The island of Borneo is one of the largest islands in Southeast Asia. In fact, it is the third-largest island in the world.
Borneo has the distinction of being the only island in the world that is shared by three countries: Malaysia, Indonesia, and Brunei.
The Malaysian part of the island contains two states, called Sabah and Sarawak.
The Indonesian part of Borneo, which is also the largest part of the island, is known as Kalimantan and is composed of five provinces.
Today, Borneo is well-known for its rainforests, its multiethnic population, and its abundant natural resources, which are unfortunately being exploited at the expense of the island’s natural environment.
Borneo is located in Southeast Asia, in the Indonesian archipelago. To its north is the South China Sea.
The Philippines is situated northeast of Borneo, across the Sulu Sea. The Java Sea is located to the island’s south.
Across the Java Sea is the island of Java and the Lesser Sunda Islands. East of Borneo, across the Makassar Strait is the island of Sulawesi.
The Celebes Sea is also situated east of Borneo. To Borneo’s west are the island of Sumatra, the Malay Peninsula, and the Riau Archipelago.
Borneo is the world’s third-largest island. Only Greenland and New Guinea are larger. Its land area is approximately 743,330 sq. km.
The southern two thirds of the island is controlled by Indonesia and is known as Kalimantan, which translates as “diamond river”.
Two of Malaysia’s states, Sabah (“the land below the wind”) and Sarawak (“antimony”), are situated on the northern coast of Borneo, as is the small Sultanate of Brunei.
Borneo has one significant mountain range, which runs from the southwest to the northeast.
The mountainous areas of the island are located mostly in the interior. Land elevations on the island are lowest in the south, rarely surpassing a height of 1,200 meters.
Further to the north, near the Indonesian-Malaysian border, however, elevations are much higher, and can reach more than 2,400 meters.
Among the mountains of Borneo is the tallest mountain in Southeast Asia, Mt. Kinabalu, which reaches a height of 4,095 meters.
Borneo was once covered in rainforests, but this began to change in the 1980s and 90s, as many of the forests were torn down at a rapid pace.
Today, the island still contains forests, though they make up a fraction of what used to be present.
Nevertheless, the forests of Borneo are still among the most biodiverse on the planet. Some of them are mangrove forests, which are situated in the island’s estuaries and coastal areas.
There are also peat swamp forests, located in the lowlands of the island.
