East Kalimantan Kalimantan Timur
—  Province  —
Seal
Motto: Ruhui Rahayu (Banjarese) (Perfect harmony the blessing from God)
Location of East Kalimantan in Indonesia
Coordinates: 1°30′N 116°30′E / 1.5°N 116.5°E / 1.5; 116.5Coordinates: 1°30′N 116°30′E / 1.5°N 116.5°E / 1.5; 116.5
Country	Indonesia
Capital	Samarinda
Government
• Governor	Awang Faroek Ishak
Area
• Total	204,534.34 km2 (78,971.15 sq mi)
Population (2010)[1]
• Total	3,550,586
• Density	17/km2 (45/sq mi)
Demographics
• Ethnic groups	Javanese (29,6%), Bugis (18,3%), Banjarese (13,9%), Dayak (9,91%), Kutai (9,2%) [2]
• Religion	Islam (85.2%), Christianity (13.2%), Buddhism (0.62%), Hinduism (0.19%)
• Languages	Indonesian (official), Banjar, Dayak, Kutai
Time zone	WITA (UTC+8)
Website	www.kaltimprov.go.id

East Kalimantan (Indonesian: Kalimantan Timur abbrv. Kaltim) is the second largest Indonesian province, located on the Kalimantan region on the east of Borneo island. The resource-rich province has two major cities, Samarinda (the capital and a center for timber product) and Balikpapan (a petroleum center with oil refinery). Ever since Indonesia opened its mineral and natural resources for foreign investment in 1970s, East Kalimantan province has experienced major boost of timber, petroleum and other exotic forest products. The state-owned petroleum company Pertamina has been operating in the area since it took control oil refinery from the Royal Dutch Shell company in 1965.

The population is a mixture of people from the Indonesian archipelago with Dayaks and Kutai as indigenous ethnic groups living in rural areas. Other prominent migrant ethnic groups include Javanese, Chinese, Banjarese, Bugis and Malays, who mostly live in coastal areas.

History[link]

This province is the location of the oldest Hindu kingdom in Indonesia, Kutai, the existence of which is attested to by a stone manuscript, or Prasasti, which is now kept in the National Museum in Jakarta. The manuscript is written in the Pallava alphabet and the Sanskrit language. The replica of this manuscript can be seen in the Governor's Office in Samarinda.

Inscriptions on seven stone pillars (yupa posts) erected in the fifth century BCE on the command of a local ruler, King Mulavarman, records his victories, his generosity to Brahmins, his princely genealogy.^[3]

Administration[link]

East Kalimantan is divided into 10 regencies and 4 cities.

According to the "Jakarta Post" of 22 July 2004, there is a proposal to create a new province of North Kalimantan (Kalimantan Utara). It would be split from East Kalimantan (Kalimantan Timur) by taking the regencies (kabupaten) of Bulungan, Malinau and Nunukan, and the city (kotamadya) of Tarakan. Since that date, a new regency (Tana Tidung Regency) has been created in 2007 out of part of Bulungan Regency, so this would also fall within this putative North Kalimantan Province.

Ecology[link]

Logging road and impacts in East Kalimantan: logged forest on the left, primary forest on the right

Illegal logging has destroyed a great part of the rainforest. Less than half the original rainforest still remains, in places such as the Kayan Mentarang National Park in the northern part of the province and the Kutai National Park.

Economy[link]

East Kalimantan's economy heavily depends on earth resources such as oilfield exploration, natural gas, as well as coal and gold mining. Balikpapan has an oil refinery plant that was built by Dutch governance before World War II, destroyed during World War II, and rebuilt by Indonesia Governance.

Other developing economic sectors includes agriculture and tourism. East Kalimantan has several tourist destination such as Derawan Islands in Berau Regency, Kayan Mentarang National Park ini Nunukan, Crocodile Husbandry in Balikpapan, deer husbandry in Penajam, Dayak's (native Kalimantan people) Pampang Village in Samarinda and many others.

Among the many obstacles to developing economic growth is lack of transportation infrastructure. Transportation depends on traditional boats connecting coastal cities and areas along main river, Mahakam River.

Transport[link]

Railroad[link]

On February 7, 2012 Russia's state railway firm Joint Stock Company (JSC) Russian Railways signed a Memorandum of understanding with East Kalimantan Governor over railway line mainly to deliver coal and may be the others. The first stage will connect an area near Balikpapan port to West Kutai Regency in a 183-kilometer line and is estimated to cost about $1.8 billion. It will commence in 2013 and predicted to operate in 2017 to deliver 20 million tons of coal annually. The second phase will connect line to Murung Raya Regency in Central Kalimantan with a 60-kilometer line with an estimated investment of $600 million.^[4]

Tourist sites[link]

Besides unique Derawan Islands, East Kalimantan has another unique site, Labuan Cermin Lake at Biduk-biduk district which has fresh water on top of the lake with about 2 meters thickness and sea water below the fresh water up to the bottom of the lake. In the fresh water there are fresh water fish and also in the sea water there are sea water fish. Cermin means Mirror due to the water is very clear, so we can mirror on it. The site is very natural without any facilities there.^[5]

References[link]

External links[link]

Indonesia portal

• WWF Heart of Borneo conservation initiative - Information about the Heart of Borneo - 220,000 km² of upland montane tropical rainforest, where endangered species such as the orang-utan, rhinoceros and pygmy elephant cling for survival.
• [1] website Samboja Lestari lodge, one of Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation's reforestation and orangutan rehabilitation projects.
• East-Borneo.Co.Cc - The art, culture and knowledge of east Borneo.

	Sarawak,  Malaysia	Sabah,  Malaysia	Celebes Sea
	West Kalimantan		Makassar Strait
		East Kalimantan    East
	Central Kalimantan	South Kalimantan	Makassar Strait

v t e East Kalimantan, Indonesia Capital: Samarinda Regencies Kutai Kartanegara West Kutai East Kutai Paser North Penajam Paser Bulungan Berau Malinau Nunukan Tana Tidung Cities Samarinda Balikpapan Bontang Tarakan Towns Tenggarong Sendawar Sangatta Tanah Grogot Penajam Tanjung Selor Tanjung Redeb Nunukan Malinau Tideng Pale Islands Derawan Islands Sebatik Island Tarakan Island Kakaban Bunyu Airports Sepinggan, Balikpapan Temindung, Samarinda Juwata, Tarakan Berau Tanjung Harapan, Bulungan Nunukan Datadawai Long Bawan Long Apung Rivers Mahakam River Sesayap River Lawa River Mountains Mount Ilas Bungaan Mount Ilas Mapulu Mount Kemul