Central Kalimantan () is a province of Indonesia. It is one of five provinces in Kalimantan, the Indonesian part of Borneo. It is the largest province in Indonesia by area since 2022, bordered by West Kalimantan to the west, South Kalimantan and East Kalimantan to the east, Java Sea to the south and is separated narrowly from North Kalimantan and Malaysia by East Kalimantan's Mahakam Ulu Regency. Its provincial capital is Palangka Raya and in 2010 its population was over 2.2 million,Biro Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 2011. while the 2020 Census showed a total of almost 2.67 million;Badan Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 2021. the official estimate as at mid 2025 was 2,844,992 (comprising 1,467,139 males and 1,377,853 females).Statistik Kependudukan, Jakarta, 27 February 2026, Provinsi Kalimantan Tengah Dalam Angka 2026 (Katalog-BPS 2101023.62)
The population growth rate was almost 3.0% per annum between 1990 and 2000, one of the highest provincial growth rates in Indonesia during that time; in the subsequent decade to 2010 the average annual growth rate slowed markedly to around 1.8%, but it rose again in the decade beginning 2010. More than is the case in other provinces on Kalimantan, Central Kalimantan is populated by the Dayaks, the indigenous inhabitants of Borneo.
History Since the eighteenth century the central region of Kalimantan and its Dayak inhabitants were ruled by the Muslim Sultanate of Banjar. Following Indonesian independence after World War II, Dayak tribes demanded a province separate from South Kalimantan province.
In 1957 South Kalimantan was divided to provide the Dayak population with greater autonomy from the Muslim population in the province. The change was approved by the Indonesian Government on 23 May 1957 under Presidential Law No. 10 Year 1957, which declared Central Kalimantan the seventeenth province of Indonesia. President Sukarno appointed the Dayak-born national hero Tjilik Riwut as the first Governor and designated Palangkaraya as the provincial capital.
Geography Central Kalimantan is the largest Indonesian province by area (Papua Province held this position until its 2022 partition) with a size of , about 1.5 times the size of the island of Java, and it is slightly larger than Bangladesh or the U.S. state of Illinois or Murmansk Oblast. It is bordered by West Kalimantan and East Kalimantan provinces to the north, by the Java Sea to the south, by South Kalimantan and East Kalimantan provinces to the east, and by West Kalimantan province to west.
The Schwaner Mountains stretch from the north-east of the province to the south-west, 80% of which is covered in dense forest, peatland swamps, mangroves, rivers and traditional agriculture land. Highland areas in the north-east are remote and not easily accessible. Non-volcanic mounts are scattered in this area including Kengkabang, Samiajang, Liang Pahang and Ulu Gedang.
The centre of the province is covered with tropical forest, which produces rattan, resin and valuable timber such as Ulin and Meranti. The southern lowlands are dominated by peatland swamps that intersect with many rivers. Sabangau National Park is a protected peatland area internationally acknowledged as sanctuary for the endangered Orangutan. Recently the peat swamp forests have been damaged by the Mega Rice Project, which unsuccessfully sought to turn large areas into rice paddies.
The province's climate is wet weather equatorial zone with an eight-month rainy season, and 4 months of dry season. Rainfall or precipitation is 2,776—3,393 mm per year with an average of 145 rainy days annually.
Rivers Central Kalimantan has numerous rivers, generally flowing southwards from the catchment areas in the north in the Schwaner Mountains, down to the Java Sea. The major rivers (with their lengths) include: Barito River (900 km) Kapuas River (600 km) Kahayan River (600 km) Katingan River (600 km) Mentaya (Sampit) River (400 km) Seruyan River (350 km) Lamandau River (300 km) Arut River (250 km) Sabangau River (200 km) Kumai River (179 km) Jelai River (100 km) Note: (a) Not to be confused with the Kapuas River in West Kalimantan province.
Rivers are an important mode of transportation and a primary location for settlement. With relatively undeveloped infrastructure, the province's economy relies heavily on the rivers.
