Central Kalimantan

Geography

Central Kalimantan is the largest Indonesian province by area (Papua Province held this position until its 2022 partition) with a size of 153,430.36 km² (59,239.79 sq mi), about 1.5 times the size of the island of Java, and it is slightly larger than Bangladesh or the U.S. state of Illinois or Murmansk Oblast. It is bordered by West Kalimantan and East Kalimantan provinces to the north, by the Java Sea to the south, by South Kalimantan and East Kalimantan provinces to the east, and by West Kalimantan province to west.

The Schwaner Mountains stretch from the north-east of the province to the south-west, 80% of which is covered in dense forest, peatland swamps, mangroves, rivers and traditional agriculture land. Highland areas in the north-east are remote and not easily accessible. Non-volcanic mounts are scattered in this area including Kengkabang, Samiajang, Liang Pahang and Ulu Gedang.

The centre of the province is covered with tropical forest, which produces rattan, resin and valuable timber such as Ulin and Meranti. The southern lowlands are dominated by peatland swamps that intersect with many rivers. Sabangau National Park is a protected peatland area internationally acknowledged as sanctuary for the endangered Orangutan. Recently the peat swamp forests have been damaged by the Mega Rice Project, which unsuccessfully sought to turn large areas into rice paddies.

The province's climate is wet weather equatorial zone with an eight-month rainy season, and 4 months of dry season. Rainfall or precipitation is 2,776—3,393 mm per year with an average of 145 rainy days annually.

Rivers

Central Kalimantan has numerous rivers, generally flowing southwards from the catchment areas in the north in the Schwaner Mountains, down to the Java Sea. The major rivers (with their lengths) include:

• Barito River (900 km)
• Kapuas River (600 km)
• Kahayan River (600 km)
• Katingan River (600 km)
• Mentaya (Sampit) River (400 km)
• Seruyan River (350 km)
• Lamandau River (300 km)
• Arut River (250 km)
• Sabangau River (200 km)
• Kumai River (179 km)
• Jelai River (100 km)

Note: (a) Not to be confused with the Kapuas River in West Kalimantan province.

Rivers are an important mode of transportation and a primary location for settlement. With relatively undeveloped infrastructure, the province's economy relies heavily on the rivers.

Ecology

Based upon the research of the Indonesian Ministry of Environment and Forestry, Central Kalimantan comprises approximately ten different ecological regions. The two main ecological regions are the peat ecoregion which covers 26% of the total area of Central Kalimantan and the fluvial plain ecoregion which covers 21% of the whole area of Central Kalimantan. Due to its high concentration of the peat ecological region, Central Kalimantan is prone to drought and peat fires during the dry season and inundation during the rainy season within each episodes of the ENSO and the IOD. These situations have worsened because of massive deforestation in the region and climate change.

Central Kalimantan is also home for many endemic floras and faunas like orangutans, proboscis monkeys, hornbill birds, rattan, Bornean iron wood, etc. This province currently has three national parks i.e. Sabangau National Park, Tanjung Puting National Park, and Bukit Baka Bukit Raya National Park which are home to the endemic floras and faunas of Kalimantan.

Government and administrative divisions

Central Kalimantan Province, when separated from South Kalimantan in 1958, comprised three regencies (kabupaten) - Barito, Kapuas and Kotawaringin. However on 26 June 1959 two of these were split - Barito Regency was divided into a South Barito Regency and a North Barito Regency, while Kotawaringin Regency was divided into a West Kotawaringin Regency and an East Kotawaringin Regency. On 14 June 1965 the provincial capital of Palangka Raya was split off from Kapuas Regency to form an independent city (kotamadya).

On 10 April 2002 an additional eight regencies were created by splitting existing regencies - Sukamara and Lamandau from parts of West Kotawaringin Regency, Seruyan and Katingan from parts of East Kotawaringin Regency, Pulang Pisau and Gunung Mas from parts of Kapuas Regency, East Barito from part of South Barito Regency, and Murung Raya from part of North Barito Regency. Thus the province now is administratively divided into thirteen regencies (each headed by a regent) and the single city. These are listed below with their areas and their populations at the 2010 and 2020 Censuses, together with the official estimates as at mid 2025.

The six western regencies (covering the original pre-1958 Kotawaringin Regency, have a combined area of 71,552.48 km² and had a total population of 1,264,451 persons as at mid 2025. The seven eastern regencies (plus the municipality of Palangka Raya) have a combined area of 81,877.89 km² and had a total population of 1,580,541 persons as at mid 2025. There has been a campaign in Kotawaringin for the six western regencies to be split away to form a separate province.

In addition to the civil service, Central Kalimantan also recognises a traditional governing system led by traditional leaders known as Damang. The province is divided into 67 traditional law areas known as Kedamangan, headed by Damang. The system is intended to culturally recognise and preserve the customs and heritage of the Dayak tribes.

The province now forms one of Indonesia's 84 national electoral districts to elect members to the People's Representative Council. The Central Kalimantan Electoral District consists of all of the 13 regencies in the province, together with the city of Palangkaraya, and elects 6 members to the People's Representative Council.

Railways

In 2026, Indonesia is evaluating plans to build a 2,772-kilometre railway network across all the Kalimantan provinces to improve logistics and unlock resource-driven growth, though the project remains at an early planning stage. A principal line will stretch across Central Kalimantan from West Kalimantan to South Kalimantan.

