View source for Borneo

{{short description|Island in Southeast Asia}}
{{Distinguish|Brunei|Barneo|Brno}}
{{EngvarB|date=May 2017}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2025}}
{{Infobox islands
| name               = Borneo<br />{{lang|id|Kalimantan}}
| image_name         = Borneo Topography.png
| image_caption      = Topography of Borneo, with red lines demarcating the three nations on it
| native_name        = 
| native_name_link   = 
| location           = Southeast Asia
| coordinates        = {{Coord|0|N|114|E|region:ID_type:isle_scale:5000000|display=inline,title}}
| archipelago        = [[Indonesian Archipelago]]
---- 
[[Greater Sunda Islands]]
| area_km2           = 748168
| rank               = 3rd
| highest_mount      = [[Mount Kinabalu]]
| elevation_ft       = 13,435
| country            = [[Brunei]]
| country_admin_divisions_title = Districts
| country_admin_divisions = {{ubl|[[Belait District|Belait]]|[[Brunei-Muara District|Brunei and Muara]]|[[Temburong District|Temburong]]|[[Tutong District|Tutong]]}}
| country1           = [[Indonesia]]
| country2           = [[Malaysia]]
| country1_admin_divisions_title = Provinces
| country1_admin_divisions = {{ubl|[[West Kalimantan]]|[[Central Kalimantan]]|[[South Kalimantan]]|[[East Kalimantan]]|[[North Kalimantan]]}}
| country_largest_city = [[Bandar Seri Begawan]] (pop. ~150,000)
| country_largest_city_area = 
| country1_largest_city = [[Samarinda]] (pop. 842,691)
| country1_largest_city_area = 
| country2_largest_city = [[Kota Kinabalu]] (pop. 500,421)
| country2_largest_city_area = 
| country2_admin_divisions_title = States and [[Federal Territories (Malaysia)|FT]]
| country2_admin_divisions = {{ubl|[[Sabah]]|[[Sarawak]]|[[Labuan]]}}
| population         = 21,258,000 (2023 Censuses)<ref name="detik20">{{Cite web|url=https://finance.detik.com/berita-ekonomi-bisnis/d-5343868/sensus-penduduk-2020-selesai-begini-sebaran-masyarakat-ri-terbaru|title=Sensus Penduduk 2020 Selesai, Begini Sebaran Masyarakat RI Terbaru|first=Danang|last=Sugianto|website=finance.detik.com|accessdate=27 September 2022}}</ref><ref name="citypop">[http://www.citypopulation.de/Malaysia.html Malaysia: Federal States, Territories, Districts, Major Cities, Urban Aras & Conurbations – Statistics & Maps on City Population]. Citypopulation.de (20 May 2013). Retrieved on 12 July 2013.</ref><ref name="statistics.gov.my">{{cite web|url=http://statistics.gov.my/portal/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=537&Itemid=111&lang=bm&negeri=W.P.Labuan|title=W.P. Labuan Sepintas Lalu|work=statistics.gov.my|access-date=19 September 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141113202019/http://www.statistics.gov.my/portal/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=537&Itemid=111&lang=bm&negeri=W.P.Labuan|archive-date=13 November 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref>
| population_as_of   = 2023
| density_km2        = 28.4
| languages          = {{Blist|Primarily [[Malay language|Malay]] and [[Indonesian language|Indonesian]]|Also [[Mandarin Chinese|Mandarin]] and other [[Chinese languages]], [[Javanese language|Javanese]], [[Madurese language|Madurese]],  [[Buginese language|Bugis]], [[Iban language|Iban]], [[Banjarese language|Banjar]], [[Ngaju language|Ngaju]], [[Malayic Dayak languages|Malayic Dayak]]|Many indigenous languages with small numbers of speakers ([[Greater North Borneo languages|Greater North Borneo]], [[Barito languages|Barito]] and [[Tamanic languages|Tamanic]] families)}}
| ethnic_groups      = {{hlist|[[Dayak people|Dayak]]|[[Kadazan-Dusun]]|[[Rungus people|Rungus]]|[[Murut people|Murut]]|[[Sama-Bajau]]|[[Banjar people|Banjar]]|[[Iban people|Iban]]|[[Melanau people|Melanau]]|[[Kedayan]]|[[Malays (ethnic group)|Malays]]|[[Javanese people|Javanese]]|[[Bugis]]|[[Madurese people|Madurese]]|[[Overseas Chinese|Chinese]]}}
| population_rank    = 10th
| timezone1          = [[Western Indonesian Time]]
| utc_offset1        = +7
| timezone2          = [[Brunei Darussalam Standard Time]], [[Central Indonesian Time]], [[Malaysian Standard Time]]
| utc_offset2        = +8
}}

'''Borneo''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|b|ɔːr|n|i|oʊ}}) is the [[List of islands by area|third-largest]] island in the world, with an area of {{cvt|748168|km2|abbr=on}}, and population of 23,053,723 (2020 national censuses).<ref name="detik20"/><ref name="citypop"/><ref name="statistics.gov.my"/> Situated at the geographic centre of [[Maritime Southeast Asia]], it is one of the [[Greater Sunda Islands]], located north of [[Java Island|Java]], west of [[Sulawesi]], and east of [[Sumatra]]. The island is crossed by the [[equator]], which divides it roughly in half. In Indonesia, the island is also known as '''Kalimantan''', which is also the name of the [[Kalimantan|Indonesian region located on the island]].

The [[Geological history of Borneo|geology of Borneo]] was formed beginning in the [[Mesozoic]]. It formed part of [[Sundaland]], a region connected to mainland [[Asia]], until it became isolated by sea level rise at the end of the [[Last Glacial Period|last ice age]]. With seven unique [[Ecoregion|ecoregions]], including large expanses of some of the oldest [[Borneo lowland rain forests|tropical rainforests]] in the world, Borneo is [[Biodiversity of Borneo|rich in biodiversity]] and [[Endemism|endemic]] species.

Archaeological evidence suggests Borneo has been inhabited by humans for more than 65,000 years. Borneo is home to hundreds of different [[Indigenous peoples|Indigenous groups]], cultures and languages, loosely grouped under the term "[[Dayak people|Dayak]]". International trading ports were well established on Borneo by the [[1st millennium|first millennium]]. It was later subsumed into the [[Majapahit|Majapahit Empire]]. The [[Sultanate of Sulu]] later ruled much of the island's North, and at its peak in the 14th century, the [[Sultanate of Brunei (1368–1888)|Sultanate of Brunei]] governed most of its coast; meanwhile, Borneo's interior remained largely outside of their control. Borneo was later colonised by the [[British Borneo|British]] and [[Dutch East Indies|Dutch]], and occupied by [[Empire of Japan|Japan]] during [[World War II]]. 

Since the [[decolonisation of Asia]], the [[list of divided islands|island has been politically divided]] among three states, with the borders broadly following previous demarcation between the British and Dutch. The sovereign state of [[Brunei]] in the north makes up 1% of the territory.<ref>{{cite news |author=Donna Marchetti |date=2 August 1998 |title=Borneo's Wild Side |url=https://mobile.nytimes.com/1998/08/02/travel/borneo-s-wild-side.html |access-date=20 June 2017 |newspaper=The New York Times}}</ref> Approximately 73% of Borneo is [[Indonesia|Indonesian]] territory, and in the north, the [[East Malaysia]]n states of [[Sabah]] and [[Sarawak]] make up about 26% of the island. The [[Malaysia|Malaysian]] federal territory of [[Labuan]] is situated on a small island just off the coast of Borneo. 

The majority of Borneo's inhabitants reside in coastal cities. It is the site of Indonesia's planned future capital, [[Nusantara (city)|Nusantara]]. Major economic sectors include [[oil and gas]], [[agriculture]], [[Timber industry|timber]] and [[tourism]]. Industrial [[Deforestation in Borneo|deforestation]] in Indonesian and Malaysian Borneo for timber and agricultural conversion has taken place during the past century.

==Etymology==
When the sixteenth-century [[Portuguese explorer]] [[Jorge de Menezes]] made contact with the indigenous people of Borneo, they referred to their island as ''Pulu K'lemantang'', and this second word became '''[[:wikt:Kalimantan#Indonesian|Kalimantan]]''', the name for modern-day Borneo in the Indonesian language.<ref>{{cite book |author1=Christoph Friedrich von Ammon |author2=Leonhard Bertholdt |title=Kritisches Journal der neuesten theologischen Literatur, Volume 6 |date=1817 |publisher=Nabu Press |isbn=9781273327414}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_UOb9lAFNBPEC|title=Le Moniteur des Indes-Orientales et Occidentales|publisher=Belinfant Brothers|year=1847|location=The Hague, Netherlands|pages=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_UOb9lAFNBPEC/page/n190 164]|language=fr|trans-title=The Monitor of the East and West Indies|chapter=Notice historique du royaume Banjarmasin (Bornéo) par M. le Baron T. Van Capellen, lieutenant d'artillerie , aide-de-camp de S. Exc. le gouverneur-général des indes néerlandaises|trans-chapter=Historical record of the Banjarmasin Kingdom (Borneo) by Baron T. Van Capellen, lieutenant of artillery, aide-de-camp of His Excellency, the Governor General of the Dutch Indies}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=B48EAAAAQAAJ&q=Pulu+K%27lemantan+&pg=PA21|title=Verhandelingen van het Bataviaasch Genootschap, der Kunsten en Wetenschappen|publisher=A. H. Hubbard|year=1814|volume=7|location=Batavia, Dutch East Indies|pages=21|trans-title=Treatises of the Society of Arts and Sciences in Batavia|chapter=A Discourse Delivered at a Meeting of the Society of Arts and Sciences in Batavia, on the Twenty-fourth day of April 1813, being the Anniversary of the Institution, by the Honorable Thomas Stamford Raffles, President.}}</ref> The term ''kelamantan'' is used in Sarawak to refer to a group of people who consume [[sago]] in the northern part of the island.<ref>{{cite book |author=Marine Science |title=The Facts on File dictionary of marine science |date=8 October 2023 |publisher=Charton, Barbara (2008). |isbn=978-0-8160-6383-3 |edition=2}}</ref>

According to Crawfurd, the word ''kelamantan'' is the name of a type of mango (''[[Mangifera]]''), though he adds that the word is fanciful and unpopular.<ref>{{cite book |title=Descriptive Dictionary of the Indian Island (1856)}}</ref> The local mango, called ''klemantan'', is still widely found in rural [[Ketapang]] and surrounding areas of West Kalimantan.<ref>{{cite book |title=Mangifera pajang Kosterm, 1965 |chapter=Mangifera pajang<SCP>Kosterm., 1965</SCP> |date=2018 |doi=10.1002/9783527678518.ehg2017006 |chapter-url=https://doi.org/10.1002/9783527678518.ehg2017006 |last1=Mojiol |first1=Andy Russel |last2=Sompud |first2=Jephte |last3=Lintangah |first3=Walter |pages=1–10 |isbn=9783527678518 }}</ref>

Another source states that it derives from the Sanskrit word ''kalamanthana'', meaning "burning weather", possibly to describe the island's hot and humid tropical weather.<ref>{{cite book|author=Eugene Linden|title=The Ragged Edge of the World: Encounters at the Frontier Where Modernity, Wildlands and Indigenous Peoples Meet|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=h_x9e3LtUfYC&pg=PT30|date=17 March 2011|publisher=Penguin Publishing Group|isbn=978-1-101-47613-0|pages=30–}}</ref> In the Indianized Malay era{{Clarify|date=February 2025|reason=It should be clarified what is meant by "Indianized Malay era"}} the name ''Kalamanthana'' was derived from the Sanskrit terms ''[[Kala (time)|kala]]'' (time or season) and ''manthana'' (churning, kindling, or creating fire by friction),<ref>{{Cite web|title=Sanskrit Dictionary|url=https://sanskritdictionary.com/?iencoding=iast&q=manthana&lang=sans&action=Search|access-date=3 August 2020|website=sanskritdictionary.com}}</ref> which possibly describes the hot weather.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Muljana|first=Slamet|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=R-UBAAAAMAAJ&q=Kalimantan+Kala+Manthana|title=Sriwidjaja|date=1960|publisher=Pertjetakan Arnoldus|pages=78–79|language=id}}</ref>

Internationally, the island is known as '''[[:wikt:Borneo#English|Borneo]]''', a name derived from European contact with the [[Brunei kingdom]] in the 16th century, during the [[Age of Exploration]]. On a map from around 1601, Brunei city is referred to as Borneo, and the whole island is also labelled Borneo.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://i.pinimg.com/originals/14/9f/6e/149f6e24326484c7f2004c1dc50cc6b2.jpg|title=Kaart van het eiland Borneo, 1601, Benjamin Wright|accessdate=27 September 2022}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://bartelegallery.com/product/antique-map-borneo-by-de-bry-c-1602/|title=Antique Map Borneo by De Bry (c.1602)|website=bartelegallery.com|accessdate=27 September 2022}}</ref> The name may derive from the [[Sanskrit]] word ''{{transliteration|sa|váruṇa}}'' ({{lang|sa|वरुण}}), meaning either "water" or [[Varuna]], the Hindu god of rain and oceans.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Media|first=Kompas Cyber|title=Hari Nusantara, Kenali Nama Lawas 5 Pulau Besar di Indonesia Halaman all|url=https://nasional.kompas.com/read/2018/12/13/18543791/hari-nusantara-kenali-nama-lawas-5-pulau-besar-di-indonesia|access-date=3 August 2020|website=KOMPAS.com|date=13 December 2018|language=id}}</ref>

In 977, [[History of China|Chinese records]] began to use the term ''Bo-ni'' to refer to Borneo. In 1225, it was also mentioned by the Chinese official [[Zhao Rugua|Chau Ju-Kua]] (趙汝适).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://apb.ubd.edu.bn/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Tradition-and-Identity-Construction.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://apb.ubd.edu.bn/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Tradition-and-Identity-Construction.pdf |archive-date=9 October 2022 |url-status=live|title=Traditional Woven Textiles: Tradition and Identity Construction in the 'New State' of Brunei Darussalam|author=Siti Norkhalbi Haji Wahsalfelah|publisher=Universiti Brunei Darussalam|year=2005|access-date=24 May 2017|pages=48/29}}</ref> The Javanese manuscript ''[[Nagarakretagama]]'', written by [[Majapahit]] court poet [[Mpu Prapanca]] in 1365, mentions the island as ''Nusa Tanjungnagara'', which means the "island of the [[Tanjungpura Kingdom]]".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://kelembagaan.pnri.go.id/Digital_Docs/homepage_folders/activities/highlight/naskah_nagara_kretagama/isi.htm|title=Naskah Nagarakretagama|author=Suyatno|language=id|publisher=[[National Library of Indonesia]]|access-date=13 October 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170523163555/http://kelembagaan.pnri.go.id/Digital_Docs/homepage_folders/activities/highlight/naskah_nagara_kretagama/isi.htm|archive-date=23 May 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref>

In [[Modern Chinese]], the island is called {{lang|zh|婆羅洲}} ([[simplified Chinese|simp.]] 婆罗洲, ''Póluó Zhōu''), the first two characters being phonetic and the third referring to a large landmass.<ref>Wyatt, D. J. (2012:33).'' The Blacks of Premodern China''. United States: University of Pennsylvania Press, Incorporated.</ref>

