West Kalimantan (Indonesian: Kalimantan Barat) is a province of Indonesia. It is one of five Indonesian provinces in Kalimantan, the Indonesian part of the island of Borneo. Its capital city is Pontianak. The province has an area of 147,307 km² with a recorded population of 4,395,983 at the 2010 Census. Ethnic groups include the Dayak, Malay, Chinese, Javanese, Bugis, and Madurese. The latest official estimate (2019) is 5,069,127. The borders of West Kalimantan roughly trace the mountain ranges surrounding the watershed of the Kapuas River, which drains most of the province. The province shares land borders with Central Kalimantan to the southeast, East Kalimantan to the east, and the Malaysian territory of Sarawak to the north.
West Kalimantan is an area that could be dubbed "The Province of a Thousand Rivers". The nickname is aligned with the geographical conditions that have hundreds of large and small rivers that which can be and often are navigable. Several major rivers are still the main route for freight to the hinterland, despite road infrastructure now reaching most districts.
Although a small part of the West Kalimantan region is seawater, West Kalimantan has dozens of large and small islands (mostly uninhabited) spread along the Karimata Strait and Natuna Sea that borders the province of Riau Islands. The total population in the province, according to the 2000 census totaled 4,073,430 inhabitants (1.85% of Indonesia's population) but by 2019 it had reached 5,069,127.
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