part and eastern exclave of Temburong District, Temburong) * The Indonesian Provinces of Indonesia, provinces of East Kalimantan, East, South Kalimantan, South, West Kalimantan, West, North Kalimantan, North and Central Kalimantan, in Kalimantan * The
East Malaysia East Malaysia (), or the Borneo States, also known as Malaysian Borneo, is the part of Malaysia on and near the island of Borneo, the world's third-largest island. East Malaysia comprises the states of Sabah, Sarawak, and the Federal Territory ...
n States of Malaysia, states of
Sabah Sabah () is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia located in northern Borneo, in the region of East Malaysia. Sabah has land borders with the Malaysian state of Sarawak to the southwest and Indonesia's North Kalima ...
and
Sarawak Sarawak ( , ) is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia. It is the largest among the 13 states, with an area almost equal to that of Peninsular Malaysia. Sarawak is located in East Malaysia in northwest Borneo, and is ...
, as well as the Federal Territory (Malaysia), Federal Territory of
Labuan Labuan (), officially the Federal Territory of Labuan (), is an island federal territory of Malaysia. It includes and six smaller islands off the coast of the state of Sabah in East Malaysia. Labuan's capital is Victoria, which is best kno ...
(on offshore islands nearby)


Economy

Borneo's economy depends mainly on agriculture, logging and mining, crude oil, oil and gas, and ecotourism. Brunei's economy is highly dependent on the oil and gas production sector, and the country has become one of the largest oil producers in Southeast Asia. The Malaysian states of Sabah and Sarawak are both top exporters of Lumber, timber. Sabah is also known as the agricultural producer of natural rubber, rubber, theobroma cacao, cacao, and vegetables, and for its fisheries, while Sabah, Sarawak and Labuan export liquefied natural gas (LNG) and petroleum. The Indonesian provinces of Kalimantan are mostly dependent on mining sectors despite also being involved in logging and oil and gas explorations.


List of territories by GDP/GRP 2023


Human Development Index by territory

HDI is a statistic of combined indicators that takes into account life expectancy, health, education and per-capita income.


See also

* Hikayat Banjar * Kutai basin * List of islands of Indonesia * List of islands of Malaysia * Maphilindo * List of bats of Borneo


References


Further reading

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *


External links

* *
Environmental Profile of Borneo
– Background on Borneo, including natural and social history, deforestation statistics, and conservation news. {{Authority control Borneo, Greater Sunda Islands International islands Islands of Brunei Islands of Malaysia Maritime Southeast Asia