==Geography==
===Geology===
{{see also|Geological history of Borneo}}

[[File:Regional map of SE Asia with Borneo Highlighted.svg|thumb|upright 1.2|left|Location of Borneo in [[Maritime Southeast Asia]].]]
Borneo was formed through [[Mesozoic]] accretion of microcontinental fragments, [[ophiolite]] terranes and [[island arc]] crust onto a [[Paleozoic]] continental core. At the beginning of the [[Cenozoic]], Borneo formed a [[promontory]] of [[Sundaland]] which partly separated from Asian mainland by the [[Tectonics of the South China Sea|proto-South China Sea]].<ref name="Geology of Borneo">{{cite journal|url=https://gsm.org.my/products/702001-100637-PDF.pdf|title=The origin of the 'circular basins' of Sabah, Malaysia|author1=Allagu Balaguru|author2=Gary Nichols|author3=Robert Hall|journal=Bulletin of the Geological Society of Malaysia, Royal Holloway University of London|via=Geological Society of Malaysia|year=2003|access-date=24 May 2019|page=337|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190524033404/https://gsm.org.my/products/702001-100637-PDF.pdf|archive-date=24 May 2019|url-status=dead}}</ref> The oceanic part of the proto-South China Sea was [[subduction|subducted]] during the [[Paleogene]] period and a large [[accretionary complex]] formed along the northwestern of the island of Borneo. In the [[early Miocene]] uplift of the accretionary complex occurred as a result of underthrusting of thinned continental crust in northwest.<ref name="Geology of Borneo"/> The uplift may have also resulted from shortening due to the counter-clockwise rotation of Borneo between 20 and 10 [[mega-annum]] (Ma) as a consequence of Australia–Southeast Asia collision.<ref name="Geology of Borneo"/> Large volumes of [[sediment]] were shed into basins, which scattered offshore to the west, north and east of Borneo as well into a [[Neogene]] basin which is currently exposed in large areas of eastern and southern [[Sabah]]. In southeast Sabah, the [[Miocene]] to recent island arc terranes of the [[Sulu Archipelago]] extend onshore into Borneo with the older [[volcanic arc]] was the result of southeast dipping subduction while the younger volcanics are likely resulted from northwest dipping subduction the [[Celebes Sea]].<ref name="Geology of Borneo"/>

[[File:Jack fish and reef sharks.jpg|thumb|left|Marine life off the coast of Borneo, in the Sulu Sea]]

Before sea levels rose at the end of the [[Last Glacial Period|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]]. The [[South China Sea]] and [[Gulf of Thailand]] now submerge the former low-lying areas of the peninsula. Deeper waters separating Borneo from neighbouring [[Sulawesi]] prevented a land connection to that island, creating the divide known as [[Wallace's Line]] between Asian and Australia-[[New Guinea]] biological regions.<ref>{{cite book|author=James Allan Taylor|title=Biogeography: Recent Advances and Future Directions|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xz9dWjh_CAsC&pg=PA178|year=1984|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|isbn=978-0-389-20507-4|pages=178–}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.starfish.ch/dive/Wallacea.html|title=Wallacea|author=Teresa Zubi|publisher=Starfish|date=25 October 2015|access-date=26 May 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170525180130/http://www.starfish.ch/dive/Wallacea.html|archive-date=25 May 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref> The island today 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. To the west of Borneo are the [[Malay Peninsula]] and Sumatra. To the south and east are islands of Indonesia: [[Java (island)|Java]] and [[Sulawesi]], respectively. To the northeast are the [[Philippines|Philippine Islands]]. With an area of {{convert|743330|km2|sqmi}}, it is the third-largest island in the world, and is the largest island of Asia (the largest continent). Its highest point is [[Mount Kinabalu]] in Sabah, Malaysia, with an elevation of {{convert|4095|m|ft|0|abbr=on}}.<ref name="highest summit"/>
[[File:Lahan basah Taman Nasional Danau Sentarum, Kalimantan Barat.jpg|thumb|[[Lake Sentarum National Park|Lake Sentarum]], Kapuas Hulu Regency, West Kalimantan]]
The largest river system is the [[Kapuas River|Kapuas]] in [[West Kalimantan]], with a length of {{convert|1143|km|mi|abbr=on}}.<ref name="TanMerdikawati2015"/> Other major rivers include the [[Mahakam River|Mahakam]] in [[East Kalimantan]] ({{convert|980|km|mi|abbr=on}} long),<ref>{{cite book|author=Tomas Tomascik|title=The Ecology of the Indonesian Seas|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0Kc80Hd2HagC&pg=PP54|year=1997|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-850186-2|pages=54–}}</ref> the [[Barito River|Barito]], [[Kahayan River|Kahayan]], and [[Mendawai River|Mendawai]] in [[South Kalimantan]] ({{convert|1090|km|mi|abbr=on}}, {{convert|658|km|mi|abbr=on}}, and {{convert|616|km|mi|abbr=on}} long respectively),<ref>{{cite book|author1=Khee Giap Tan|author2=Mulya Amri|author3=Linda Low|author4=Kong Yam Tan|title=Competitiveness Analysis and Development Strategies for 33 Indonesian Provinces|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Q526CgAAQBAJ&pg=PA338|year=2013|publisher=World Scientific|isbn=978-981-4504-86-7|pages=338–}}</ref> [[Rajang River|Rajang]] in Sarawak ({{convert|565|km|mi|abbr=on}} long)<ref>{{cite book|title=Tropical River Fisheries Valuation: Background Papers to a Global Synthesis|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mmrmRVVSiIYC&pg=PT218|year=2008|publisher=WorldFish|isbn=978-983-2346-61-6|pages=218–}}</ref> and [[Kinabatangan River|Kinabatangan]] in Sabah ({{convert|560|km|mi|abbr=on}} long).<ref>{{cite book|author1=Uwe Tietze|author2=Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations|title=Credit and Microfinance Needs in Inland Capture Fisheries Development and Conservation in Asia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ihTrWUKDvLUC&pg=PA131|year=2007|publisher=Food & Agriculture Org.|isbn=978-92-5-105756-8|pages=131–}}</ref> Borneo has significant cave systems. In Sarawak, the Clearwater Cave has one of the world's longest underground rivers while [[Deer Cave]] is home to over three million bats, with [[guano]] accumulated to over {{convert|100|m}} deep.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sarawak.gov.my/ebook/Sarawak_Tourism/Visitor_Guide/files/basic-html/page100.html|title=Sarawak Visitors Guide|publisher=Sarawak State Government|access-date=26 May 2017|page=100}}</ref> The [[Gomantong Caves]] in Sabah has been dubbed as the "Cockroach Cave" due to the presence of millions of cockroaches inside the cave.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://voices.nationalgeographic.com/2015/10/29/billions-of-bugs-feast-on-flesh-and-dung-in-borneo/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151030152107/http://voices.nationalgeographic.com/2015/10/29/billions-of-bugs-feast-on-flesh-and-dung-in-borneo/|url-status=dead|archive-date=30 October 2015|title=WATCH: Billions of Bugs Feast on Flesh and Dung in Borneo|author=Nora Rappaport|publisher=[[National Geographic Society|National Geographic]]|date=29 October 2015|access-date=26 May 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/cockroach-cave-where-billions-bugs-feed-dead-animals-dung-video-1526507|title=Cockroach cave: Where billions of bugs feed on dead animals and dung [Video]|author=Sean Martin|publisher=International Business Times (UK)|date=31 October 2015|access-date=26 May 2017}}</ref> The [[Gunung Mulu National Park]] in Sarawak and [[Sangkulirang-Mangkalihat Karst]] in East Kalimantan which particularly a [[karst]] areas contains thousands of smaller caves.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Quentin Phillipps|author2=Karen Phillipps|title=Phillipps' Field Guide to the Mammals of Borneo and Their Ecology: Sabah, Sarawak, Brunei, and Kalimantan|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0SxzCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA31|date=10 May 2016|publisher=Princeton University Press|isbn=978-0-691-16941-5|pages=31–}}</ref>

===Ecology===
{{see also|Biodiversity of Borneo|Fauna of Borneo|Flora of Borneo|List of endemic birds of Borneo|List of mammals of Borneo}}
[[File:Bornean orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus), Tanjung Putting National Park 01.jpg|thumb|left|The [[critically endangered]] [[Bornean orangutan]], a great ape [[endemic]] to Borneo]]

The Borneo [[rainforest]] is estimated to be around 140 million years old, making it one of the oldest rainforests in the world.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Andy Leeder|author2=Alan Brown|author3=Gregg Coleman|author4=Bob Digby|author5=Glyn Owen|author6=Val Davis|title=WJEC GCSE Geography|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rDjEDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA199-IA444|date=22 August 2016|publisher=Hodder Education|isbn=978-1-4718-6130-7|pages=199–}}</ref> The current dominant tree group, the [[Dipterocarpaceae|dipterocarps]], has dominated the [[Borneo lowland rain forests]] for millions of years.<ref>{{cite news |title=A prehistoric forest grows in Brunei |url=https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/04/220428104015.htm |work=ScienceDaily |date=28 April 2022}}</ref> It is the centre of the evolution and distribution of many endemic species of plants and animals, and the rainforest is one of the few remaining [[Habitat (ecology)|natural habitats]] for the endangered [[Bornean orangutan]]. It is an important refuge for many endemic forest species, including the [[Borneo elephant]], the [[eastern Sumatran rhinoceros]], the [[Bornean clouded leopard]], the [[Staurois tuberilinguis|Bornean rock frog]], the [[hose's palm civet]] and the [[dayak fruit bat]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://wwf.panda.org/index.cfm?uNewsID=89620|title=Scientists find dozens of new species in Borneo rainforests|publisher=[[World Wide Fund for Nature]]|date=19 December 2006|access-date=26 May 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://wwf.panda.org/what_we_do/where_we_work/borneo_forests/about_borneo_forests/borneo_animals/|title=Borneo wildlife|publisher=World Wide Fund for Nature|access-date=26 May 2017}}</ref>

[[File:Borneo 19 May 2002.jpg|thumb|[[NASA]] satellite image of Borneo on 19 May 2002]]

[[Borneo peat swamp forests|Peat swamp forests]] occupy the entire coastline of Borneo.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Kathy MacKinnon|author2=Gusti Hatta|title=Ecology of Kalimantan: Indonesian Borneo|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FFXRAgAAQBAJ&pg=PT148|date=5 February 2013|publisher=Tuttle Publishing|isbn=978-1-4629-0505-8|pages=148–}}</ref> The soil of the peat swamp is comparatively infertile, while it is known to be the home of various bird species such as the [[hook-billed bulbul]], [[helmeted hornbill]] and [[rhinoceros hornbill]].<ref name=birds /> There are about 15,000 species of [[flowering plant]]s with 3,000 species of trees (267 species are [[dipterocarp]]s), 221 species of terrestrial mammals and 420 species of resident birds in Borneo.<ref>{{cite book|last=MacKinnon, K|title=The Ecology of Kalimantan|year=1998|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|location=London|display-authors=etal}}</ref> There are about 440 freshwater fish species in Borneo (about the same as Sumatra and Java combined).<ref>Nguyen, T.T.T., and S. S. De Silva (2006). "Freshwater Finfish Biodiversity and Conservation: An Asian Perspective", ''Biodiversity & Conservation'' 15(11): 3543–3568</ref> The [[Glyphis fowlerae|Borneo river shark]] is known only from the [[Kinabatangan River]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Li |first1=C. |last2=Corrigan |first2=S. |last3=Yang |first3=L. |last4=Straube |first4=N. |last5=Harris |first5=M. |last6=Hofreiter |first6=M. |last7=White |first7=W.T. |last8=Naylor |first8=G.J.P. |title=DNA capture reveals transoceanic gene flow in endangered river sharks |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |year=2015 |volume=112 |issue=43 |pages=13302–13307|doi=10.1073/pnas.1508735112 |pmid=26460025 |pmc=4629339|bibcode=2015PNAS..11213302L |doi-access=free }}</ref> In 2010, the [[World Wide Fund for Nature]] (WWF) stated that 123 species have been discovered in Borneo since the "[[Heart of Borneo]]" agreement was signed in 2007.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.wwf.org.uk/updates/scientists-discover-new-species-heart-borneo|title=Scientists discover new species in Heart of Borneo|publisher=World Wide Fund for Nature|date=22 April 2010|access-date=26 May 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200228162702/https://www.wwf.org.uk/updates/scientists-discover-new-species-heart-borneo|archive-date=28 February 2020|url-status=dead}}</ref>

[[File:Logging road East Kalimantan 2005.jpg|thumb|right|Logging road in [[East Kalimantan]], Indonesia]]

The WWF has classified the island into seven distinct [[ecoregion]]s. Most are lowland regions:<ref name="Borneo forests">{{cite web|url=http://wwf.panda.org/about_our_earth/ecoregions/borneo_lowland_forests.cfm|title=Borneo Lowland & Montane Forests – A Global Ecoregion|publisher=World Wide Fund for Nature|access-date=26 May 2017|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170715021114/http://wwf.panda.org/about_our_earth/ecoregions/borneo_lowland_forests.cfm|archive-date=15 July 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.worldwildlife.org/ecoregions/im0104|title=Southeastern Asia: Indonesia, Malaysia, and Brunei|author=Colby Loucks|publisher=World Wide Fund for Nature|access-date=26 May 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.worldwildlife.org/ecoregions/im0161|title=Sundaland heath forests|publisher=World Wide Fund for Nature|access-date=26 May 2017}}</ref>
* [[Borneo lowland rain forests]] cover most of the island, with an area of {{convert|427500|km2}}.
* [[Borneo peat swamp forests]]
* ''[[Kerangas]]'' or Sundaland heath forests
* [[Southwest Borneo freshwater swamp forests]] are found in the island's western and southern lowlands
* [[Sunda Shelf mangroves]]
* The [[Borneo montane rain forests]] lie in the central highlands of the island, above the {{convert|1000|m}} elevation.
*The highest elevations of [[Mount Kinabalu]] are home to the [[Kinabalu montane alpine meadows]], a subalpine and alpine shrubland notable for its numerous endemic species, including many orchids.

