Borneo
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225502733
2008-07-14T01:06:52Z
85.82.218.206
{{Infobox Island<!-- hellloooooo -->s
|name = Borneo
|image name = Borneo Topography.png
|image caption = Topography of Borneo
|native name =
|native name link =
|location = [[South East Asia]]
|coordinates = {{coor dm|1|00|N|114|00|E|region:ID_type:isle}}
|archipelago = [[Greater Sunda Islands]]
|area = 743,330 km²
|rank = 3rd
|highest mount = [[Mount Kinabalu|Kinabalu]]
|elevation = 4,095 m
|country = Brunei
|country admin divisions title = Districts
|country admin divisions = [[Belait District|Belait]]<br>[[Brunei-Muara District|Brunei and Muara]]<br>[[Temburong District|Temburong]]<br>[[Tutong District|Tutong]]
|country 1 = Indonesia
|country 2 = Malaysia
|country 1 admin divisions title = Provinces
|country 1 admin divisions = [[West Kalimantan]]<br>[[Central Kalimantan]]<br>[[South Kalimantan]]<br>[[East Kalimantan]]
|country largest city =
|country largest city area =
|country 2 admin divisions title = States
|country 2 admin divisions = [[Sabah]]<br>[[Sarawak]]
|population = 16 million
|population as of = 2000
|density = 22
|ethnic groups =
}}
'''Borneo''' is the [[List of islands by area|third largest island in the world]] and is located at the centre of [[Maritime Southeast Asia]]. Administratively, this island is divided between [[Indonesia]], [[Malaysia]] and [[Brunei]]. Indonesia's region of Borneo is called "[[Kalimantan]]" (although Indonesians use the term for the whole island), while Malaysia's region of Borneo is called [[East Malaysia]] or [[Malaysian Borneo]]. The independent nation of Brunei occupies the remainder of the island. Brunei is the wealthiest state in the island of Borneo.
==Geography==
Borneo is surrounded by the [[South China Sea]] to the north and northwest, the [[Sulu Sea]] to the northeast, the [[Celebes Sea]] and the [[Makassar Strait]] to the east, and the [[Java Sea]] and [[Karimata Strait]] to the south. It has an area of 743,330 km² (287,000 square miles).
To the west of Borneo [http://borneo-tourism.blogspot.com] are the [[Malay Peninsula]] and [[Sumatra]]. To the south is [[Java (island)|Java]]. To the east is the island of [[Sulawesi|Sulawesi (Celebes)]]. To the northeast is the [[Philippines]].
Borneo's highest point is [[Mount Kinabalu]] in [[Sabah]], [[Malaysia]], with an elevation of 4,095 m (13,435 ft) above [[sea level]]. This makes it the world's [[List of islands by highest point|third highest island]].
The largest river systems are the [[Kapuas River]], with approximately 1,143 km the longest river in Indonesia, the [[Rajang River]] in Sarawak with some 562,5 km the longest river in Malaysia, the [[Barito River]] about 880 km long and the [[Mahakam River]] about 980 km long.
Borneo is also known for its extensive cave systems. Clearwater Cave has one of the world's longest underwater rivers. [[Deer Cave]], thought to be the largest cave passage in the world, is home to over three million [[bat]]s and [[guano]] accumulated to over 100 metres high.
==Administration==
The Island of Borneo is divided administratively into:
* The [[Indonesia]]n [[Provinces of Indonesia|provinces]] of [[East Kalimantan|East]], [[South Kalimantan|South]], [[West Kalimantan|West]] and [[Central Kalimantan|Central]] [[Kalimantan]]
* The [[States of Malaysia|Malaysian states]] of [[Sabah]] and [[Sarawak]] (the [[Federal Territory]] of [[Labuan]] is located on nearshore islands of Borneo, but not on the island of Borneo itself)
* The independent country of [[Brunei]] (main part and eastern exclave of [[Temburong District|Temburong]])
==History==
[[Image:Borneo2 map english names.PNG|thumb|left|Political divisions of Borneo<br>]]
In the 15th century, the [[Majapahit]] rule exerted its influence in Borneo. Princess Junjung Buih, the queen of the Hindu kingdom of Negara Dipa (situated in Candi Agung area of [[Amuntai]]) married a Javanese prince, Prince Suryanata, and together they ruled the kingdom which is a tributary to the Majapahit Empire (1365). In this way, it became a part of [[Nusantara]]. Along the way, the power of Negara Dipa weakened and was replaced by the new court of Negara Daha. When Prince Samudra (Prince Suriansyah) of Negara Daha converted to Islam and formed the Islamic kingdom of Banjar, it inherited some of the areas previously ruled by the Hindu kingdom of Negara Daha.
