North Kalimantan

In the Míng Shǐ (Chinese: 明史), the official history of the Chinese Ming Dynasty, for the year 1417, Kalimantan was recorded as a kingdom under vassalage to the then Hindu Sulu Kingdom as Kalimantan was ruled by a Sulu monarch named Mahalatu Gelamading Chinese: 麻哈剌吐葛 剌麻丁 (Máhālátǔ Gélámádīng); Maharaja Klainbantangan) where his title, Klainbantangan, in Chinese rendering, named after his territory, Kalimantan.[8]

North Kalimantan then became territory of the Bulungan kingdom, which was founded by a group of coastal Kayan. Around the 16th century, a Kayan princess called, Asung Luwan, married a visiting nobleman from Brunei, called Datuk Mencang. From this line a princely state was established, centred in Tanjung Selor, which had territory of Bulungan, Tana Tidung, Malinau, Nunukan, Tarakan, and some part of Sabah. Bulungan was a vassal of Berau, which in turn was a vassal of Kingdom of Kutai. During subsequent wars, the territory fell into the hands of Brunei and after agreements were made with the Sultanate of Sulu, the territory officially came under Sulu control. In 1777, the royal family converted to Islam, with the king Wira Amir changing his name to Aji Muhammad, and title to Sultan Amirul Mukminin. In 1853, The Dutch signed a Politiek Contract to impose their sovereignty over the Bulungan kingdom, Sulu was not able to respond as it was also in a war with Spain. Then in 1881, the British North Borneo Company (BNBC) was formed, placing North Borneo (present-day Sabah) under British jurisdiction, and claiming the region of Tawau. While under Dutch control, the sultan was forced to hand over control of the Bahau river, Pujungan river, and Apo Kayan. After long negotiation with the British, the Dutch recognised the British borders in 1915 which became modern the border between Sabah and North Kalimantan. During World War II, the Japanese occupying forces had an agreements with Bulungan in which they shared natural resources and in exchange the region largely escaped the Romusha system.[9][10]

Tarakan Airport also known as Juwata International Airport on the eponymous island serves the province, as well as an international ferry port with services to Malaysia from Tawau. There are no international land crossings – entrance into the mainland of the province is by ferry from Tarakan or by road from the south. Large stretches of the roads in this province are of unpaved muddy ditches.[13]

The airport area and runway is also shared with Suharnoko Harbani Air Force Base, a Type A airbase of the TNI-AU (Indonesian Air Force). The airbase is named after the former Minister of Industry of Indonesia, Suharnoko Harbani, who was also formerly an Air Force officer. Formed in 2006, the establishment of this air base is essentially part of the strategy and efforts to realize the defense of the country from the potential and development of threats that will threaten the Indonesia as well as the organization's demands from the Air Force Operations Command II in Makassar to facilitate control of its duties. Before the formation of the Air Base, there was already an Indonesian Air Force post which was under the Balikpapan Air Force Base but due to the development of situation and tension with Malaysia in Ambalat, the leadership of the Air Force decided to form a new airbase. Due to the airport is used both by military and civil aviation, so the apron is also used together. In July 2014, the airport authority initials to build 183 meters taxiway to the military apron which can accommodate 4 Sukhoi and 2 Hercules together and the project is predicted to be finished in December 2014.[14]

The Trans-Kalimantan Highway (Jalan Trans Kalimantan) was finished at early 2019 under the administration of President Joko Widodo. The route connects Pontianak, West Kalimantan with Tanjung Selor, the capital city of North Kalimantan.[15][16]

North Kalimantan is divided into four regencies (kabupaten) and one city (kota), listed below with their areas and their populations at the 2010 Census[5] and 2020 Census,[6] together with the official estimates as at mid 2022.[2]

• Bulungan Sultanate

• (in Indonesian) Kaltaraprov.go.id: official North Kalimantan website