According to analysis of data from [[Global Forest Watch]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.globalforestwatch.org|title=Global Forest Watch|publisher=World Resources Institute|access-date=14 August 2020}}</ref> the Indonesian portion of Borneo lost {{convert|10.7|e6ha|abbr=off}} of tree cover between 2002 and 2019, of which {{convert|4|e6ha|abbr=off}} was [[primary forest]], compared with Malaysian Borneo's {{convert|4.4|e6ha|abbr=off}} of tree cover loss and {{convert|1.9|e6ha|abbr=off}} of primary forest cover loss. As of 2020, Indonesian Borneo accounts for 72% of the island's tree cover, Malaysian Borneo 27%, and Brunei 1%. [[Primary forest]] in Indonesia accounts for 44% of Borneo's overall tree cover.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://rainforests.mongabay.com/borneo/|title=Borneo|publisher=Mongabay.com|access-date=14 August 2020}}</ref>

====Environmental issues====
{{see also|Deforestation in Borneo|Southeast Asian haze|Conservation in Indonesia|Conservation in Malaysia||||}}
[[File:Logging in Borneo (3540116932).jpg|thumb|Logging near [[Crocker Range National Park]]. Borneo has lost more than half of its rainforests in the past half century.<ref>{{cite news |title=What Causes Deforestation in Borneo and How Do We Stop It? |url=https://earth.org/deforestation-in-borneo/ |work=Earth.org |date=2 March 2023}}</ref>]]

The island historically had extensive rainforest cover, but the area was reduced due to heavy logging by the Indonesian and Malaysian [[wood industry]], especially with the large demands of raw materials from industrial countries along with the conversion of forest lands for large-scale agricultural purposes.<ref name="Borneo forests"/> Half of the annual global [[tropical timber]] acquisition comes from Borneo. [[Palm oil]] plantations have been widely developed and are rapidly encroaching on the last remnants of primary rainforest.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://wwf.panda.org/what_we_do/where_we_work/borneo_forests/borneo_deforestation/|title=Threats to Borneo forests|publisher=World Wide Fund for Nature|access-date=26 May 2017|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160525051215/http://wwf.panda.org/what_we_do/where_we_work/borneo_forests/borneo_deforestation/|archive-date=25 May 2016}}</ref> [[Wildfire|Forest fires]] since 1997, started by the locals to clear the forests for plantations were exacerbated by an exceptionally dry [[El Niño]] season, worsening the annual shrinkage of the rainforest.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.latimes.com/world/asia/la-fg-great-haze-explainer-20151021-htmlstory.html|title=Fires in Southeast Asia may be emitting more greenhouse gases than the entire U.S.|author=Jonathan Kaiman|newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]]|date=21 October 2015|access-date=27 May 2017}}</ref> During these fires, hotspots were visible on [[Satellite imagery|satellite images]] and the resulting [[haze]] frequently affected Brunei, Indonesia and Malaysia. The haze could also reach southern [[Thailand]], [[Cambodia]], [[Vietnam]] and the [[Philippines]] as evidenced on the [[2015 Southeast Asian haze]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.eria.org/ERIA-DP-2015-82.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://www.eria.org/ERIA-DP-2015-82.pdf |archive-date=9 October 2022 |url-status=live|title=Transboundary Haze Pollution Problem in Southeast Asia: Reframing ASEAN's Response|author=Apichal Sunchindah|publisher=Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia|date=December 2015|access-date=27 May 2017}}</ref>

A study in 2018 found that [[Bornean orangutan]]s declined by 148,500 individuals from 1999 to 2015.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Solly |first1=Meilan |title=Borneo's Orangutan Population Plummeted by Half in 16 Years |url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/borneos-orangutan-population-plummeted-half-16-years-180968189/ |work=[[Smithsonian (magazine)|Smithsonian]] |date=16 February 2018}}</ref>

===Topography===
[[File:MountKinabalu from CheSuiKhorPagodaKK-01.jpg|thumb|[[Mount Kinabalu]] in Malaysia, the highest summit of the island<ref name="highest summit">{{cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/edens/borneo/awesome.html|title=An Awesome Island|work=Borneo: Island in the Clouds|publisher=PBS|access-date=11 November 2012}}</ref>]]

List of highest peaks in Borneo by elevation:

* [[Mount Kinabalu]] {{convert|13435|ft|m|abbr=on}}
* [[Mount Trusmadi]] {{convert|8668|ft|abbr=on}}
* [[:id:Bukit Raya|Raya Hill]] {{convert|7474|ft|abbr=on}}
* Muruk Miau {{convert|6837|ft|abbr=on}}
* Mount Wakid {{convert|6778|ft|abbr=on}}
* Monkobo Hill {{convert|5866|ft|abbr=on}}
* Mount Lotung {{convert|5843|ft|abbr=on}}
* [[Mount Magdalena]] {{convert|4288|ft|abbr=on}}
* Talibu Hill {{convert|4144|ft|abbr=on}}

===River systems===
[[File:Scenery around Kapuas River.jpg|thumb|right|[[Kapuas River]] in Indonesia. At {{convert|1143|km|mi|abbr=on}} in length, it is the longest river in Borneo.<ref name="TanMerdikawati2015">{{cite book|author1=Khee Giap Tan|author2=Nurina Merdikawati|author3=Mulya Amri|author4=Blake Harley Berger|title=2014 Annual Competitiveness Analysis and Development Strategies for Indonesian Provinces|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=G1gGCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA286|date=8 September 2015|publisher=World Scientific|isbn=978-981-4730-43-3|pages=286–}}</ref>]]

List of rivers in Borneo by length:

* [[Kapuas River]] {{convert|1143|km|abbr=on}}
* [[Barito River]] {{cvt|1,090|km|abbr=on}}
* [[Mahakam River]] {{convert|980|km|abbr=on}} 
* [[Kahayan River]] {{cvt|658|km|abbr=on}}
* [[Mendawai River]] {{convert|616|km|abbr=on}}
* [[Kayan River]] {{convert|576|km|abbr=on}}
* [[Rajang River]] {{convert|565|km|mi|abbr=on}}
* [[Kinabatangan River]] {{convert|560|km|abbr=on}}
* [[Baram River]] {{convert|400|km|abbr=on}}
* [[Sembakung River]] {{convert|352|km|abbr=on}}
* [[Sesayap River]] {{convert|279|km|abbr=on}}
* [[Pawan River]] {{convert|197|km|abbr=on}}

==History==
===Early history===
[[File:Dayaks in their war dress.jpg|thumb|left|[[Dayak people|Dayaks]], a collective term used to describe [[Indigenous people]] of Borneo, depicted in an 1864 illustration in [[The Illustrated London News|''The Illustrated London News'']].]]

In the [[Samang Buat Cave]], in [[Lahad Datu District|Lahad Datu]], Sabah, archaeological evidence suggests that human settlement dates back to around 46,000 years ago, confirming Lahad Datu as one of the most important prehistoric centres in Southeast Asia.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title=History of Borneo |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Borneo-island-Pacific-Ocean/History |access-date=22 August 2025}}</ref> Intriguingly, tools found in [[Mansuli Valley]], also in Lahad Datu, have been dated as early as 235,000 years ago.<ref>{{cite news |title=Lembah Tertua Dalam Prasejarah Borneo Ditemui |url=https://www.sabahpost.net/2018/11/22/lembah-tertua-dalam-prasejarah-borneo-ditemui/ |work=Sabah Post |date=22 November 2018 |access-date=22 August 2025}}</ref>  

In [[Tingkayu Valley]], Kunak, Sabah, archaeological excavations revealed traces of a Palaeolithic community dating from approximately 28,000–30,000 years ago. The site, once a prehistoric lake basin, yielded Hoabinhian stone tools that indicate human activity in the area.<ref>{{cite web |title=The History of Archaeological Sites: How It All Began in Borneo |url=https://sites.google.com/view/ssf2193/theme-3-sites/the-history-of-archaeological-sites-how-it-all-began-in-borneo |publisher=SSF2193 Project |access-date=22 August 2025}}</ref>  

In [[Niah National Park|Niah Cave]], Sarawak, human presence has been dated to around 40,000 years ago. Recent studies in the Trader Cave section of the complex discovered microlithic tools and human remains, dated between 55,000 and 65,000 years ago, making it one of the most important early modern human sites in Southeast Asia.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title=Borneo — History |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Borneo-island-Pacific-Ocean/History |access-date=22 August 2025}}</ref>

In November 2018, scientists reported the discovery of the oldest known [[Figurative art|figurative art painting]], over 40,000 (perhaps as old as 52,000) years old, of an unknown animal, in the cave of [[Lubang Jeriji Saléh]] on the island of Borneo.<ref name="NYT-20181107-cz">{{cite news |last=Zimmer |first=Carl |author-link=Carl Zimmer |title=In Cave in Borneo Jungle, Scientists Find Oldest Figurative Painting in the World – A cave drawing in Borneo is at least 40,000 years old, raising intriguing questions about creativity in ancient societies. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/07/science/oldest-cave-art-borneo.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220101/https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/07/science/oldest-cave-art-borneo.html |archive-date=1 January 2022 |url-access=limited |date=7 November 2018 |work=[[The New York Times]] |access-date=8 November 2018 }}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref name="NAT-20181107">{{cite journal |author=Aubert, M.|display-authors=et al |title=Palaeolithic cave art in Borneo |date=7 November 2018 |journal=[[Nature (journal)|Nature]] |volume=564 |issue=7735 |pages=254–257 |doi=10.1038/s41586-018-0679-9 |pmid=30405242 |bibcode=2018Natur.564..254A |s2cid=53208538 }}</ref> It has been proposed, based on house construction styles, linguistic and genetic evidence, that [[Madagascar]] may have been first populated from southern Borneo.{{citation needed|date=September 2024}}

According to ancient Chinese (977),<ref>{{cite book|last=Cœdès|first=George|author-link=George Coedès|title=The Indianized States of South-East Asia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iDyJBFTdiwoC|year=1968|publisher=University of Hawaii Press|isbn=978-0-8248-0368-1}}</ref>{{rp|129}} Indian and Japanese manuscripts, western coastal cities of Borneo had become trading ports by the [[1st millennium|first millennium AD]].<ref>{{cite journal|title=The Trade in Lakawood Products Between South China and the Malay World from the Twelfth to Fifteenth Centuries AD|author=Derek Heng Thiam Soon|journal=Journal of Southeast Asian Studies|volume=32|issue=2|pages=133–149|date=June 2001|doi=10.1017/S0022463401000066|s2cid=162474082}}</ref> In Chinese manuscripts, gold, [[camphor]], [[tortoise]] shells, [[hornbill ivory]], [[rhinoceros]] horn, [[Crane (bird)|crane crest]], [[beeswax]], [[lakawood]] (a scented heartwood and root wood of a thick [[liana]], ''Dalbergia parviflora''), [[dragon's blood]], [[rattan]], edible [[bird's nest soup|bird's nests]] and various spices were described as among the most valuable items from Borneo.<ref name="Broek1962">{{cite journal|title=Place Names in 16th and 17th Century Borneo|author=Jan O. M. Broek|journal=Imago Mundi|volume=16|year=1962|pages=129–148|jstor=1150309|doi=10.1080/03085696208592208}}</ref> The [[demographics of India|Indians]] named Borneo ''[[Suvarnabhumi]]'' (Land of Gold), and also ''Karpuradvipa'' (Camphor Island). The [[Javanese people|Javanese]] named Borneo ''Puradvipa'' (Diamond Island). [[Archaeological]] findings in the Sarawak river delta reveal that the area was a thriving centre of trade between India and China from the 6th century until about 1300.<ref name="Broek1962"/>

[[File:Brunei territorial lose (1400–1890).gif|thumb|right|Territorial loss of the [[thalassocracy]] of the [[Bruneian Empire|Sultanate of Brunei]] from 1400 to 1890 due to the beginning of [[Western imperialism]]]]

Stone pillars bearing inscriptions in the [[Pallava script]], found in [[Kutai]] along the [[Mahakam River]] in [[East Kalimantan]] and dating to around the second half of the 4th century, constitute some of the oldest evidence of [[Hindu]] influence in Southeast Asia.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Austronesians: Historical and Comparative Perspectives|publisher=E Press, The Australian National University|chapter=(Chapter 15) The Earliest Indic State: Kutai|url=http://epress.anu.edu.au/austronesians/austronesians/mobile_devices/ch15s02.html|year=2006|access-date=1 October 2009|isbn=978-1-920942-85-4|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131225113933/http://epress.anu.edu.au/austronesians/austronesians/mobile_devices/ch15s02.html|archive-date=25 December 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref> By the 14th century, Borneo became a [[vassal state]] of [[Majapahit]] (in present-day Indonesia),<ref>{{cite book|author=Peter SkalnÃk|title=Outwitting the State|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ddj7FIkxFu0C&pg=PA41|date=1 January 1989|publisher=Transaction Publishers|isbn=978-1-4128-3041-6|pages=41–}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author1=Ooi |first=Keat Gin |author-link=Keat Gin Ooi |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NjqvCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA90 |title=Early Modern Southeast Asia, 1350–1800 |author2=Hoang Anh Tuan |date=8 October 2015 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-317-55919-1 |pages=90–}}</ref> later changing its allegiance to the [[Ming dynasty]] of China.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://nccur.lib.nccu.edu.tw/bitstream/140.119/68001/1/015101.pdf|title=Malaysia-Philippines Territorial Dispute: The Sabah Case|author1=Mohammad Al-Mahdi Tan Kho|author2=Hurng-yu Chen|publisher=NCCU Institutional Repository|work=[[National Chengchi University]]|date=July 2014|access-date=23 May 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160509133532/http://nccur.lib.nccu.edu.tw/bitstream/140.119/68001/1/015101.pdf |archive-date=9 May 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref> Pre-Islamic Sulu, then known as [[Lupah Sug|Lupah Sūg]], stretched from [[Palawan (island)|Palawan]] and the [[Sulu Archipelago]] in the Philippines, to [[Sabah]], [[East Kalimantan|Eastern]], and [[North Kalimantan|Northern Kalimantan]] in Borneo.<ref>[https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/228735802.pdf Reading Song-Ming Records on the Pre-colonial History of the Philippines] By Wang Zhenping Page 258.</ref> The Sulu Empire rose as a rebellion and reaction against the Majapahit, which had briefly occupied its territory. [[Islam]] arrived in the 10th century,<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.theborneopost.com/2014/08/25/islam-arrived-in-sabah-in-10th-century/|title=Islam arrived in Sabah in 10th century|author=Mariah Doksil|newspaper=The Borneo Post|date=25 August 2014|access-date=11 July 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160711125321/http://www.theborneopost.com/2014/08/25/islam-arrived-in-sabah-in-10th-century/ |archive-date=11 July 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref> brought by Muslim traders who later converted many indigenous peoples in the coastal areas.<ref>{{cite web|title=Islam In Indonesia. A resource of Islam in the archipelago|url=https://islaminindonesia.com/life-style/|access-date=1 May 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170707075222/https://islaminindonesia.com/life-style/|archive-date=7 July 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref>

The Sultanate of Brunei declared independence from Majapahit following the death of the Majapahit emperor in the mid-14th century. During its golden age under the [[Bolkiah]] from the 15th to the 17th century, the Bruneian sultanate ruled almost the entire coastal area of Borneo (lending its name to the island due to its influence in the region) and several islands in the southwestern Philippines.<ref name=history/> During the 1450s, [[Sharif ul-Hāshim of Sulu|Shari'ful Hashem Syed Abu Bakr]], an Arab born in [[Johor]],<ref>{{cite book|author1=K. S. Nathan|author2=Mohammad Hashim Kamali|title=Islam in Southeast Asia: Political, Social and Strategic Challenges for the 21st Century|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=O8d6BwAAQBAJ&pg=PA62|date=January 2005|publisher=Institute of Southeast Asian Studies|isbn=978-981-230-282-3|pages=62–}}</ref> arrived in Sulu from [[Malacca]]. In 1457, he founded the [[Sultanate of Sulu]]; he styled himself ''Paduka Maulana Mahasari Sharif Sultan Hashem Abu Bakr''.<ref>{{cite book|author=Shinzō Hayase|title=Mindanao Ethnohistory Beyond Nations: Maguindanao, Sangir, and Bagobo Societies in East Maritime Southeast Asia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HEGBAAAAMAAJ|year=2007|publisher=University of Hawaii Press|isbn=978-971-550-511-6}}</ref> Following its independence in 1578 from Bruneian control,<ref>{{cite book|first1=Trudy|last1=Ring|first2=Robert M|last2=Salkin|first3=Sharon|last3=La Boda|title=International Dictionary of Historic Places: Asia and Oceania|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vWLRxJEU49EC&pg=PA160|date=January 1996|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-1-884964-04-6|pages=160–}}</ref> the Sultanate of Sulu began to expand its [[thalassocracy]] to parts of northern Borneo.<ref name=thalassocracy/><ref name="Hussainmiya2006">{{cite book|author=Bachamiya Abdul Hussainmiya|title=Brunei: revival of 1906 : a popular history|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Q7UuAQAAIAAJ|year=2006|publisher=Brunei Press|isbn=978-99917-32-15-2}}</ref> Both sultanates who ruled northern Borneo had traditionally engaged in trade with China by means of the frequent Chinese [[junk (ship)|junk]]s.<ref>{{cite book|author=Keat Gin Ooi|title=Southeast Asia: A Historical Encyclopedia, from Angkor Wat to East Timor|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QKgraWbb7yoC&pg=PA271|year=2004|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-1-57607-770-2|pages=271–}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author1=Eric Tagliacozzo|author2=Wen-chin Chang|title=Chinese Circulations: Capital, Commodities, and Networks in Southeast Asia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZkMLnmRa0zEC&pg=PA236|date=13 April 2011|publisher=Duke University Press|isbn=978-0-8223-4903-7|pages=236–}}</ref> Outside of the two thalassocratic states, Borneo's interior remained free from the rule of any kingdoms.<ref>{{cite book|author=Ranjit Singh|title=The Making of Sabah, 1865–1941: The Dynamics of Indigenous Society|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=j9xuAAAAMAAJ|year=2000|publisher=University of Malaya Press|isbn=978-983-100-095-3}}</ref>

===British and Dutch control===
{{main|British Borneo|Dutch East Indies}}

[[File:Ceremony of Hoisting the British Flag on the island of Labuan, N. W. Coast of Borneo.jpg|thumb|left|[[Union Jack|British flag]] hoisted for the first time on the island of [[Labuan]], on 24 December 1846.]]