Demographics

Population

The total population of Central Kalimantan was 2,669,969 people based upon the national census in 2020; the official estimate as at mid 2025 was 2,844,992. The sex ratio of this province is 107 which means there are 107 males to every 100 females. The population density of Central Kalimantan is only 18.54 people/km².

Religion

According to the Statistics on 2021, the largest religious group in Central Kalimantan province is Islam with more than 74% of its total population. Then, the second largest group is Christianity with more than 19% of its total population. The rest of the population adhere to the local belief of Kaharingan, Hinduism, and Buddhism with more than 5%.

Ethnic groups

Central Kalimantan is predominantly inhabited by the Dayak people that would further be divided into three major Dayak sub-ethnics. The three major Dayak tribes in Central Kalimantan are the Ngaju, Ot Danum and Dusun Ma'anyan Ot Siang. The three major tribes extended into several branches of prominent Dayak tribes in Central Kalimantan such as Lawangan, Taboyan, Dusun Siang, Boyan, Bantian, Dohoi and Kadori.

In addition to the indigenous Dayak tribes, there are also ethnic groups from other areas of Indonesia, including Malays, Javanese, Madurese, Batak, Toraja, Ambonese, Bugis, Palembang, Minang, Banjarese, Makassar, Papuan, Balinese, Acehnese and also Chinese.

Culture

Traditional music

The most well-known traditional musical instrument from Central Kalimantan is Japen, Garantung, and Gandang Manca which are traditional Dayak musical instruments. These musical instruments are usually played during traditional procession or ritual.

Japen or Kecapi is a lute-like instrument that is honored by Dayak people. This traditional musical instrument is usually played as an accompaniment for Central Kalimantan traditional music such as Karungut recitation, a Dayak oral literature in the form of musicalized rhyme scheme. Japen is mainly made of wood and nylon rope for its strings.

Garantung is a percussion instrument that is fairly similar to kempul in gamelan. It is a type of hanging gong that is normally played ensemble with Gandang Manca or Gandang Kembar. Gandang Manca itself is a two-headed drum of Dayak traditional musical instrument that is mainly made of wood for the body of the drum and leather membranes to cover the cavity at both ends that are tied by rattan rope. Both Garantung and Gandang Manca are commonly played ensembly as an accompaniment for Dayak traditional processions and rituals.

Traditional architecture

The most notable fine arts of Dayak people is the traditional house. The traditional house of Dayak people in Central Kalimantan is commonly called Huma Betang. Huma Betang or simply called Betang like many other traditional houses in Indonesia is built on stilts. This traditional house structure is mainly made of iron wood which is commonly anti-termite and resistant to high humidity, thus the house can stand up to hundreds of years. Huma Betang is very well-known for its huge and long size. The length of this house structure is usually between 30 and 150 metres, the width is somewhere between 5 and 30 metres, and the height is approximately 3 to 6 metres. Due to its huge and long size, this house can be occupied by up to 150 people and usually inhabited by one big family.

Traditional carving

Central Kalimantan is well-known for its unique traditional carving. The three most famous carving from this province are the three dimensional wood carving sculpture of Sapundu and the traditional weapons i.e. Mandau and Talawang.

Sapundu sculpture is a three dimensional wood carving in the form of humanoid statue. This sculpture is commonly adorned with decorative motifs or even colors. Sapundu sculpture is mainly made of Bornean iron wood and usually presents during Tiwah procession. In ancient times, Sapundu sculpture symbolized the social status of its owner and was believed to possess magical powers.

The Mandau and Talawang are the main traditional weapon of Dayak people in Central Kalimantan. The Mandau is a type of sword with a single edge blade i.e. one side is convex and the other side is concave. The Mandau consists of three different parts, which are (i) the Bilah or the blade that made of Mantikei iron plate with a sharp edge and is 70 cm long, (ii) the Pulang Gagang or the hilt that is usually made of wood, deer's horns, or even human bones, and (iii) the Sarung or the sheath which covers the blade and is typically made of wood and usually covered with bracelet-shaped bone on the upper part and wrapped by rattan rope.

The Talawang is a shield that mainly made of Bornean iron wood that is carved with certain motifs and adorned with some bright colors. In ancient times, this weapon was used as a protection against wild animals and enemy's arrows and sword slashes. However, the function currently shifts to become a decorative ornament of Kaharingan temples, public buildings, or even people's houses mostly in Central Kalimantan.

Traditional dance

Central Kalimantan is home for various sub-ethnics of Dayak tribe. Each of those Dayak sub-ethnics live spread out across all regencies in Central Kalimantan. This makes every regency have their own unique traditional dances. These are some of the traditional dances from Central Kalimantan:

1. Kinyah Mandau Hatue Dance, originating from Kapuas Regency and depicting theatrical war and martial arts of Dayak tribes in ancient time.
2. Giring-Giring Dance, coming from East Barito Regency and usually performed in group of 6 to 10 people.
3. Walian Dadas Dance, originating from South Barito Regency and used to be performed as a way to heal a region from negativity.
4. Babukung Dance, originally from Lamandau Regency and performed during funeral especially among Dayak Tomun people.
5. Tambun Bungai Dance, originating from Palangka Raya city and depicting heroic action of Tambung and Bungai protecting the territory from enemy who tried to loot people's crops.

Notable people