The [[Brunei]] Sultanate during its golden age from the 15th to 17th centuries ruled a large part of northern Borneo. In 1703 (other sources say 1658), the [[Sulu Sultanate|Sultanate of Sulu]] received North Borneo from the Sultan of Brunei, after Sulu sent aid against a rebellion in Brunei. During the 1450s, Shari'ful Hashem Syed Abu Bakr, an Arab born in Johor, arrived in Sulu from Malacca. In 1457, he founded the Sultanate of Sulu; he then renamed himself "Paduka Maulana Mahasari Sharif Sultan Hashem Abu Bakr". Subsequently HM Sultan Jamalul Ahlam Kiram (1863-1881) the 29th reigning Sultan of Sulu leased North Borneo in 1878 to Gustavus Baron de Overbeck & Alfred Dent representing the [[British North Borneo Company]] [http://www.sabah.org.my/bi/know_sabah/history.asp] in what is now [[Sabah]] part of Malaysia. The company also exerted control on inland territories that were inhabited by numerous tribes. In the 19th Century coastal areas ruled by the [[Brunei Sultanate]] in the west of the island were gradually taken by the [[James Brooke|Brooke]] dynasty. [http://www.sarawak.gov.my/contents/history-sarawak/history-sarawak.shtml]
By the 18th century, the area from [[Sambas]] to [[Berau]] were tributaries to the Banjar Kingdom, but this eventually shrunk to the size of what is now [[South Kalimantan]] as a result of agreements with the Dutch. In the Karang Intan Agreement during the reign of Prince Nata Dilaga (Susuhunan Nata Alam) (1808-1825), the Banjar Kingdom gave up its territories to the Dutch Indies which included Bulungan, Kutai, Pasir, Pagatan and Kotawaringin. Other territories given up to the Dutch Indies were Landak, Sambas, Sintang and Sukadana.
In the early 19th century, British and Dutch governments signed the [[Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1824]] to exchange trading ports under their controls and assert spheres of influences, in which indirectly set apart the two parts of Borneo into British and Dutch controlled areas. [[China]] has had historical trading links with the inhabitants of the island. Some of the Chinese beads and wares found their way deep into the interior of Borneo.
Moreover in the 19th century, the Dutch admitted the founding of district kingdoms with native leaders who were under the power of the Dutch (''Indirect Bestuur'').
The Dutch assign a resident to head their rule over Kalimantan. List of the residents and governors of Kalimantan:
# C.A. Kroesen (1898), resident
# C.J. Van Kempen (1924), resident
# J. De Haan (1924-1929), resident
# R. Koppenel (1929-1931), resident
# W.G. Morggeustrom (1933-1937), resident
# Dr. A. Haga (1938-1942), governor
# Pangeran Musa Ardi Kesuma (1942-1945), Ridzie
# Ir. Pangeran Muhammad Noor (1945), governor
Since 1938, Dutch-Borneo (Kalimantan) was one administrative territory under a governor (Governor Haga) whose seat was in [[Banjarmasin]]. In 1957 following the independence of Indonesia, Kalimantan was divided into 3 provinces which is South Kalimantan, East Kalimantan and West Kalimantan. The province of Central Kalimantan separated from South Kalimantan to have their own territory in 1958.
During the [[World War II|Second World War]], Japanese forces gained control of Borneo (1941–45). They decimated many local populations and Malay intellectuals, including the elimination of the Malay Sultanate of [[Sambas]] in [[Kalimantan]] [http://pariwisata.kalbar.go.id/index.php?op=deskripsi&u1=1&u2=1&idkt=4]. Borneo was the main site of the [[Indonesia-Malaysia confrontation|confrontation]] between [[Indonesia]] and [[Malaysia]] between 1962 and 1966, as well as the [[communism|communist]] revolts to gain control of the whole area. Before the formation of Malaysian Federation, the [[Philippines]] claimed that the Malaysian state of [[Sabah]] in [[north Borneo]] is within their territorial rights based on historical facts of the Sultanate of Sulu's leasing agreement with the North Borneo Company, is presently an unresolved claim against Malaysia. Several other territorial claims such as [[Sipadan]] were resolved at [[The Hague]] [[international court]]s.
==Ecology==
[[Image:Nepenthes villosa.jpg|thumb|''[[Nepenthes villosa]]'', a species of [[pitcher plant]] endemic to [[Kinabalu National Park]], Borneo.]]
Borneo is very rich in [[biodiversity]] compared to many other areas (MacKinnon et al. 1998). There are about 15,000 species of [[flowering plant]]s with 3,000 species of trees (267 species are [[dipterocarp]]s), 221 species of terrestrial mammals and 420 species of resident birds in Borneo (MacKinnon et al. 1998). It is also the centre of evolution and radiation of many endemic species of plants and animals. The remaining Borneo [[rainforest]] is the only [[Habitat (ecology)|natural habitat]] for the endangered [[Bornean Orangutan]]. It is also an important refuge for many [[endemic (ecology)|endemic]] forest species, as the [[Asian Elephant]], the [[Sumatran Rhinoceros]], the [[Bornean Clouded Leopard]], and the [[Dayak Fruit Bat]].