After the [[Capture of Malacca (1511)|fall of Malacca]] in 1511, Portuguese merchants traded regularly with Borneo, and especially with Brunei from 1530.<ref name="Lach1994">{{cite book|author=Donald F. Lach|title=Asia in the Making of Europe, Volume I: The Century of Discovery.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0x1Io6VOuAIC&pg=PA580|date=16 April 1994|publisher=University of Chicago Press|isbn=978-0-226-46732-0|pages=580–}}</ref> Having visited Brunei's capital, the Portuguese described the place as surrounded by a [[stone wall]].<ref>{{cite book|author1=P. M. Holt|author2=Peter Malcolm Holt|author3=Ann K. S. Lambton|author4=Bernard Lewis|title=The Cambridge History of Islam: Volume 2A, The Indian Sub-Continent, South-East Asia, Africa and the Muslim West|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=y99jTbxNbSAC&pg=PA129|date=21 April 1977|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-29137-8|pages=129–}}</ref> While Borneo was seen as rich, the Portuguese did not make any attempts to conquer it.<ref name="Lach1994"/> The Spanish had sailed from Spanish America and conquered the Brunei's provinces in the Philippines and incorporated it into the Mexico-Centered [[Viceroyalty of New Spain]]. The Spanish visit to Brunei led to the [[Castilian War]] in 1578. The British began to trade with [[Sultanate of Sambas|Sambas]] of southern Borneo in 1609, while the Dutch only began their trade in 1644: to Banjar and Martapura, also in the southern Borneo.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Asiatic Journal and Monthly Register for British and Foreign India, China, and Australia|url=https://archive.org/details/asiaticjournala30unkngoog|year=1816|publisher=Parbury, Allen, and Company|pages=[https://archive.org/details/asiaticjournala30unkngoog/page/n568 561]–}}</ref> The Dutch tried to settle the island of [[Balambangan Island|Balambangan]], north of Borneo, in the second half of the 18th century, but withdrew by 1797.<ref name="Dutch Borneo">{{cite web|url=http://www.san.beck.org/20-11-Indonesia1800-1950.html|title=Indonesia and the Dutch 1800–1950|author=Sanderson Beck|publisher=San.Beck|year=2007|access-date=24 May 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170524100635/http://www.san.beck.org/20-11-Indonesia1800-1950.html|archive-date=24 May 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref> In 1812, the sultan in southern Borneo ceded his forts to the [[British East India Company]]. The British, led by [[Stamford Raffles]], then tried to establish an intervention in Sambas but failed. Although they managed to defeat the sultanate the next year and declared a blockade on all ports in Borneo except Brunei, [[Banjarmasin]] and [[Pontianak, Indonesia|Pontianak]], the project was cancelled by the British governor-general [[Gilbert Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound, 1st Earl of Minto|Lord Minto]] in India as it was too expensive.<ref name="Dutch Borneo"/> At the beginning of British and Dutch exploration on the island, they described the island of Borneo as full of [[headhunting|head hunters]], with the indigenous in the interior practising [[Human cannibalism|cannibalism]],<ref name="Dutch and British explorations">{{cite web|url=http://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1067&context=forum|title=British and Dutch Perceptions of Cannibalism in Borneo, 1882–1964|author=Adrienne Smith|publisher=[[California Polytechnic State University]]|year=2012|access-date=24 May 2017|page=5|format=PDF}}</ref> and the waters around the island infested with [[piracy|pirates]], especially between the north eastern Borneo and the southern Philippines.<ref>{{cite book|author=Captain the Hon. Henry Keppel, R.N.|title=The Expedition to Borneo of H.M.S. Dido for the Suppression of Piracy|url=https://archive.org/details/expeditiontobor04broogoog|year=1846|pages=[https://archive.org/details/expeditiontobor04broogoog/page/n238 214]–|publisher=Chapman and Hall}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=P. Boomgaard|title=A World of Water: Rain, Rivers and Seas in Southeast Asian Histories|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1EEgIi8Mf-YC&pg=PA141|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200610173855/https://books.google.com/books?id=1EEgIi8Mf-YC&pg=PA141|url-status=dead|archive-date=10 June 2020|date=January 2007|publisher=KITLV Press|isbn=978-90-6718-294-2|pages=141–}}</ref> The [[Malay race|Malay]] and [[Iban people|Sea Dayak]] pirates preyed on maritime shipping in the waters between Singapore and Hong Kong from their haven in Borneo,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.fullbooks.com/Wanderings-Among-South-Sea-Savages-And-in3.html|title=Wanderings Among South Sea Savages And in Borneo and the Philippines|author=H. Wilfrid Walker|publisher=Full Books|access-date=23 May 2017|pages=3/3|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080609213932/http://www.fullbooks.com/Wanderings-Among-South-Sea-Savages-And-in3.html|archive-date=9 June 2008|url-status=live}} [http://www.gutenberg.org/files/2564/2564-h/2564-h.htm Alt URL]</ref> along with the attacks by [[Illanun]]s of the [[Moro pirates]] from the southern Philippines, such as in the [[Battle off Mukah]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://anglicanhistory.org/asia/sarawak/sketches1882/16.html|title=Sketches of Our Life at Sarawak (Chapter XVI. Illanun Pirates)|author=Harriette McDougall|work=Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge; E. & J. B. Young|location=London, New York City|publisher=[[Project Canterbury]], Anglican History|year=1882|access-date=23 May 2017}}</ref>

[[File:British and Dutch Borneo, 1898.png|thumb|right|Map of the island, divided between the British and the Dutch, 1898. The present boundaries of Malaysia, Indonesia, and Brunei are largely inherited from British and Dutch colonial rules.]]

The Dutch began to intervene in the southern part of the island upon resuming contact in 1815, posting ''[[resident (title)|resident]]s'' to Banjarmasin, Pontianak and Sambas and ''assistant-residents'' to Landak and Mampawa.<ref>{{cite book|author=Robert Cribb|title=Historical Atlas of Indonesia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ki8COnr7H0MC&pg=PA129|date=1 February 2013|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-136-78057-8|pages=129–}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=J. R. V. Prescott|title=Political Frontiers and Boundaries (Routledge Library Editions: Political Geography)|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CjyvBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA288|date=3 October 2014|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-317-60199-9|pages=288–}}</ref> The Sultanate of Brunei in 1842 granted large parts of land in Sarawak to the British adventurer [[James Brooke]], as a reward for his help in quelling a local rebellion. Brooke established the [[Raj of Sarawak]] and was recognised as its rajah after paying a fee to the sultanate. He established a monarchy, and the Brooke dynasty (through his nephew and great-nephew) ruled Sarawak for 100 years; the leaders were known as the [[White Rajahs]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://borneo.live.radicaldesigns.org/article.php?id=63 |title=Part 2 – The Brooke Era |work=The Borneo Project |publisher=Earth Island Institute |access-date=11 November 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130524171139/https://borneo.live.radicaldesigns.org/article.php?id=63 |archive-date=24 May 2013 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/flyingcarpet00hall |url-access=registration |last=Halliburton |first=Richard |date=1932 |publisher=The Bobbs-Merrill Company |location=Indianapolis, Indiana |title=The Flying Carpet |pages=297–312}}</ref> Brooke also acquired the island of [[Labuan]] for [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|Great Britain]] in 1846 through the [[Treaty of Labuan]] with the sultan of Brunei, [[Omar Ali Saifuddin II]] on 18 December 1846.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.bt.com.bn/life/2008/09/07/loss_of_labuan_a_former_brunei_island|title=Loss of Labuan, a former Brunei island|author=Rozan Yunos|newspaper=The Brunei Times|date=7 September 2008|access-date=23 May 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140428182303/http://www.bt.com.bn/life/2008/09/07/loss_of_labuan_a_former_brunei_island|archive-date=28 April 2014 |url-status=dead}}</ref> The region of northern Borneo came under the administration of [[North Borneo Chartered Company]] following the acquisition of territory from the Sultanates of Brunei and Sulu by a German businessman and adventurer named [[Gustav Overbeck|Baron von Overbeck]], before it was passed to the British Dent brothers (comprising [[Alfred Dent]] and Edward Dent).<ref name="Hussainmiya2006"/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://archiveshub.ac.uk/data/gb102-ms283792|title=British North Borneo Papers|work=School of Oriental and African Studies|publisher=Archives hub|access-date=23 May 2017}}</ref> Further expansion by the British continued into the Borneo interior.<ref>{{cite book|author=Jatswan S. Sidhu|title=Historical Dictionary of Brunei Darussalam|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=msOhDQAAQBAJ&pg=PA51|date=20 December 2016|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield Publishers|isbn=978-1-4422-6459-5|pages=51–}}</ref> This led the 26th sultan of Brunei, [[Hashim Jalilul Alam Aqamaddin]] to appeal the British to halt such efforts, and as a result a Treaty of Protection was signed in 1888, rendering Brunei a British protectorate.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://muslimmuseum.org.uk/treaty-of-protection-1888-brunei/|title=Treaty of Protection 1888 – Brunei|publisher=Muslim Museum Initiative|access-date=23 May 2017}}</ref>

[[Image:COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM Dayak tijdens het erau feest (een cultureel festival) in Tenggarong TMnr 10005749.jpg|thumbnail|left|[[Dayak people]] during an [[Erau]] ceremony in [[Tenggarong]]]]

Before the acquisition by the British, the Americans also managed to establish their temporary presence in northwestern Borneo after acquiring a parcel of land from the Sultanate of Brunei. A company known as [[American Trading Company of Borneo]] was formed by [[Joseph William Torrey]], [[Thomas Bradley Harris]] and several Chinese investors, establishing a colony named "Ellena" in the [[Kimanis]] area.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.northborneohistory.com/ellena-americas-lost-colony-in-kimanis-of-north-borneo/|title=Ellena – America's Lost Colony in Kimanis of North Borneo|author=Richard Ker|publisher=North Borneo Historical Society|date=26 August 2012|access-date=23 May 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170521072223/https://www.northborneohistory.com/ellena-americas-lost-colony-in-kimanis-of-north-borneo/|archive-date=21 May 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref> The colony failed and was abandoned, due to denials of financial backing, especially by the US government, and to diseases and riots among the workers.<ref>{{cite book|author=James W. Gould|title=The United States and Malaysia|url=https://archive.org/details/unitedstatesmala0000goul|url-access=registration|year=1969|publisher=Harvard University Press|isbn=978-0-674-92615-8|pages=[https://archive.org/details/unitedstatesmala0000goul/page/63 63]–}}</ref> Before Torrey left, he managed to sell the land to the German businessman, Overbeck.<ref>{{cite journal|title=American Activity in North Borneo, 1865–1881|journal=Pacific Historical Review|author=K. G. Tregonning|volume=23|issue=4|date=November 1954|pages=357–372|doi=10.2307/3634654|jstor=3634654}}</ref> Meanwhile, the Germans under William Frederick Schuck were awarded a parcel of land in northeastern Borneo of the Sandakan Bay from the Sultanate of Sulu where he conducted business and exported large quantities of arms, [[opium]], textiles and tobacco to Sulu before the land was also passed to Overbeck by the sultanate.<ref>{{cite book|author=James Francis Warren|title=The Sulu Zone, 1768–1898: The Dynamics of External Trade, Slavery, and Ethnicity in the Transformation of a Southeast Asian Maritime State|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_UyVI5IxcjIC&pg=PA114|year=1981|publisher=NUS Press|isbn=978-9971-69-004-5|pages=114–}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Emrys Chew|title=Arming the Periphery: The Arms Trade in the Indian Ocean During the Age of Global Empire|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rnSVPcnreBsC&pg=PA205|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211219163513/https://books.google.com/books?id=rnSVPcnreBsC&pg=PA205|url-status=dead|archive-date=19 December 2021|date=12 June 2012|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|isbn=978-0-230-35485-2|pages=205–}}</ref>

[[File:COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM Ontvangst bij de sultan van Pontianak West-Borneo TMnr 10001596.jpg|thumb|Arab-Malay [[Pontianak Sultanate|Sultan of Pontianak]] in 1930]]

