South Kalimantan

1.4.3 South Kalimantan

South Kalimantan
Kalimantan Selatan


Motto: Waja Sampai Ka Puting (Banjarese)
(Spirit as strong as steel, from the start until the end)


Capital
Banjarmasin

Governor
Drs. H. Rudi Arifin

Area
36,985 km2 (14,280 sq mi)
Population
3,446,631 (2008)
Density
93.2 /km2 (241 /sq mi)
Ethnic groups
Banjarese (76%), Javanese (13%),
Bugis (12%) [1]

Religion
Islam (89%), Christianity (1.2%), Buddhism (0.42%), Hinduism (0.11%)
Languages
Indonesian (official), Banjarese

Time zone
WITA (UTC+8)

Web site http://www.kalsel.go.id

South Kalimantan/South Borneo (Indonesian: Kalimantan Selatan often abbreviated to Kalsel) is a province of Indonesia. It is one of four Indonesian provinces in the Indonesian part of Borneo. The provincial capital is Banjarmasin. The province boundaries are Makassar Strait in the east, Central Kalimantan in the west and north, the Java Sea in the south and a small part of East Kalimantan in the north.
The province had a population of 2.97 million in 2000, which grew to 3,45 million by 2008.[2]. In 2008 the number of visitors to the province was 339,000 of which 21,000 were international visitors, mostly from China, Philippines and India.
Contents
1 Geography
2 Administration
3 History
4 References

Geography
About three quarters of the province is flat and less than 100m above sea level, while about 8,000 km² are swampland. The Meratus Mountains are situated approximately along the south-western part to the north-eastern part of the province, dividing the flat area into two. Its highest peak is Gunung Besar with 1,892 metres.
The annual rainfall intensity is high, ranging between 2,000 and 3,700 mm. The mean number of rainy days per year is 120. Barito is the main river, used as a transportation route to the northern part of the province and to Central Kalimantan. Other smaller rivers are mostly springing from the Meratus Mountains.
The main natural resources in South Kalimantan are forest and coal. Coal deposits are found over almost the whole province, and in some places they are exploited commercially. Other minor resources are oil, gold, gem stones, quartz sand, phosphate and granite.[3]
Administration
There are 9 regencies and two cities in South Kalimantan as listed below with their capitals:


South Kalimantan Government Offices Balangan (Paringin)
Banjar (Martapura)
Barito Kuala (Marabahan)
Hulu Sungai Selatan (Kandangan)
Hulu Sungai Tengah (Barabai)
Hulu Sungai Utara (Amuntai)
Kota Baru (Kotabaru)
Tabalong (Tanjung)
Tanah Bumbu (Batulicin)
Tanah Laut (Pleihari)
Tapin (Rantau)

cities:
Banjarmasin
Banjarbaru
History
Right after Indonesia's proclamation of independence (August 17, 1945), the government under Soekarno and Hatta appointed Ir. H. Pangeran Muhammad Noor as the governor of the whole Kalimantan on August 18, 1945. The capital was Banjarmasin. Later on, it was decided to divide the area into several provinces. On December 7, 1956, the province of South Kalimantan was formed out of these areas: Kotawaringin, Dayak Besar (Great Dayak), Daerah Banjar (Banjar Area), and the Federation of Southeast Kalimantan. Later on, Pasir (a part of Southeast Kalimantan Federation) was integrated to the province of East Kalimantan instead. Furthermore, on 23rd of May 1957, Kotawaringin and Dayak Besar removed themselves from South Kalimantan to form their own province, Central Kalimantan.