Ecology
Based upon the research of the Indonesian Ministry of Environment and Forestry, Central Kalimantan comprises approximately ten different ecological regions. The two main ecological regions are the peat ecoregion which covers 26% of the total area of Central Kalimantan and the fluvial plain ecoregion which covers 21% of the whole area of Central Kalimantan. Due to its high concentration of the peat ecological region, Central Kalimantan is prone to drought and peat fires during the dry season and inundation during the rainy season within each episodes of the ENSO and the IOD. These situations have worsened because of massive deforestation in the region and climate change.
Central Kalimantan is also home for many endemic floras and faunas like orangutans, proboscis monkeys, hornbill birds, rattan, Bornean iron wood, etc. This province currently has three national parks i.e. Sabangau National Park, Tanjung Puting National Park, and Bukit Baka Bukit Raya National Park which are home to the endemic floras and faunas of Kalimantan.
Government and administrative divisions Central Kalimantan Province, when separated from South Kalimantan in 1958, comprised three regencies (kabupaten) - Barito, Kapuas and Kotawaringin. However on 26 June 1959 two of these were split - Barito Regency was divided into a South Barito Regency and a North Barito Regency, while Kotawaringin Regency was divided into a West Kotawaringin Regency and an East Kotawaringin Regency. On 14 June 1965 the provincial capital of Palangka Raya was split off from Kapuas Regency to form an independent city (kotamadya).
On 10 April 2002 an additional eight regencies were created by splitting existing regencies - Sukamara and Lamandau from parts of West Kotawaringin Regency, Seruyan and Katingan from parts of East Kotawaringin Regency, Pulang Pisau and Gunung Mas from parts of Kapuas Regency, East Barito from part of South Barito Regency, and Murung Raya from part of North Barito Regency. Thus the province now is administratively divided into thirteen regencies (each headed by a regent) and the single city. These are listed below with their areas and their populations at the 2010 and 2020 Censuses, together with the official estimates as at mid 2025.Statistik Kependudukan, Jakarta, 27 February 2026, Provinsi Kalimantan Tengah Dalam Angka 2026 (Katalog-BPS 2101023.62)
KodeWilayah Name ofCity orRegency Areainkm2 Pop'n2000Census Pop'n2010Census Pop'n2020Census Pop'nmid 2025Estimate Capital HDI2022 Location Map 62.01 West KotawaringinRegency(Kotawaringin Barat) Pangkalan Bun 0.734 () 62.02 East KotawaringinRegency(Kotawaringin Timur) Sampit 0.717 () 62.06 Katingan Regency Kasongan 0.697 () 62.07 Seruyan Regency Kuala Pembuang 0.682 () 62.08 Sukamara Regency Sukamara 0.689 () 62.09 Lamandau Regency Nanga Bulik 0.711 () 62.03 Kapuas Regency Kuala Kapuas 0.700 () 62.04 South Barito Regency(Barito Selatan) Buntok 0.710 () 62.05 North Barito Regency(Barito Utara) Muara Teweh 0.712 () 62.10 Gunung Mas Regency Kuala Kurun 0.714 () 62.11 Pulang Pisau Regency Pulang Pisau 0.690 () 62.12 Murung Raya Regency Purukcahu 0.686 () 62.13 East Barito Regency(Barito Timur) Tamiang Layang 0.721 () 62.71 Palangkaraya City Palangkaraya 0.812 () Totals Palangka Raya 0.716 () The six western regencies (covering the original pre-1958 Kotawaringin Regency, have a combined area of 71,552.48 km2 and had a total population of 1,264,451 persons as at mid 2025. The seven eastern regencies (plus the municipality of Palangka Raya) have a combined area of 81,877.89 km2 and had a total population of 1,580,541 persons as at mid 2025.Statistik Kependudukan, Jakarta, July 2025, Provinsi Kalimantan Tengah Dalam Angka 2025 (Katalog-BPS 2101023.62) There has been a campaign in Kotawaringin for the six western regencies to be split away to form a separate province.