Prior to the recognition of Spanish presence in the Philippine archipelago, a protocol known as the [[Madrid Protocol of 1885]] was signed between the governments of the United Kingdom, Germany and Spain in [[Madrid]] to cement Spanish influence and recognise their sovereignty over the Sultanate of Sulu—in return for Spain's relinquishing its claim to the former possessions of the sultanate in northern Borneo.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lawnet.sabah.gov.my/Lawnet/SabahLaws/Treaties/Protocol%28Madrid%29.pdf|title=British North Borneo Treaties. (British North Borneo, 1885)|author=British Government|publisher=Sabah State Government (State Attorney-General's Chambers)|year=1885|access-date=23 May 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029195606/http://www.lawnet.sabah.gov.my/Lawnet/SabahLaws/Treaties/Protocol%28Madrid%29.pdf|archive-date=29 October 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author1=Paul J. Carnegie|author2=Victor T. King|author3=Zawawi Ibrahim|title=Human Insecurities in Southeast Asia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fZ3vDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA74|date=21 September 2016|publisher=Springer|isbn=978-981-10-2245-6|pages=74–}}</ref> The British administration then established the first railway network in northern Borneo, known as the [[North Borneo Railway]].<ref>{{cite web |author=Johnstone |first=Dr. |last2=West |first2=A. J. |author-mask= |date=3 February 1898 |title=North Borneo Chartered Company: North Borneo Railway; The first train in North Borneo |url=http://searail.malayanrailways.com/Borneo/NBR2013.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170927213046/http://searail.malayanrailways.com/Borneo/NBR2013.htm |archive-date=27 September 2017 |access-date=23 May 2017 |work=British North Borneo Chartered Company: Views of British North Borneo, Printed by W. Brown & co., limited, London, 1899 |publisher=Malayan Railways}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.internationalsteam.co.uk/trains/borneo.htm|title=The North Borneo Railway Project|author=Rob Dickinson|publisher=The International Steam Pages|access-date=23 May 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130328052920/http://www.internationalsteam.co.uk/trains/borneo.htm|archive-date=28 March 2013|url-status=dead}}</ref> During this time, the British sponsored a large number of Chinese workers to migrate to northern Borneo to work in European plantation and mines,<ref>{{cite journal|title=Chinese Migration to Sabah Before the Second World War|journal=Archipel|author=Danny Wong Tze Ken|year=1999|volume=58|issue=3|pages=131–158|doi=10.3406/arch.1999.3538}}</ref> and the Dutch followed suit to increase their economic production.<ref>{{cite book|author=Geert Oostindie|title=Dutch Colonialism, Migration and Cultural Heritage: Past and Present|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KfFjAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA292|date=1 January 2008|publisher=BRILL|isbn=978-90-04-25388-9|pages=292–}}</ref> By 1888, North Borneo, Sarawak and Brunei in northern Borneo had become British [[protectorate]].<ref name="PrescottTriggs2008">{{cite book|author1=Victor Prescott|author2=Gillian D. Triggs|title=International Frontiers and Boundaries: Law, Politics and Geography|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HW-wCQAAQBAJ&pg=PA380|date=25 June 2008|publisher=BRILL|isbn=978-90-474-3364-4|pages=380–}}</ref> The area in southern Borneo was made Dutch protectorate in 1891.<ref name="Dutch and British explorations"/> The Dutch who already claimed the whole Borneo were asked by Britain to delimit their boundaries between the two colonial territories to avoid further conflicts.<ref name="PrescottTriggs2008"/> The British and Dutch governments had signed the [[Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1824]] to exchange trading ports in [[Malay Peninsula]] and [[Sumatra]] that were under their controls and assert spheres of influence. This resulted in indirectly establishing British- and Dutch-controlled areas in the north (Malay Peninsula) and south (Sumatra and Riau Islands) respectively.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://muslimmuseum.org.uk/anglo-dutch-treaty-of-1824-malaysia-and-indonesia/|title=Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1824 – Malaysia and Indonesia|publisher=Muslim Museum Initiative|access-date=23 May 2017}}</ref>

In 1895, [[Marcus Samuel, 1st Viscount Bearsted|Marcus Samuel]] received a concession in the Kutei area of east Borneo, and based on [[oil seep]]ages in the [[Mahakam River]] [[river delta|delta]], Mark Abrahams struck oil in February 1897. This was the discovery of the [[Sanga-Sanga, Kutai Kartanegara|Sanga Sanga]] Oil Field, a refinery was built in [[Balikpapan]], and discovery of the [[Samboja]] Oil Field followed in 1909. In 1901, the Pamusian Oil Field was discovered on [[Tarakan]], and the [[Bunyu]] Oil Field in 1929. [[Royal Dutch Shell]] discovered the [[Miri, Malaysia|Miri]] Oil Field in 1910, and the [[Seria oil field]] in 1929.<ref name=dy>{{cite book |last1=Yergin |first1=Daniel |title=The Prize, The Epic Quest for Oil, Money & Power |date=1991 |publisher=Simon & Schuster |location=New York |isbn=978-0-671-79932-8 |pages=114–116}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Sorkhabi |first1=Rasoul |title=Borneo's Petroleum Plays |url=https://www.geoexpro.com/articles/2012/12/borneo-s-petroleum-plays |website=Exploration Asia |publisher=GEO ExPro |access-date=23 July 2020 |date=2012 |archive-date=30 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210830054141/https://www.geoexpro.com/articles/2012/12/borneo-s-petroleum-plays |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=History of Shell in Indonesia |url=https://www.shell.co.id/en_id/about-us/who-we-are/history-of-shell-in-indonesia.html#vanity-aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuc2hlbGwuY28uaWQvZW4vYWJvdXRzaGVsbC93aG8td2UtYXJlL2hpc3RvcnkvY291bnRyeS5odG1s |publisher=Shell |access-date=17 July 2020}}</ref>

===World War II===
{{See also|Japanese occupation of British Borneo|Japanese occupation of the Dutch East Indies}}
[[File:Japanese Troops, Labuan (AWM 127908).JPG|thumb|right|Japanese troops march through the streets of [[Crown Colony of Labuan|Labuan]] on 14 January 1942.]]
[[File:American Support Craft (AWM 108818).jpg|thumb|right|American [[Landing craft|support craft]] moving towards [[Victoria, Labuan|Victoria]] and Brown beach to assist the landing of members of the Australian [[24th Brigade (Australia)|24th Infantry Brigade]] on the island during [[Operation Oboe Six]], 10 June 1945.]]

During World War II, Japanese forces gained control and occupied most areas of Borneo from 1941 to 1945. In the first stage of the war, the British saw the Japanese advance to Borneo as motivated by political and territorial ambitions rather than economic factors.<ref>{{cite book|author=Takashi Shiraishi|title=The Japanese in Colonial Southeast Asia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6mfCzrbOn80C&pg=PA54|date=January 1993|publisher=SEAP Publications|isbn=978-0-87727-402-5|pages=54–}}</ref> The occupation drove many people in the coastal towns to the interior, searching for food and escaping the Japanese.<ref name="Lim2008">{{cite book|author=Regina Lim|title=Federal-state Relations in Sabah, Malaysia: The Berjaya Administration, 1976–85|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bM4HifRARgYC&pg=PA36|year=2008|publisher=Institute of Southeast Asian Studies|isbn=978-981-230-812-2|pages=36–84}}</ref> The Chinese residents in Borneo, especially with the [[Second Sino-Japanese War|Sino-Japanese War]] in [[Mainland China]] mostly resisted the Japanese occupation.<ref>{{cite book|author=Danny Tze-Ken Wong|title=The Transformation of an Immigrant Society: A Study of the Chinese of Sabah|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=L81uAAAAMAAJ|year=1998|publisher=Asean Academic|isbn=978-1-901919-16-5}}</ref> Following the formation of resistance movements in northern Borneo such as the [[Jesselton Revolt]], many innocent indigenous and Chinese people were executed by the Japanese for their alleged involvement.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Malcolm Joseph Thurman|author2=Christine Sherman|title=War Crimes: Japan's World War II Atrocities|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=E1D5wKKZDHoC&pg=PA123|year=2001|publisher=Turner Publishing Company|isbn=978-1-56311-728-2|pages=123–}}</ref>

In Kalimantan, the Japanese also killed many Malay intellectuals, executing all the Malay sultans of West Kalimantan in the [[Pontianak incidents]], together with Chinese people who were already against the Japanese for suspecting them to be threats.<ref name=threats/> Sultan Muhammad Ibrahim Shafi ud-din II of [[Sultanate of Sambas|Sambas]] was executed in 1944. The sultanate was thereafter suspended and replaced by a Japanese council.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Syafaruddin Usman Mhd|author2=Isnawita Din|title=Peristiwa Mandor berdarah|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QDbFjJBQgm8C&pg=PA137|year=2009|language=id|publisher=Media Pressindo|isbn=978-979-788-109-2|pages=137–}}</ref> The Japanese also set-up ''Pusat Tenaga Rakjat'' (PUTERA)<ref>{{cite book|author=Muhammad Abdul Aziz|title=Japan's Colonialism and Indonesia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-aFyBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA214|date=6 December 2012|publisher=Springer Science & Business Media|isbn=978-94-011-9233-0|pages=214–}}</ref> in the Indonesian archipelago in 1943, although it was abolished the following year when it became too nationalistic.<ref name="Meyer2000">{{cite book|author=Milton W. Meyer|title=Asia: A Concise History|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DbQcAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA305|date=1 January 2000|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield Publishers|isbn=978-0-585-11423-1|pages=305–}}</ref> Some of the Indonesian nationalist like [[Sukarno]] and [[Mohammad Hatta|Hatta]] who had returned from Dutch exile began to co-operate with the Japanese. Shortly after his release, Sukarno became president of the Central Advisory Council, an advisory council for south Borneo, [[Celebes Islands|Celebes]], and [[Lesser Sunda Islands|Lesser Sunda]], set up in February 1945.<ref name="Meyer2000"/>

After the [[fall of Singapore]], the Japanese sent several thousand of British and Australian [[prisoners of war]] to camps in Borneo such as [[Batu Lintang camp]]. From the [[Sandakan camp]] site, only six of some 2,500 prisoners survived after they were forced to march in an event known as the [[Sandakan Death March]].<ref>{{cite book|author1=Philip Towle| author-link1 = Philip Towle |author2=Margaret Kosuge|author3=Yoichi Kibata|title=Japanese Prisoners of War|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ktCv32ysz0AC&pg=PA47|year=2000|publisher=A&C Black|isbn=978-1-85285-192-7|pages=47–}}</ref> In addition, of the total of 17,488 [[Javanese people|Javanese]] labourers brought in by the Japanese during the occupation, only 1,500 survived mainly due to starvation, harsh working conditions and maltreatment.<ref name="Lim2008"/> The Dayak and other indigenous people played a role in [[guerrilla warfare]] against the occupying forces, particularly in the [[Kapit Division]]. They temporarily revived headhunting of Japanese toward the end of the war,<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/11/09/opinion/edheiman.php|title=Guests can succeed where occupiers fail|author=Judith M. Heimann|newspaper=[[International Herald Tribune]]|date=9 November 2007|access-date=26 May 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080621024405/http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/11/09/opinion/edheiman.php|archive-date=21 June 2008|url-status=dead}}</ref> with Allied [[Z Special Unit]] provided assistance to them.<ref>{{cite book|author=A. B. Feuer|title=Australian Commandos: Their Secret War Against the Japanese in World War II|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sw--Ujt09cwC&pg=PA27|date=November 2005|publisher=Stackpole Books|isbn=978-0-8117-3294-9|pages=27–}}</ref> Australia contributed significantly to the liberation of Borneo.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.northborneohistory.com/brief-history-on-how-the-australians-liberated-borneo-during-wwii-video/|title=Brief History on How the Australians Liberated North Borneo during WWII [Video]|author=Richard Ker|publisher=North Borneo Historical Society|date=7 November 2013|access-date=23 May 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170523075019/https://www.northborneohistory.com/brief-history-on-how-the-australians-liberated-borneo-during-wwii-video/|archive-date=23 May 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref> The [[Second Australian Imperial Force|Australian Imperial Force]] was sent to Borneo to fight off the Japanese.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://searail.malayanrailways.com/Borneo/Australian%20invasion.htm|title=Australian invasion of Borneo in pictures.|publisher=Malayan Railways|access-date=23 May 2017}}</ref> Together with other Allies, the island [[Borneo campaign (1945)|was completely liberated]] in 1945.

===Recent history===
[[File:Sukarno with adat people in West Kalimantan, Bung Karno Penjambung Lidah Rakjat 252.jpg|thumb|left|[[Sukarno]] visiting [[Pontianak]], West Kalimantan, in 1963.]]

In May 1945, officials in Tokyo suggested that whether northern Borneo should be included in the proposed new country of Indonesia should be separately determined based on the desires of its indigenous people and following the disposition of [[British Malaya|Malaya]].<ref>{{cite book|author=Nicholas Tarling|title=A Sudden Rampage: The Japanese Occupation of Southeast Asia, 1941–1945|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=udqp4PzvCLEC&pg=PA192|year=2001|publisher=C. Hurst & Co. Publishers|isbn=978-1-85065-584-8|pages=192–}}</ref> Sukarno and [[Mohammad Yamin]] meanwhile continuously advocated for a [[Greater Indonesia]]n republic.<ref>{{cite book|author=Adrian Vickers|title=A History of Modern Indonesia|url=https://archive.org/details/historyofmoderni00adri|url-access=registration|date=3 November 2005|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-1-139-44761-4|pages=[https://archive.org/details/historyofmoderni00adri/page/150 150]–}}</ref> Towards the end of the war, Japan decided to give an early independence to a new proposed country of Indonesia on 17 July 1945, with an Independence Committee meeting scheduled for 19 August 1945.<ref name="Meyer2000"/> However, following the [[surrender of Japan]] to the Allied forces, the meeting was shelved. Sukarno and Hatta continued the plan by unilaterally declaring independence, although the Dutch tried to retake their colonial possession in Borneo.<ref name="Meyer2000"/>

The southern part of the island achieved its independence through the [[Proclamation of Indonesian Independence]] on 17 August 1945. The southern part saw [[Kalimantan Physical Revolution|guerrilla conflicts]] followed by Dutch blockades to cut supplies for nationalist within the region.<ref>''Post-war Borneo, 1945–50: Nationalism, Empire and State-Building''</ref> While nationalist guerrillas supporting the inclusion of southern Borneo in the new Indonesian republic were active in Ketapang, and to lesser extent in Sambas where they rallied with the red-white flag which became the [[flag of Indonesia]], most of the Chinese residents in southern Borneo expected to be liberated by [[National Revolutionary Army|Chinese Nationalist troops]] from mainland China and to integrate their districts as an overseas province of [[Republic of China (1912–49)|China]].<ref name="Heidhues2003">{{cite book|author=Mary F. Somers Heidhues|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4WK2s2ogHEAC&pg=PA211|title=Golddiggers, Farmers, and Traders in the "Chinese Districts" of West Kalimantan, Indonesia|publisher=SEAP Publications|year=2003|isbn=978-0-87727-733-0|pages=211–}}</ref> Meanwhile, Sarawak and Sabah in northern Borneo became separate British crown colonies in 1946.<ref name="Porritt1997">{{cite book|author=Vernon L. Porritt|title=British Colonial Rule in Sarawak, 1946–1963|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4pBwAAAAMAAJ|year=1997|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-983-56-0009-8|access-date=7 May 2016}}</ref><ref name="cc">{{cite news |url=http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/95540217 |title=British North Borneo Becomes Crown Colony |pages=1 |work=[[Kalgoorlie Miner]] |publisher=[[Trove]] |date=18 July 1946 |access-date=17 May 2016}}</ref>

[[File:Queen's Own Highlanders searching for enemies during a patrol.jpg|thumb|right|The [[Queen's Own Highlanders (Seaforth and Camerons)|Queen's Own Highlanders]] 1st Battalion conduct a patrol to search for enemy positions in the jungle of Brunei.]]