The [[World Wildlife Fund]] divides the island into seven distinct [[ecoregion]]s. The [[Borneo lowland rain forests]] cover most of the island, with an area of 427,500 km². Other lowland ecoregions are the [[Borneo peat swamp forests]], the ''[[Kerangas]]'' or Sundaland heath forests, the [[Southwest Borneo freshwater swamp forests]], and the [[Sunda Shelf mangroves]]. The Borneo mountain rain forests lie in the central highlands of the island, above the 1000 meter elevation. The highest elevations of [[Mount Kinabalu]] are home to the Kinabalu mountain [[alpine meadow]], an alpine shrubland notable for its numerous endemic species, including many orchids.
The island historically had extensive [[rainforest]] cover, but the area shrank rapidly due to heavy [[logging]] for the needs of the Malaysian plywood industry. Two [http://www.forest.sabah.gov.my/ forestry] researchers of [http://www.forest.sabah.gov.my/frc/English/index.html Sepilok Research Centre], Sandakan, Sabah in the early 80's indentified four fast-growing hardwoods and a breakthrough on seed collection and handling of [[Acacia mangium]] and [[Gmelina arborea]], a fast growing tropical trees were planted on huge track of formerly logged and deforested areas primarily in the northern part of Borneo Island. One half of the annual [[tropical timber]] acquisition of the whole world comes from Borneo. Furthermore, [[Palm oil]] plantations are rapidly encroaching on the last remnants of primary rainforest. The rainforest was also greatly destroyed due to the forest fires in 1997 to 1998 which were started by people and coincided with an exceptional drought season of [[El Niño]]. During the great fire, hotspots could be seen on [[Satellite imagery|satellite images]] and a [[haze]] was created that affected [[Brunei]], [[Malaysia]], [[Indonesia]] and [[Singapore]].
In order to combat overpopulation and AIDS in [[Java (island)|Java]], the Indonesian government started a massive transmigration ([[transmigrasi]]) of poor farmers and landless peasants into Borneo in the 70's and 80's, to farm the logged areas, albeit with little success as the fertility of the land has been removed with the trees and what soil remains is washed away in tropical downpours.
==Ethnic and biological diversity==
[[Image:Borneo 8-19-2002.jpg|thumb|200px|right|Satellite image of the island of Borneo on August 19, 2002, showing smoke from burning peat swamp forests.]]
There are over 30 Dayak sub-[[ethnic group]]s living in Borneo, making the population of this island one of the most varied of human [[Group (sociology)|social groups]]. The native ethnic groups are Dayak [[Austronesians]] and their languages belong to the [[Malayo-Polynesian]] [[language family]]. Some sub-ethnicities are now represented by only 30-100 individuals and are threatened with extinction. Much culture, language, ethnomusic and [[traditional knowledge]] has yet to be documented by anthropologists. Ancestral knowledge of [[ethnobotany]] [http://peopleandplants.org/whatweproduce/Newsletters/sep2001.htm] and [[ethnozoology]] [http://ethnobiology.org/] is useful in drug discovery (for example, [[bintangor]] plant for [[AIDS]]) or as future alternative food sources (such as [[sago]] starch for [[lactic acid]] production and sago maggots as a protein source).[[Image:Mount kinabalu 01.png|thumb|left|[[Mount Kinabalu]], a major center of biodiversity in Borneo.]]
Certain indigenous Dayak people (such as the [[Kayan]], [[Kenyah]], [[Punan|Punan Bah]] and [[Penan]]) living on the island have been struggling for decades for their right to preserve their environment from loggers and transmigrant settlers and colonists. [[Land reform]] is needed for future development in the face of rapid economic changes.
The type of rainforests found in Borneo include the high diversity mixed [[dipterocarp]] forest, the rare [[peat swamp forest]]s and [[heath forest]].
Researchers scouring swamps in the heart of Borneo island have discovered a venomous species of snake that can change its skin color. Scientists named their find the [[Kapuas mud snake]], and speculated it might only occur in the [[Kapuas River]] [[drainage system]].
[[World Wildlife Fund]] has stated that 361 animal and plant species have been discovered in Borneo since 1996, underscoring its unparalleled biodiversity. [http://www.cnn.com/2006/TECH/science/06/28/chameleon.snake.ap/index.html] In the 18 month period from July 2005 until December 2006, another 52 new species were found.
