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BORNEO
Borneo (Indonesian: Kalimantan) is the third
largest island in the world and is located
north of Java, Indonesia, at the geographic
centre of Maritime Southeast Asia.
The island is divided among three
countries: Brunei, Indonesia and
Malaysia. Borneo is home to one of the
oldest rainforests in the world, along
with the Daintree Rainforest in
Australia and the Amazon rainforest.
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. With an
area of 743,330 square kilometres (287,000
sq mi), it is the largest island in Maritime
Southeast Asia. To the west of Borneo are
the Malay Peninsula and Sumatra. To the
south is Java. To the east is Sulawesi, and to
the northeast, 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. It is the third
highest peak in Southeast Asia,
making Borneo the world's third
highest island.
Mount Kinabalu
Borneo has significant cave
systems. Clearwater Cave, for
example, has one of the world's
longest underground rivers.
Deer Cave is home to over
three million bats.
Before sea levels rose at the end of
the last Ice Age, Borneo was part of
the mainland of Asia, forming, with
Java and Sumatra, the upland
regions of a peninsula that extended
east from present day Indochina and
Thailand. The South China Sea and
Gulf of Thailand now submerge the
former low-lying areas of the
peninsula.
The Borneo rainforest is 130 million years old,
making it the oldest rainforest in the world.
There are about 15,000 species of flowering
plants with 3,000 species of trees, 221 species of
terrestrial mammals and 420 species of
resident birds in Borneo.
It is the centre of evolution and radiation of
many endemic species of plants and
animals. The Borneo rainforest is one of the
only remaining natural habitats for the
endangered Bornean Orangutan.
Borneo is an important refuge for many
endemic forest species, including the Asian
Elephant, the Sumatran Rhinoceros, the
Bornean Clouded Leopard, the Hose's Civet
and the Dayak Fruit Bat. The World Wide
Fund for Nature has stated that 361 animal
and plant species have been discovered in
Borneo since 1996.
The island historically had extensive
rainforest cover, but the area shrank
due to heavy logging for the Malaysian
plywood industry. Half of the annual
global tropical timber acquisition
comes from Borneo. Furthermore, Palm
oil plantations are rapidly encroaching
on the last remnants of primary
rainforest.
The rainforest was also greatly destroyed
from the forest fires of 1997 to 1998, which
were started by the locals to clear the forests
for crops. During the great fire, hotspots
could be seen on satellite images and the
haze thus created affected the surrounding
countries of Brunei, Malaysia, Indonesia and
Singapore.
According to ancient Chinese, Indian and
Javanese manuscripts, western coastal cities of
Borneo had become trading ports, part of their
trade routes, since the first millennium. In
Chinese manuscripts, gold, tortoise shells,
hornbill ivory, rhinoceros horn, crane crest,
beeswax, dragon's blood, edible bird's nests
and various spices were among the most
valuable items from Borneo.
In the 14th century, almost all coastal parts of
Borneo were under the control of Majapahit
kingdom as is written in the Javanese
Nagarakretagama document and it was called
Nusa Tanjungnagara.
The Sultanate of Brunei, during its golden age
from the 15th century to the 17th century,
ruled a large part of northern Borneo. In 1703
(other sources say 1658), the Sultanate of Sulu
received North Borneo from the Sultan of
Brunei, after Sulu sent aid against a rebellion
in Brunei.
The Dayaks are the native people of
Borneo. It is a loose term for over 200
riverine and hill-dwelling ethnic
subgroups, located principally in the
interior of Borneo, each with its own
Dayaks, the natives of Borneo in their traditional war dress. dialect, customs, laws, territory and
culture, although common distinguishing
Headhunting was an important part of Dayak culture.
traits are readily identifiable.
In the past the Dayak were feared for their ancient
tradition of headhunting practices. After
conversion to Christianity or Islam and antiheadhunting legislation by the colonial powers the
practice was banned and disappeared, only to
resurface in the mid-1940s, when the Allies
encouraged the practice against the Japanese, and
the late 90s, when Dayak started to attack
Madurese emigrants in an explosion of ethnic
violence.
The Dayak indigenous religion has been given the name
Kaharingan, and may be said to be a form of animism.
Underlying the world-view is an account of the creation and recreation of this middle-earth where the Dayak dwell, arising out
of a cosmic battle in the beginning of time between a primal
couple, a male and female bird/dragon (serpent).
Representations of this primal couple are amongst the most
pervasivel motifs of Dayak art. The primal mythic conflict ended
in a mutual, procreative murder, from the body parts of which
the present universe arose stage by stage.