In 1961, Prime Minister [[Tunku Abdul Rahman]] of the independent [[Federation of Malaya]] desired to unite Malaya, the British colonies of [[Crown Colony of Sarawak|Sarawak]], [[Crown Colony of North Borneo|North Borneo]], [[Crown Colony of Singapore|Singapore]] and the protectorate of [[Brunei]] under the proposed [[Malaysia|Federation of Malaysia]].<ref>{{cite book|author1=Bosheng Chen|author2=Leong Sze Lee|title=A Retrospect on the Dust-laden History: The Past and Present of Tekong Island in Singapore|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iCRqDQAAQBAJ&pg=PA66|year=2012|publisher=World Scientific|isbn=978-981-4365-96-3|pages=66–}}</ref> The idea was heavily opposed by the governments in both Indonesia and the Philippines as well from communist sympathisers and nationalists in Borneo.<ref>{{cite book|author1=United States. Dept. of State. International Information Administration. Documentary Studies Section|author2=United States Information Agency. Special Materials Section|author3=United States. International Communication Agency|title=Problems of Communism|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AY4qAQAAMAAJ|year=1964|publisher=Special Materials Section, United States Information Agency}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Ramses Amer|title=Conflict Management and Dispute Settlement in East Asia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eEg3DAAAQBAJ&pg=PA52|date=23 May 2016|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-317-16216-2|pages=52–}}</ref> Sukarno, as the president of the new republic, perceiving the British trying to maintain their presence in northern Borneo and the Malay Peninsula, decided to launch a military infiltration, later known as the ''[[Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation|confrontation]]'', from 1962 to 1969.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Karl DeRouen, Jr.|author2=Uk Heo|title=Civil Wars of the World: Major Conflicts Since World War II|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nrN077AEgzMC&pg=PA431|date=10 May 2007|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-1-85109-919-1|pages=431–}}</ref> As a response to the growing opposition, the British deployed their armed forces to guard their colonies against Indonesian and communist revolts.<ref>{{cite book|author=Christopher Tuck|title=Confrontation, Strategy and War Termination: Britain's Conflict with Indonesia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nUg3DAAAQBAJ&pg=PA208|date=23 May 2016|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-317-16210-0|pages=208–}}</ref> Australia and New Zealand also participated in these measures.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1300&dat=19640907&id=MUBVAAAAIBAJ&pg=6843,1157289|title=Aggression Must be Deterred|newspaper=The Age|date=7 September 1964|access-date=23 May 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://nzhistory.govt.nz/war/confrontation-in-borneo|title=Confrontation in Borneo|work=NZ History|publisher=Government of New Zealand|access-date=23 May 2017}}</ref>

The Philippines opposed the newly proposed federation, claiming the eastern part of North Borneo (today the Malaysian state of Sabah) as part of its territory as a former possession of the [[Sultanate of Sulu]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/1963/01/28/philippine-claim-to-north-borneo-vol-i-i-north-borneo-claim/|title=I. North Borneo Claim (Excerpt from President Diosdado Macapagal's State-of-the-Nation Message to the Congress of the Philippines)|work=Philippine Claim to North Borneo (Sabah), Vol. II|publisher=Government of the Philippines|date=28 January 1963|access-date=23 May 2017|archive-date=8 March 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308124634/https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/1963/01/28/philippine-claim-to-north-borneo-vol-i-i-north-borneo-claim/|url-status=dead}}</ref> The Philippine government mostly based their claim on the Sultanate of Sulu's [[cession]] agreement with the British North Borneo Company, as by now the sultanate had come under the jurisdiction of the Philippine republican administration, which therefore should inherit the Sulu former territories. The Philippine government also claimed that the heirs of the sultanate had ceded all their territorial rights to the republic.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/1962/04/24/cession-and-transfer-of-the-territory-of-north-borneo-by-his-highness-sultan-mohammad-esmail-kiram-sultan-of-sulu-acting-with-the-consent-and-aprroval-of-the-ruma-bechara-in-council-assembled-to/|title=Cession and transfer of the territory of North Borneo by His Highness, Sultan Mohammad Esmail Kiram, Sultan of Sulu, acting with the consent and approval of the Ruma Bechara, in council assembled, to the Republic of the Philippines|publisher=Government of the Philippines|date=24 April 1962|access-date=23 May 2017|archive-date=10 August 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190810015148/https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/1962/04/24/cession-and-transfer-of-the-territory-of-north-borneo-by-his-highness-sultan-mohammad-esmail-kiram-sultan-of-sulu-acting-with-the-consent-and-aprroval-of-the-ruma-bechara-in-council-assembled-to/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

[[File:Flag of the North Borneo Federation.svg|thumb|left|The proposed flag of the [[North Borneo Federation]], an attempt to establish a sovereign state by unifying North Borneo, Brunei, and Sarawak by [[A. M. Azahari]]]]

The Sultanate of Brunei at first welcomed the proposal of a new larger federation.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Mohd. Jamil Al-Sufri (Pehin Orang Kaya Amar Diraja Dato Seri Utama Haji Awang.)|author2=Mohd. Amin Hassan|title=Brunei Darussalam: The Road to Independence|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=87cuAQAAIAAJ|year=1998|publisher=Brunei History Centre, Ministry of Culture, Youth, and Sports}}</ref> Meanwhile, the [[Brunei People's Party]] led by [[A.M. Azahari]] desired to reunify Brunei, Sarawak and North Borneo into one federation known as the [[North Borneo Federation]] ({{langx|ms|Kesatuan Negara Kalimantan Utara}}), where the [[List of sultans of Brunei|sultan of Brunei]] would be the head of state for the federation—though Azahari had his own intention to abolish the Brunei monarchy, to make Brunei more democratic, and to integrate the territory and other former British colonies in Borneo into Indonesia, with the support from the latter government.<ref>{{cite journal|title=British counterinsurgency in Brunei and Sarawak, 1962–1963: developing best practices in the shadow of Malaya|journal = Small Wars & Insurgencies|volume = 27|issue = 4|pages = 702–725|author=Alexander Nicholas Shaw|date=19 June 2016|doi=10.1080/09592318.2016.1190052|s2cid = 147835844|url = http://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/99950/3/ShawBritish%20Counterinsurgency%20in%20Brunei%20.pdf|doi-access = free}}</ref> This directly led to the [[Brunei Revolt]], which thwarted Azahari's attempt and forced him to escape to Indonesia. Brunei withdrew from being part of the new Federation of Malaysia due to some disagreements on other issues while political leaders in Sarawak and North Borneo continued to favour inclusion in a larger federation.<ref>{{cite book|author=Karl Hack|title=Defence and Decolonisation in Southeast Asia: Britain, Malaya and Singapore, 1941–1968|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FUxWCLNxODMC&pg=PA278|year=2001|publisher=Psychology Press|isbn=978-0-7007-1303-5|pages=278–}}</ref>

With the continuous opposition from Indonesia and the Philippines, the [[Cobbold Commission]] was established to discover the feeling of the native populations in northern Borneo; it found the people greatly in favour of federation, with various stipulations.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C12304211|title=Report of the Commission of Enquiry, North Borneo and Sarawak, 1962 (Cobbold Commission)|publisher=[[The National Archives (United Kingdom)|The National Archives]]|date=January–December 1962|access-date=25 May 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://seeds.theborneopost.com/2014/09/16/the-cobbold-commission-giving-people-a-voice/|title=THE COBBOLD COMMISSION: Giving people a voice|author=Patricia Hului|newspaper=The Borneo Post|date=16 September 2014|access-date=25 May 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170525105221/http://seeds.theborneopost.com/2014/09/16/the-cobbold-commission-giving-people-a-voice/|archive-date=25 May 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref> The federation was successfully achieved with the inclusion of northern Borneo through the [[Malaysia Agreement]] on 16 September 1963.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Great Britain. Colonial Office|author2=Malaysia|author3=Great Britain. Office of Commonwealth Relations|title=Malaysia: agreement concluded between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the Federation of Malaya, North Borneo, Sarawak and Singapore|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6gs-AQAAIAAJ|year=1963|publisher=H. M. Stationery Office}}</ref> To this day, the area in northern Borneo is still subjected to attacks by Moro pirates since the 18th century and militant from groups such as [[Abu Sayyaf]] since 2000 in the frequent [[Cross border attacks in Sabah|cross border attacks]]. During the administration of Philippine president [[Ferdinand Marcos]], Marcos made some attempts to destabilise the state of Sabah,<ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2479&dat=20000402&id=P1M1AAAAIBAJ&pg=2032,892348&hl=en|title=Marcos order: Destabilize, take Sabah|newspaper=Philippine Daily Inquirer|date=2 April 2000|access-date=25 May 2017}}</ref> although his plan failed and resulted in the [[Jabidah massacre]] and later the [[Moro conflict|insurgency in the southern Philippines]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://corregidor.org/heritage_battalion/jabidah.html|title=The Corregidor Massacre – 1968|author=Paul F. Whitman|publisher=Corregidor Historic Society|year=2002|access-date=5 June 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150913012739/http://corregidor.org/heritage_battalion/jabidah.html|archive-date=13 September 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Rommel Banlaoi|title=Philippine Security in the Age of Terror: National, Regional, and Global Challenges in the Post-9/11 World|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hi_NBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA49|date=13 October 2009|publisher=CRC Press|isbn=978-1-4398-1551-9|pages=49–}}</ref>

In August 2019, Indonesian president [[Joko Widodo]] announced a [[Capital of Indonesia#Move to Nusantara|plan to move the capital of Indonesia]] from [[Jakarta]] to a newly established location in the [[East Kalimantan]] province in Borneo.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Lyons|first=Kate|date=27 August 2019|title=Why is Indonesia moving its capital city? Everything you need to know|language=en-GB|work=The Guardian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/aug/27/why-is-indonesia-moving-its-capital-city-everything-you-need-to-know|access-date=13 September 2020|issn=0261-3077}}</ref>

==Demographics==
[[File:Map of Ethnic Groups on Borneo Island (Kalimantan).jpg|thumb|Visual map of different ethnic groups on Borneo.]]
The [[demonym]] for Borneo is '''Bornean'''.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Christine Padoch|author2=Nancy Lee Peluso|title=Borneo in Transition: People, Forests, Conservation, and Development|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=s78sAQAAMAAJ|year=1996|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-967-65-3110-0}}</ref>

Borneo had 23,053,723 inhabitants (in 2020 Censuses),<ref name="detik20"/><ref name="citypop"/> a population density of {{convert|30.8|PD/sqkm|abbr=off}}. Most of the population lives in coastal cities, although the hinterland has small towns and villages along the rivers.

Borneo is home to a number of different [[Indigenous peoples]] and distinct languages and cultures. [[Dayak people|''Dayak'']] is inconsistently used as a collective term for non-Muslim [[Austronesian peoples|Austronesian]] Indigenous peoples from Borneo, encompassing the [[Iban people|Iban]] and [[Bidayuh]] in [[East Malaysia]], and the [[Kayan people (Borneo)|Kayan]], [[Kenyah people|Kenyah]] and [[Ngaju people|Ngaju]] of [[Kalimantan]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Dayak {{!}} Indigenous Tribes, Culture & History |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Dayak |access-date=2025-10-11 |website=[[Britannica]] |language=en}}</ref> Historically, many Dayaks lived in communal [[Longhouse|longhouses]], lacked [[class structure]] and practiced [[shifting cultivation]] for subsistence.<ref name=":0" />

===Territories by population, size, and timezone===
{|class="sortable wikitable"
|-
!Country
!Population
!Area
!Density
!Province/state
!Population
!Area
!Density
!Capital
!Time zone
|-
|'''Brunei'''{{note label|en|a}}{{note label|en|b}}||460,345<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.depd.gov.bn/SitePages/Population.aspx|title=Department of Economic Planning and Development – Population|website=www.depd.gov.bn|language=en-US|access-date=12 December 2017|archive-date=20 March 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170320011146/http://www.depd.gov.bn/SitePages/Population.aspx|url-status=dead}}</ref><br>(2% of the population)||5,765&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup><br>(0.8% of the land area)||72.11/km<sup>2</sup><br>|| colspan="4" | 
|[[Bandar Seri Begawan]]
||[[UTC+8]]
|-
| rowspan="5" |'''Indonesia''' ('''[[Kalimantan]]'''){{note label|en|a}}|| rowspan="5" |16,544,696<ref name="Badan Pusat Statistik 2021">Badan Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 2021.</ref><br>(72% of the population)|| rowspan="5" |539,238&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup><br>(72.5% of the land area)|| rowspan="5" |30.8/km<sup>2</sup><br>||{{flag|North Kalimantan}}||713,622<br>(3% of the population)||72,275&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup><br>(9.7% of the land area)||9.7/km<sup>2</sup>||[[Tanjung Selor]]
||[[UTC+8]]
|-
|{{flag|East Kalimantan}}||3,849,842<br>(16.8% of the population)||127,347&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup><br>(17.1% of the land area)||29.6/km<sup>2</sup><br>||[[Samarinda]]
||[[UTC+8]]
|-
|{{flag|South Kalimantan}}||3,808,235<br>(16.6% of the population)||38,744&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup><br>(5.2% of the land area)||105.1/km<sup>2</sup><br>||[[Banjarbaru]]
||[[UTC+8]]
|-
|{{flag|Central Kalimantan}}||2,702,200<br>(11.8% of the population)||153,565&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup><br>(20.6% of the land area)||17.4/km<sup>2</sup><br>||[[Palangka Raya]]
||[[UTC+7]]
|-
|{{flag|West Kalimantan}}||5,470,797<br>(23.8% of the population)||147,307&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup><br>(19.8% of the land area)||36.8/km<sup>2</sup><br>||[[Pontianak]]
||[[UTC+7]]
|-
| rowspan="3" |'''Malaysia''' ('''[[East Malaysia]]'''){{note label|en|a}}|| rowspan="3" |5,967,582<br>(26% of the population)|| rowspan="3" |198,447&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup><br>(26.7% of the land area)|| rowspan="3" |30.7/km<sup>2</sup><br>||{{flag|Sabah}}||3,418,785<br>(14.9% of the population)||73,904&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup><br>(9.9% of the land area)||46/km<sup>2</sup><br>||[[Kota Kinabalu]]
||[[UTC+8]]
|-
|{{flag|Sarawak}}||2,453,677<br>(10.7% of the population)||124,450&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup><br>(16.7% of the land area)||22/km<sup>2</sup><br>||[[Kuching]]
||[[UTC+8]]
|-
|{{flag|Labuan}}||95,120<br>(0.4% of the population)||92&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup><br>(0.1% of the land area)||1,000/km<sup>2</sup><br>||[[Victoria, Labuan|Victoria]]
||[[UTC+8]]
|-
|'''Total'''||22,972,623||743,450&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup><br>||30.9~/km<sup>2</sup><br>
|}
{{note label|en|a}}<small>May includes the offshore islands and its populations</small><br>
{{note label|en|b}}<small>Due to its size, Brunei is further subdivided into 4 districts ([[Districts of Brunei|mukim]]), which is similar to the size of smaller administrative units in Indonesia ([[Districts of Indonesia|kecamatan]]) and Malaysia ([[List of districts in Malaysia|daerah]])
</small>

