West Kalimantan

West Kalimantan

West Kalimantan is a province of Indonesia. It is one of five Indonesian provinces in Kalimantan, the Indonesian part of the island of Borneo. Its capital city Pontianak.
The borders of West Kalimantan roughly trace the mountain ranges surrounding the watershed of the Kapuas River, which drains most of the province.
The history of West Kalimantan can be dated back to 17th century. Dayaks were the main inhabitants of the province before 17th century. The Malay migrated to West Kalimantan and built their own sultanates. The high Chinese population in this province was due to a republic founded by Chinese miners called Lanfang Republic after they defeated the local Malay sultans. The government of Lanfang Republic was ended in West Kalimantan after the Dutch occupation in 1884.
West Kalimantan was under Japanese occupation from 1942 to 1945, when Indonesia declared its Independence. During the Japanese occupation, more than 21,000 people in Pontianak were kidnapped, tortured and massacred by Japanese troops. Japanese intelligence had become concerned that the ethnic Chinese were planning to start a rebellion, and were worried that people in the city had received guns and ammunition from the Chinese government.
After the end of war, the Japanese officers in Pontianak were arrested by allied troops and brought in front of an international military tribune. During the trial, it was revealed that the plan to start the rebellion didn't exist and instead was only an imaginary plan created by Japanese officers who wanted to get promoted.

A monument called Makam commemorate this tragic event.

Juang Mandor was created to -

During the 1930s the Dutch colonial powers initiated a "transmigration plan" to move people from heavily populated islands such as Java, to the less populated islands of Irian Jaya and Kalimantan. In the 1960s the Indonesian government granted the Madurese rights to clear lands from forest for palm oil cultivation. This conflicted with the local Dayak tribes’ traditional way of life. The tensions between the two ethnic groups resulted in major eruptions of violence in 1996, 1999 and 2001, resulting in about 500 deaths.
There are three National Parks in the province: Danau Sentarum, Gunung Palung and Betung Kerihun. Currently, illegal logging for trees such as dipterocarp and plantations of palm oil and pulpwood threaten many rare species in the province due to the effects of habitat destruction. Peat bog fires and droughts or flooding during ENSO episodes also threaten the area and are worsened by ongoing deforestation.
Dr. Hotlin Ompusunggu has received the 2011 Whitley Award for her conservation work in West Kalimantan. She has been fighting against illegal logging by trade off with low-cost quality dental and medical treatment to 60,000 villagers on condition they involve in reforestation and conservation work.
The whole of West Kalimantan has now been totally logged and sparse of any trees, according to new maps.

Related Sites for West Kalimantan

• VISIT WEST KALIMANTAN DAYAK CULTURE LONGHOUSE … read West Kalimantan
• West Borneo - West Kalimantan Tourism - Travel to Indonesia : … read West Kalimantan
• Map of West Kalimantan by Peter Loud read West Kalimantan
• West Borneo Map - Peta Kalimantan Barat - West Kalimantan Map read West Kalimantan