==See also==
* [[Borneo peat swamp forests]]
* [[Endemic birds of Borneo]]
* [[Fauna of Borneo]]
* [[Hikayat Banjar]]
* [[Islands of Indonesia]]
* [[Mammals of Borneo]]
* [[List of islands by area]]
* [[Survivor: Borneo]]
* [[Rainforest World Music Festival]]
==References==
* Bowen, M.R. and Eusebio, T.V. (1981) b): Acacia mangium. Updated information on seed collection, handling and germination testing. Occasional Tech. and Scientific Notes, Seed Series No.5, Forest Research Centre, [http://www.forest.sabah.gov.my/frc/English/index.html Sepilok], Sandakan, Sabah, Malaysia
* Bowen, M.R. and Eusebio, T.V. (1982): Seed handling practices: four fast-growing hardwoods...Malaysian Forester Vol 45, No.4: 534-547
* Ghazally Ismail et al. (eds.) ''Scientific Journey Through Borneo'' Series. [[Universiti Malaysia Sarawak]], Kota Samarahan. 1996-2001.
* Gudgeon, L. W. W. ''British North Borneo''. Adam and Charles Black, London. (An early well-illustrated book on "British North Borneo", now known as Sabah.) 1913.
* MacKinnon K, Hatta G, Halim H, Mangalik A. ''The ecology of Kalimantan.'' [[Oxford University Press]], London. 1998.
* K M Wong & C L Chan. "Mt Kinabalu: Borneo's Magic Mountain." [[Natural History Publications (Borneo)|Natural History Publications]], [[Kota Kinabalu]]. 1998.
* David Macdonald. ''Expedition to Borneo''.
* Dennis Lau. ''Borneo: A Photographic Journey''.
* Stephen Holley. ''White Headhunter in Borneo''.
* Robert Young Pelton ''Borneo''.
=== Selected references ===
* Robert Young Pelton. ''Fielding's Borneo''[http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/ciu/05/5c/473f225b9da075a531691110._AA240_.L.jpg]
* Eric Hansen. ''Stranger in the Forest: On Foot Across Borneo''.
* John Wassner. ''Espresso with the Headhunters: A Journey Through the Jungles of Borneo''.
* Redmond O'Hanlon. ''Into the Heart of Borneo: An Account of a Journey Made in 1983 to the Mountains of Batu Tiban with James Fenton''.
* Charles M. Francis. ''A Photographic Guide to Mammals of South-east Asia''.
* Abdullah, MT. "Biogeography and variation of ''Cynopterus brachyotis'' in Southeast Asia." [[Thesis|PhD thesis]]. The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Australia. 2003.
* Corbet, GB, Hill JE. ''The mammals of the Indomalayan region: a systematic review''. Oxford University Press, Oxford. 1992.
* G.W.H. Davison, Chew Yen Fook. ''A Photographic Guide to Birds of Borneo''.
* Hall LS, Gordon G. Grigg, Craig Moritz, Besar Ketol, Isa Sait, Wahab Marni and MT Abdullah. "Biogeography of [[fruit bat]]s in Southeast Asia." ''Sarawak Museum Journal'' LX(81):191–284. 2004.
* Karim, C., A.A. Tuen and M.T. Abdullah. "Mammals." Sarawak Museum Journal Special Issue No. 6. 80: 221–234. 2004.
* Garbutt, Nick, and J. Cede Prudente. ''Wild Borneo: The Wildlife and Scenery of Sabah, Sarawak, Brunei, and Kalimantan''. 2007.
* Mohd. Azlan J., Ibnu Maryanto, Agus P. Kartono, and MT Abdullah. "Diversity, Relative Abundance and Conservation of Chiropterans in Kayan Mentarang National Park, East Kalimantan, Indonesia." ''Sarawak Museum Journal'' 79: 251-265. 2003.
* Hall LS, Richards GC, Abdullah MT. "The bats of Niah National Park, Sarawak." ''Sarawak Museum Journal''. 78: 255-282. 2002.
* Wilson DE, Reeder DM. ''Mammal species of the world''. [[Smithsonian Institution]] Press, Washington DC. 2005.
==External links==
{{portal|Indonesia}}
*[http://www.panda.org/heart-of-borneo/ WWF Heart of Borneo conservation initiative] - Information about the Heart of Borneo - 220,000 km² of upland montane [[Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests|tropical rainforest]], where [[endangered species]] such as the [[Orangutan|orang-utan]], rhinoceros and [[pygmy elephant]] cling for survival.
*[http://www.mongabay.com/borneo.html Environmental Profile of Borneo] - Background on Borneo, including natural and [[social history]], deforestation statistics, and conservation news.
*[http://www.flycatfly.com/Parachuting_Cats.html Parchuting cats] the story of WHO parachuting 14,000 cats into Borneo.
*http://www.borneotravelguide.com Online Travel Guide of Sabah, Sarawak and Brunei.
[[Category:Divided regions]]
[[Category:Islands of Malaysia]]
[[Category:Islands of Brunei]]
[[Category:Islands of Indonesia]]
[[Category:Greater Sunda Islands]]
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