===20 largest cities and towns in Borneo by population===
[[File:Major cities in towns of borneo.png|thumb|upright 1.2|Cities and major towns in Borneo]]
[[File:Samarinda landscape 2.png|thumb|[[Samarinda]], the most populous and largest city on the island of Borneo]]
[[File:2018-12-04 Balikpapan cropped.jpg|thumb|[[Balikpapan]], the second most populous and largest city on Borneo]]
* {{legend|#cfecec|Provincial/state capital|border=solid 1px #AAAAAA}}
* {{legend|#ccff99|National capital|border=solid 1px #AAAAAA}}
{| class="sortable wikitable"
! Rank !! City !! Population<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/the-10-largest-cities-in-borneo.html |title =The 10 Largest Cities In Borneo |year=2019 |access-date=1 April 2023 |work=World Atlas}}</ref> !! Country !! Province/state/district
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|1 || style="text-align:left;background-color:#cfecec"|'''[[Samarinda]]''' || style="text-align:right;" | 861,878 || {{flag|Indonesia}} || {{flag|East Kalimantan}}
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|2 || style="text-align:left;"|'''[[Balikpapan]]''' || style="text-align:right;" | 738,532 || {{flag|Indonesia}} || {{flag|East Kalimantan}}
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|3 || style="text-align:left;background-color:#cfecec"|'''[[Pontianak]]''' || style="text-align:right;" | 679,818 || {{flag|Indonesia}}|| {{flag|West Kalimantan}}
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|4 || style="text-align:left;"|'''[[Banjarmasin]]''' || style="text-align:right;" | 678,243 || {{flag|Indonesia}}|| {{flag|South Kalimantan}}
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|5 || style="text-align:left;background-color:#cfecec"|'''[[Kota Kinabalu]]''' || style="text-align:right;" | 500,425 || {{flag|Malaysia}} || {{flag|Sabah}}
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|6 || style="text-align:left;background-color:#ccff99"" |'''[[Capital City of Nusantara|Nusantara]]''' || style="text-align:right;" | 488,409	|| {{flag|Indonesia}}|| {{flag|Nusantara}}
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|7 || style="text-align:left;"|'''[[Sandakan]]''' || style="text-align:right;" | 439,050 || {{flag|Malaysia}} || {{flag|Sabah}}
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|8 || style="text-align:left;"|'''[[Tawau]]''' || style="text-align:right;" | 420,806 || {{flag|Malaysia}} || {{flag|Sabah}}
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|9 || style="text-align:left;background-color:#cfecec"|'''[[Kuching]]''' || style="text-align:right;" | 402,738 || {{flag|Malaysia}} || {{flag|Sarawak}}
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|10 || style="text-align:left;" |'''[[Miri]]''' || style="text-align:right;" | 356,900 || {{flag|Malaysia}} || {{flag|Sarawak}}
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|11 || style="text-align:left;background-color:#ccff99"" |'''[[Bandar Seri Begawan]]''' || style="text-align:right;" | 318,530 || {{flag|Brunei}} || [[Brunei–Muara]]
|-
| style="text-align:center;|12 || style="text-align:left;background-color:#cfecec" |'''[[Palangkaraya]]'''||style="text-align:right;" | 305,797|| {{flag|Indonesia}} || {{flag|Central Kalimantan}}
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|13 || style="text-align:left;background-color:#cfecec" |'''[[Banjarbaru]]''' || style="text-align:right;" | 272,763 || {{flag|Indonesia}} || {{flag|South Kalimantan}}
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|14 || style="text-align:left;" |'''[[Tarakan]]''' || style="text-align:right;" | 249,960 || {{flag|Indonesia}} || {{flag|North Kalimantan}}
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|15 || style="text-align:left;" |'''[[Singkawang]]''' || style="text-align:right;" | 246,112 || {{flag|Indonesia}} || {{flag|West Kalimantan}}
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|16 || style="text-align:left;" |'''[[Bontang]]''' || style="text-align:right;" | 189,968 || {{flag|Indonesia}} || {{flag|East Kalimantan}}
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|17 || style="text-align:left;" |'''[[Sampit]]''' || style="text-align:right;" | 166,773 || {{flag|Indonesia}} || {{flag|Central Kalimantan}}
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|18 || style="text-align:left;" |'''[[Sibu]]''' || style="text-align:right;" | 162,676 || {{flag|Malaysia}} || {{flag|Sarawak}}
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|19 || style="text-align:left;" |'''[[Bintulu]]''' || style="text-align:right;" | 114,058 || {{flag|Malaysia}} || {{flag|Sarawak}}
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|20 || style="text-align:left;" |'''[[Tenggarong]]''' || style="text-align:right;" | 106,669 || {{flag|Indonesia}} || {{flag|East Kalimantan}}
|-
|}

===Urbanisation by region===
[[File:Sarawak River.jpg|thumb|[[Kuching]], one of the largest cities on the island of Borneo]]
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
!rowspan="2" |Country
!rowspan="2" |Province/state
!colspan="2" |Urban–rural population (%)
|-
!style="background-color:#" data-sort-type="number"|Urban
!style="background-color:#" data-sort-type="number"|Rural
|-
|-
|'''Brunei'''<ref name="World Atlas-2023">{{cite web|url=https://www.statista.com/statistics/761109/share-of-urban-population-brunei/|title =Share of the urban population in Brunei from 2012 to 2021|year=2023|access-date=15 April 2023|work=World Atlas}}</ref><ref name="Brunei Urban Population 1960-2023">{{cite web|url=https://www.macrotrends.net/countries/BRN/brunei/urban-population|title =Brunei Urban Population 1960–2023
|year=|access-date=15 April 2023|work=Macrotrends}}</ref>||||style="text-align:right;" | 78.3% ||style="text-align:right;" | 21.8%
|-
| rowspan="4" |'''Indonesia''' ('''[[Kalimantan]]''')<ref name="Badan Pusat Statistik-2020">{{cite web|url=https://www.bps.go.id/statictable/2014/02/18/1276/persentase-penduduk-daerah-perkotaan-hasil-proyeksi-penduduk-menurut-provinsi-2015---2035.html|title =Persentase Penduduk Daerah Perkotaan menurut Provinsi, 2010–2035|year=2020|access-date=15 April 2023|work=Badan Pusat Statistik}}</ref>||{{flag|East Kalimantan}}<br>{{flag|North Kalimantan}}{{note label|en|c}}||style="text-align:right;" | 68.9% ||style="text-align:right;" | 31.1%
|-
|{{flag|South Kalimantan}}||style="text-align:right;" | 48.4% ||style="text-align:right;" | 51.6%
|-
|{{flag|Central Kalimantan}}||style="text-align:right;" | 40.2% ||style="text-align:right;" | 59.8%
|-
|{{flag|West Kalimantan}}||style="text-align:right;" | 36.2% ||style="text-align:right;" | 63.8%
|-
| rowspan="3" |'''Malaysia''' ('''[[East Malaysia]]''')<ref name="DSMO Portal-2020">{{cite web|url=https://www.dosm.gov.my/v1/index.php?r=column/cthemeByCat&cat=509&bul_id=ZFRzTG9ubTkveFR4YUY2OXdNNk1GZz09&menu_id=L0pheU43NWJwRWVSZklWdzQ4TlhUUT09#:~:text=Meanwhile%2C%20Sabah%20registered%20the%20highest,112%20(2010%3A%20109)|title=Key Findings of Population and Housing Census of Malaysia 2020: Urban and Rural|year=2020|access-date=15 April 2023|work=Department of Statistics Malaysia Official Portal|archive-date=15 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230415035017/https://www.dosm.gov.my/v1/index.php?r=column/cthemeByCat&cat=509&bul_id=ZFRzTG9ubTkveFR4YUY2OXdNNk1GZz09&menu_id=L0pheU43NWJwRWVSZklWdzQ4TlhUUT09#:~:text=Meanwhile%2C%20Sabah%20registered%20the%20highest,112%20(2010%3A%20109)|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="DSMO Portal-2011">{{cite web|url=https://www.dosm.gov.my/v1/index.php?r=column/cthemeByCat&cat=117&bul_id=MDMxdHZjWTk1SjFzTzNkRXYzcVZjdz09&menu_id=L0pheU43NWJwRWVSZklWdzQ4TlhUUT09|title=Population Distribution and Basic Demographic Characteristic Report 2010 (Updated: 05/08/2011)|year=2011|access-date=15 April 2023|work=Department of Statistics Malaysia Official Portal|archive-date=20 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170820201913/https://www.dosm.gov.my/v1/index.php?r=column/cthemeByCat&cat=117&bul_id=MDMxdHZjWTk1SjFzTzNkRXYzcVZjdz09&menu_id=L0pheU43NWJwRWVSZklWdzQ4TlhUUT09|url-status=dead}}</ref>||{{flag|Sabah}}||style="text-align:right;" | 54.7% ||style="text-align:right;" | 45.3%
|-
|{{flag|Sarawak}}||style="text-align:right;" | 57.0% ||style="text-align:right;" | 43.0%
|-
|{{flag|Labuan}}||style="text-align:right;" | 88.9% ||style="text-align:right;" | 11.1%
|}
{{note label|en|c}}Data based on the projection in the former territories in East Kalimantan Province (prior to the separation of North Kalimantan in 2012)

===Major ethnicities by region===
[[File:Young Dayak dancers, Samarinda, Indonesia.jpg|thumb|Young [[Dayak people|Dayak]] dancers in their traditional clothes, Pampang Cultural Village, [[Samarinda]], East Kalimantan, Indonesia]]
[[File:Baju Melayu.jpg|thumb|A group of Bruneian men in [[Baju Melayu]]; the ethnic Malays of Borneo primarily inhabit the coastal areas of the island.]]
{|class="wikitable"
|-
! rowspan="2" |Country
! rowspan="2" |Province/state
! colspan="2" |Major ethnic groups{{note label|en|d}}
|-
! '''Indigenous'''
! '''Non-indigenous'''
|-
|'''Brunei'''|||| [[Bisaya (Borneo)|Bisaya]], [[Dusun people|Dusun]], [[Kedayan]], [[Bruneian Malays|Malay]], [[Lun Bawang|Murut]] 
|[[Ethnic Chinese in Brunei|Chinese]]
|-
| rowspan="5" |'''Indonesia''' ('''[[Kalimantan]]''')||{{flag|North Kalimantan}}||, Bulungan, [[Dayak people|Dayak]], [[Tidung people|Tidung]]
| [[Bugis]], [[Javanese people|Javanese]]
|-
|{{flag|East Kalimantan}}||[[Banjar people|Banjarese]], [[Berau Malays|Berau]], [[Dayak people|Dayak]], [[Kutai#The Kutai People|Kutai]], Paser
| [[Bugis]], [[Javanese people|Javanese]]
|-
|{{flag|South Kalimantan}}||[[Banjar people|Banjarese]], [[Dayak people|Dayak]] 
|[[Bugis]], [[Javanese people|Javanese]], [[Madurese people|Madurese]]
|-
|{{flag|Central Kalimantan}}||[[Banjar people|Banjarese]], [[Dayak people|Dayak]], [[Malays (ethnic group)|Malay]]
|[[Javanese people|Javanese]], [[Madurese people|Madurese]]
|-
|{{flag|West Kalimantan}}||[[Dayak people|Dayak]], [[Malays (ethnic group)|Malay]]
|[[Chinese Indonesians|Chinese]], [[Javanese people|Javanese]], [[Madurese people|Madurese]]
|-
| rowspan="3" |'''Malaysia''' ('''[[East Malaysia]]''')||{{flag|Sabah}}|| [[Sama-Bajau|Bajau]], [[Kadazan-Dusun]], [[Lundayeh|Lun Bawang]], [[Bruneian Malays|Malay]], [[Murut people|Murut]], [[Rungus]],  [[Sulu people|Suluk]]
|[[Bugis]], [[Chinese Indonesians|Chinese]]
|-
|{{flag|Sarawak}}||[[Bidayuh]], [[Iban people|Iban]], [[Sarawakian Malay people|Malay]], [[Melanau people|Melanau]], [[Orang Ulu]]
|[[Malaysian Chinese|Chinese]] 
|-
|{{flag|Labuan}}||[[Sama-Bajau|Bajau]], [[Kadazan-Dusun]], [[Kedayan]], [[Bruneian Malays|Malay]], [[Lundayeh|Lun Bawang]], [[Murut people|Murut]]
|[[Malaysian Chinese|Chinese]]  
|}
{{note label|en|d}}Based on alphabetical order

===Religion===
{| class="wikitable"
|+ Religions based on regions
|-
| {{Pie chart
|thumb = 
|caption = Religion in Brunei (2016)<ref>{{Cite web|title=Population by Religion, Sex and Census Year|url=http://www.deps.gov.bn/SiteAssets/Time-Series3.html|access-date=11 May 2021|archive-date=1 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210401024235/http://www.deps.gov.bn/SiteAssets/Time-Series3.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>
|label1 = [[Islam]]
|value1 = 80.9
|color1 = Green
|label2 = Christianity
|value2 = 7.1
|color2 = Blue
|label4 = Other
|value4 = 5
|color4 = Black
|label3 = [[Buddhism]]
|value3 = 7
|color3 = Yellow
}}
||
{{Pie chart
|thumb = 
|caption = Religion in Malaysian Borneo (2020){{my10|2020kf}}
|label1 = [[Islam]]
|value1 = 51.9
|color1 = Green
|label2 = Christianity
|value2 = 37.4
|color2 = Blue
|label3 = [[Buddhism]]
|value3 = 9.0
|color3 = Yellow
|label5 = [[Hinduism]]
|value5 = 0.1
|color5 = DarkOrange
|label4 = [[Confucianism]] and others
|value4 = 0.3
|color4 = White
|label6 = No religion
|value6 = 1.3
|color6 = Black
}}
||
{{Pie chart
|thumb = 
|caption = Religion in Indonesian Borneo (December 2023)<ref>{{cite web | url=https://gis.dukcapil.kemendagri.go.id/peta/ | title=ArcGIS Web Application | access-date=27 September 2021 | archive-date=5 July 2022 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220705211227/http://gis.dukcapil.kemendagri.go.id/peta/ | url-status=dead }}</ref>
|label1 = [[Islam]]
|value1 = 78.42
|color1 = Green
|label2 = [[Protestantism]]
|value2 = 9.30
|color2 = Blue
|label3 = [[Roman Catholicism]]
|value3 = 9.09
|color3 = Purple
|label4 = [[Buddhism]]
|value4 = 1.94
|color4 = Yellow
|label5 = [[Hinduism]]
|value5 = 1.08
|color5 = DarkOrange
|label6 = [[Confucianism]] 
|value6 = 0.1
|color6 = Red
|label7 = [[Folk religion]] 
|value7 = 0.06
|color7 = Black
}}

|}

==Administration==
The island of Borneo is divided administratively by three countries.
* The independent [[sultanate]] of [[Brunei]] (main part and eastern exclave of [[Temburong District|Temburong]])
* The Indonesian [[Provinces of Indonesia|provinces]] of [[East Kalimantan|East]], [[South Kalimantan|South]], [[West Kalimantan|West]], [[North Kalimantan|North]] and [[Central Kalimantan]], in [[Kalimantan]]
* The [[East Malaysia]]n [[States of Malaysia|states]] of [[Sabah]] and [[Sarawak]], as well as the [[Federal Territory (Malaysia)|Federal Territory]] of [[Labuan]] (on offshore islands nearby)
[[File:Borneo2 map english names.svg|thumb|center|Political divisions of Borneo]]

==Economy==
[[File:Seria Oil Refinery.jpg|thumb|Seria Oil Refinery, Brunei Darussalam]]

Borneo's economy depends mainly on agriculture, logging and mining, [[crude oil|oil]] and gas, and [[ecotourism]].<ref name="Borneo economy">{{cite web|url=https://www.borneo.com/v/economy/|title=Borneo » City Info » Economy|publisher=Borneo.com|access-date=28 May 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170527235225/https://www.borneo.com/v/economy/|archive-date=27 May 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref> Brunei's economy is highly dependent on the oil and gas production sector, and the country has become one of the largest oil producers in Southeast Asia. The Malaysian states of Sabah and Sarawak are both top exporters of [[Lumber|timber]].<ref name="Borneo economy"/> Sabah is also known as the agricultural producer of [[natural rubber|rubber]], [[theobroma cacao|cacao]], and vegetables, and for its fisheries, while Sabah, Sarawak and Labuan export [[liquefied natural gas]] (LNG) and petroleum. The Indonesian provinces of Kalimantan are mostly dependent on mining sectors despite also being involved in logging and oil and gas explorations.<ref name="Borneo economy"/>