In addition to the civil service, Central Kalimantan also recognises a traditional governing system led by traditional leaders known as Damang. The province is divided into 67 traditional law areas known as Kedamangan, headed by Damang. The system is intended to culturally recognise and preserve the customs and heritage of the Dayak tribes.
The province now forms one of Indonesia's 84 national electoral districts to elect members to the People's Representative Council. The Central Kalimantan Electoral District consists of all of the 13 regencies in the province, together with the city of Palangkaraya, and elects 6 members to the People's Representative Council.Law No. 7/2017 (UU No. 7 Tahun 2017) as amended by Government Regulation in Lieu of Law No. 1/2022 and Regulation of General Elections Commission No. 6/2023.
Railways In 2026, Indonesia is evaluating plans to build a 2,772-kilometre railway network across all the Kalimantan provinces to improve logistics and unlock resource-driven growth, though the project remains at an early planning stage. A principal line will stretch across Central Kalimantan from West Kalimantan to South Kalimantan.
Demographics Population
The total population of Central Kalimantan was 2,669,969 people based upon the national census in 2020; the official estimate as at mid 2025 was 2,844,992. The sex ratio of this province is 107 which means there are 107 males to every 100 females. The population density of Central Kalimantan is only 18.54 people/km2.
Religion
According to the Statistics on 2021, the largest religious group in Central Kalimantan province is Islam with more than 74% of its total population. Then, the second largest group is Christianity with more than 19% of its total population. The rest of the population adhere to the local belief of Kaharingan, Hinduism, and Buddhism with more than 5%.
Ethnic groups
Central Kalimantan is predominantly inhabited by the Dayak people that would further be divided into three major Dayak sub-ethnics. The three major Dayak tribes in Central Kalimantan are the Ngaju, Ot Danum and Dusun Ma'anyan Ot Siang. The three major tribes extended into several branches of prominent Dayak tribes in Central Kalimantan such as Lawangan, Taboyan, Dusun Siang, Boyan, Bantian, Dohoi and Kadori.
In addition to the indigenous Dayak tribes, there are also ethnic groups from other areas of Indonesia, including Malays, Javanese, Madurese, Batak, Toraja, Ambonese, Bugis, Palembang, Minang, Banjarese, Makassar, Papuan, Balinese, Acehnese and also Chinese.
+Ethnic groups and religion as per 2000 census Ethnic group Islam Christian Hindu Other % of population Banjarese 100% 0% 0% 0% 24.6% Javanese 96% 4% 0% 0% 18.8% Ngaju Dayak 43% 44% 13% 0% 18.0% Sampit Dayak 82% 9% 9% 0% 9.6% Bakumpai 99% 0% 0% 0% 7.5% Madurese 100% 0% 0% 0% 3.5% Katingan Dayak 37% 22% 32% 9% 3.3% Maanyan 4% 86% 9% 1% 2.8% Tomun Dayak 18% 56% 17% 2% 2.2% Sundanese 99% 1% 0% 0% 1.4% Dusun Dayak 9% 29% 63% 0% 1.1% Siang Dayak 6% 40% 48% 4% 0.9% Manyan Dayak 20% 70% 10% 0% 0.7% Ot Danum 10% 51% 38% 0% 0.6% Other non-Dayak NA NA NA NA 1.3% Other Dayak NA NA NA NA 5.0%
Culture
Traditional music The most well-known traditional musical instrument from Central Kalimantan is Japen, Garantung, and Gandang Manca which are traditional Dayak musical instruments. These musical instruments are usually played during traditional procession or ritual.
Japen or Kecapi is a lute-like instrument that is honored by Dayak people. This traditional musical instrument is usually played as an accompaniment for Central Kalimantan traditional music such as Karungut recitation, a Dayak oral literature in the form of musicalized rhyme scheme. Japen is mainly made of wood and nylon rope for its strings.