===List of territories by GDP/GRP 2023===
{{Further|List of Indonesian provinces by GDP|List of Indonesian provinces by GRP per capita|List of Malaysian states by GDP}}
{| class="wikitable sortable"
!rowspan="2" |Country
!rowspan="2" |Province/state
!style="background-color:#" data-sort-type="number"|GDP nominal<br>billion
!style="background-color:#" data-sort-type="number"|Territorial<br>GDP
!style="background-color:#" data-sort-type="number"|GDP/[[Gross regional product|GRP]]<br>per capita
!style="background-color:#" data-sort-type="number"|Territorial<br>per capita
|-
|-
|colspan="2" |'''Brunei'''<ref name="World Atlas-2023"/><ref name="Brunei Urban Population 1960-2023"/>|| colspan="2" style="text-align:right;" | [[USD|US$]] 15.126 || colspan="2" style="text-align:right;" | [[USD|US$]] 33,576
|-
| rowspan="5" |'''Indonesia''' ('''[[Kalimantan]]''')<ref name="Badan Pusat Statistik-2020"/>||{{flag|North Kalimantan}}||style="text-align:right;" | [[USD|US$]] 9.662 || rowspan="5" style="text-align:right;" | [[USD|US$]] 114.383 ||style="text-align:right;" | [[USD|US$]] 13,236 || rowspan="5" style="text-align:right;" | [[USD|US$]] 6,627
|-
|{{flag|East Kalimantan}}||style="text-align:right;" | [[USD|US$]] 55.344 ||style="text-align:right;" | [[USD|US$]] 14,155
|-
|{{flag|South Kalimantan}}||style="text-align:right;" | [[USD|US$]] 17.668 ||style="text-align:right;" | [[USD|US$]] 4,184
|-
|{{flag|Central Kalimantan}}||style="text-align:right;" | [[USD|US$]] 13.702 ||style="text-align:right;" | [[USD|US$]] 4,940
|-
|{{flag|West Kalimantan}}||style="text-align:right;" | [[USD|US$]] 18.007 ||style="text-align:right;" | [[USD|US$]] 3,202
|-
| rowspan="3" |'''Malaysia''' ('''[[East Malaysia]]''')<ref name="DSMO Portal-2020"/><ref name="DSMO Portal-2011"/>||{{flag|Sabah}}||style="text-align:right;" | [[USD|US$]] 24.534 ||rowspan="3" style="text-align:right;" | [[USD|US$]] 57.565|| style="text-align:right;" |  [[USD|US$]] 6,828 || rowspan="3" style="text-align:right;" | [[USD|US$]] 8,649
|-
|{{flag|Sarawak}}||style="text-align:right;" | [[USD|US$]] 31.209 ||style="text-align:right;" |  [[USD|US$]] 15,875
|-
|{{flag|Labuan}}||style="text-align:right;" | [[USD|US$]] 1.822 ||style="text-align:right;" |  [[USD|US$]] 18,327
|}

==Human Development Index by territory==
{{Further|List of Indonesian provinces by Human Development Index|List of Malaysian states by Human Development Index}}
'''[[HDI]]''' is a statistic of combined indicators that takes into account [[life expectancy]], health, education and per-capita income.
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
!Country
!Province/state
!|[[HDI]] score
!Country comparison
|-
|-
|'''Brunei'''||||align=center bgcolor="#00C400" | 0.829 (2022) || Kuwait (0.831)
|-
| rowspan="5" |'''Indonesia''' ('''[[Kalimantan]]''')||{{flag|North Kalimantan}}||align=center bgcolor="#D3FF00" | 0.729 (2023) || Paraguay (0.717)	
|-
|{{flag|East Kalimantan}} || align=center bgcolor="#00F900" | 0.782 (2023) || Iran (0.774)
|-
|{{flag|South Kalimantan}}||align=center bgcolor="#D3FF00" | 0.747 (2023) || Paraguay (0.717)
|-
|{{flag|Central Kalimantan}}||align=center bgcolor="#D3FF00" | 0.737 (2023) || Paraguay (0.717)
|-
|{{flag|West Kalimantan}}||align=center bgcolor="#D3FF00" | 0.705 (2023) || Iraq (0.686)
|-
| rowspan="3" |'''Malaysia''' ('''[[East Malaysia]]''')||{{flag|Sabah}}||align=center bgcolor="#00F900" | 0.772 (2022) || Iran (0.774)
|-
|{{flag|Sarawak}}||align=center bgcolor="#00C400" | 0.824 (2022) || Russia (0.822)
|-
|{{flag|Labuan}}|| align=center bgcolor="#00C400" | 0.839 (2022) || Turkey (0.838)
|}

==See also==
{{Portal|Indonesia|Malaysia|Islands}}
* [[Hikayat Banjar]]
* [[Kutai basin]]
* [[List of islands of Indonesia]]
* [[List of islands of Malaysia]]
* [[Maphilindo]]
* [[List of bats of Borneo]]

==References==
{{Reflist|30em|refs=
<ref name=birds>
* {{cite book|author1=Fanny Lai|author2=Bjorn Olesen|title=Visual Celebration of Borneo's Wildlife|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ld8bDQAAQBAJ&pg=PA25|date=16 August 2016|publisher=Tuttle Publishing|isbn=978-1-4629-1907-9|pages=25–}}
* {{cite book|author=Tamara Thiessen|title=Borneo|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tfATCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA57|date=5 January 2016|publisher=Bradt Travel Guides|isbn=978-1-84162-915-5|pages=57–}}
* {{cite web|url=http://wwf.panda.org/what_we_do/where_we_work/borneo_forests/about_borneo_forests/borneo_animals/borneo_birds/|title=Borneo birds|publisher=World Wide Fund for Nature|access-date=26 May 2017}}
</ref>
<ref name=history>
* {{cite book|author=Frans Welman|title=Borneo Trilogy Brunei: Vol 1|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kb7OXcSH7ScC&pg=PA8|date=1 August 2013|publisher=Booksmango|isbn=978-616-222-235-1|pages=8–}}
* {{cite book|author1=David Lea|author2=Colette Milward|title=A Political Chronology of South-East Asia and Oceania|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MeWNnD1nUgUC&pg=PA16|year=2001|publisher=Psychology Press|isbn=978-1-85743-117-9|pages=16–}}
* {{cite book|author1=Patricia Herbert|author2=Anthony Crothers Milner|title=South-East Asia: Languages and Literatures : a Select Guide|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-EqbeRzdDrsC&pg=PA99|year=1989|publisher=University of Hawaii Press|isbn=978-0-8248-1267-6|pages=99–}}
* {{cite book|author=Nigel Hicks|title=The Philippines|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tQQawCgdq40C&pg=PA34|year=2007|publisher=New Holland Publishers|isbn=978-1-84537-663-5|pages=34–}}
* {{cite book|author=Peter Church|title=A Short History of South-East Asia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8S5PXyWMEeAC&pg=PT16|date=3 February 2012|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|isbn=978-1-118-35044-7|pages=16–}}
* {{cite book|author=Harun Abdul Majid|title=Rebellion in Brunei: The 1962 Revolt, Imperialism, Confrontation and Oil|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=E69aTN1jxOwC&pg=PA2|date=15 August 2007|publisher=I.B.Tauris|isbn=978-1-84511-423-7|pages=2 & 4}}
* {{cite book|author=Eur|title=The Far East and Australasia 2003|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LclscNCTz9oC&pg=PA203|year=2002|publisher=Psychology Press|isbn=978-1-85743-133-9|pages=203–}}
</ref>
<ref name=thalassocracy>
* {{cite web|url=http://www.ums.edu.my/fksw/images/files/IsuPemilikanWilayahPantaiTimurSabahSatuPenelusurandaripadaSudutSumberSejarah.pdf|title=Isu Pemilikan Wilayah Pantai Timur Sabah: Satu Penulusuran daripada Sumber Sejarah|author=Eko Prayitno Joko|language=ms, en|publisher=[[Universiti Malaysia Sabah]]|access-date=23 May 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160519044519/http://www.ums.edu.my/fksw/images/files/IsuPemilikanWilayahPantaiTimurSabahSatuPenelusurandaripadaSudutSumberSejarah.pdf |archive-date=19 May 2016|url-status=dead}}
* {{cite news|url=http://www.bt.com.bn/2013/03/07/sabah-and-sulu-claims|title=Sabah and the Sulu claims|author=Rozan Yunos|newspaper=The Brunei Times|date=7 March 2013|access-date=23 May 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140617035533/http://www.bt.com.bn/2013/03/07/sabah-and-sulu-claims|archive-date=17 June 2014|url-status=dead}}
</ref>
<ref name=threats>* {{cite book|author=M.C. Ricklefs|title=A History of Modern Indonesia Since C.1200|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0AAdBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA239|date=11 September 2008|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|isbn=978-1-137-05201-8|pages=239–}}{{Dead link|date=April 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
* {{cite book|author=Yew-Foong Hui|title=Strangers at Home: History and Subjectivity among the Chinese Communities of West Kalimantan, Indonesia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Es6wCQAAQBAJ&pg=PA43|date=9 September 2011|publisher=BRILL|isbn=978-90-474-2686-8|pages=43–}}
* {{cite book|author=Taufiq Tanasaldy|title=Regime Change and Ethnic Politics in Indonesia: Dayak Politics of West Kalimantan|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PbFiAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA74|year=2012|publisher=BRILL|isbn=978-90-04-25348-3|pages=74–}}</ref>

}}

==Further reading==
{{refbegin|30em}}
* {{citation
  | title = British North Borneo / by L. W. W. Gudgeon; with twelve full-page illustrations in colour by Allan Stewart
  | author1 = L. W. W Gudgeon
  | author2 = Allan Stewart
  | year = 1913
  | publisher = Adam and Charles Black
}}
* {{cite book
  | author = Redmond O'Hanlon
  | year = 1984
  | title = Into the Heart of Borneo: An Account of a Journey Made in 1983 to the Mountains of Batu Tiban with James Fenton
  | publisher = Salamander Press
  | isbn = 978-0-9075-4055-7
}}
* {{cite book
  | author = Eric Hansen
  | year = 1988
  | title = Stranger in the Forest: On Foot Across Borneo
  | publisher = Century
  | isbn = 978-0-7126-1158-9
  }}
* {{cite book
  | author1 = Gordon Barclay Corbet
  | author2 = John Edwards Hill
  | year = 1992
  | title = The mammals of the Indomalayan Region: a systematic review
  | publisher = Oxford University Press
  | isbn = 978-0-19-854693-1
  }}
* {{cite book
  | author = Robert Young Pelton
  | year = 1995
  | title = Fielding's Borneo
  | publisher = Fielding Worldwide
  | isbn = 978-1-5695-2026-0
  | url-access = registration
  | url = https://archive.org/details/fieldingsborneoa0000pelt
  }}
* {{cite book
  | author = Ghazally Ismail
  | year = 1996–2001
  | title = A Scientific Journey Through Borneo
  | publisher = [[Universiti Malaysia Sarawak]]
  | location = Kota Samarahan
  }}
* {{cite book
  | author1 = K. M. Wong
  | author2 = Chew Lun Chan
  | year = 1997
  | title = Mount Kinabalu: Borneo's Magic Mountain: An Introduction to the Natural History of One of the World's Great Natural Monuments
  | publisher = [[Natural History Publications (Borneo)|Natural History Publications]]
  | location = Kota Kinabalu
  | isbn = 978-983-812-014-2
  }}
* {{cite book
  | author = Dennis Lau
  | year = 1999
  | title = Borneo: a photographic journey
  | publisher = Travelcom Asia
  | isbn = 978-983-99431-1-5
  }}
* {{cite book
  | author = John Wassner
  | year = 2001
  | title = Espresso with the Headhunters: A Journey Through the Jungles of Borneo
  | publisher = Summersdale
  | isbn = 978-1-84024-137-2
  }}
* {{citation
  | title = The bats of Niah National Park, Sarawak
  | author1 = Less S. Hall
  | author2 = Greg Richards
  | author3 = Mohamad Tajuddin Abdullah
  | journal = The Sarawak Museum Journal
  | year = 2002
}}
* {{citation
  | title = Diversity, Relative Abundance and Conservation of Chiropterans in Kayan Mentarang National Park, East Kalimantan, Indonesia
  | author1 = Mohd Azlan J.
  | author2 = Ibnu Martono
  | author3 = Agus P. Kartono
  | author4 = Mohamad Tajuddin Abdullah
  | journal = The Sarawak Museum Journal
  | year = 2003
}}
* {{citation
  | title = Biogeography and variation of Cynopterus brachyotis in Southeast Asia
  | author = Mohd Tajuddin Abdullah
  | publisher = [[University of Queensland]]
  | location = Brisbane
  | edition = [[Thesis|PhD thesis]]
  | year = 2003
}}
* {{citation
  | title = Mammals
  | author1 = Catherine Karim
  | author2 = Andrew Alek Tuen
  | author3 = Mohamad Tajuddin Abdullah
  | journal = The Sarawak Museum Journal
  | year = 2004
}}
* {{citation
  | title = Biogeography of fruit bats in Southeast Asia
  | author1 = Less S. Hall
  | author2 = Gordon G. Grigg
  | author3 = Craig Moritz
  | author4 = Besar Ketol
  | author5 = Isa Sait
  | author6 = Wahab Marni
  | author7 = M.T. Abdullah
  | journal = The Sarawak Museum Journal
  | year = 2004
| title-link = fruit bat
  }}
* {{cite book
  | author = Stephen Holley
  | year = 2004
  | title = A White Headhunter in Borneo
  | publisher = Natural History Publications
  | location = Kota Kinabalu
  | isbn = 978-983-812-081-4
  }}
* {{cite book
  | year = 2006
  | title = Wild Borneo: The Wildlife and Scenery of Sabah, Sarawak, Brunei, and Kalimantan
  | publisher = New Holland Publishers
  | isbn = 978-1-84537-378-8
  }}
* {{citation
  | title = Borneo's Moment of Truth
  | author = Mel White
  | date = November 2008
  | publisher = [[National Geographic (magazine)|National Geographic]]
}}
* {{cite book
  | author = Anton Willem Nieuwenhuis
  | year = 2009
  | title = Quer durch Borneo
  | language = nl
  | publisher = BoD – Books on Demand
  | isbn = 978-3-86195-028-8
  }}
* {{cite book
  | author = G. W. H. Davison
  | year = 2010
  | title = A Photographic Guide to Birds of Borneo: Sabah, Sarawak, Brunei and Kalimantan
  | publisher = New Holland
  | isbn = 978-1-84773-828-8
  }}
* {{citation
  | title = Hose's Civet: Borneo's mysterious carnivore
  | author = John Mathai
  | series = Nature Watch 18/4: 2–8
  | year = 2010
}}
* {{citation
  | title = Small carnivores in a logging concession in the Upper Baram, Sarawak, Borneo
  | author1 = John Mathai
  | author2 = Jason Hon
  | author3 = Ngumbang Juat
  | author4 = Amanda Peter
  | author5 = Melvin Gumal
  | series = Small Carnivore Conservation 42: 1–9
  | year = 2010
}}
* {{cite book
  | author = Charles M. Francis
  | year = 2013
  | title = A Photographic Guide to Mammals of South-East Asia
  | publisher = Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
  | isbn = 978-1-84773-531-7
  }}
{{refend}}

==External links==
* {{Wikivoyage inline}}
* {{Commons category-inline|Borneo}}
* [http://www.mongabay.com/borneo.html Environmental Profile of Borneo] – Background on Borneo, including natural and social history, deforestation statistics, and conservation news.

{{Borneo}}
{{World's largest islands}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Borneo| ]]
[[Category:Greater Sunda Islands]]
[[Category:International islands]]
[[Category:Islands of Brunei]]
[[Category:Islands of Malaysia]]
[[Category:Maritime Southeast Asia]]