INDIE TRAVELLERS | Travel Facts

When the fleet of Ferdinand Magellan's finally reached the shores of Borneo in 1521, the famous Italian author and voyager, Antonio Pigafetta, described the undiscovered land and its people with mystery and wonder.

The history of Borneo extends way beyond these earliest European annals, some 40,000 years beyond, when nomadic tribes from Asia ventured south along the land bridge and settled in the various regions of the world's third largest island. The British held sway for over 100 years after James Brooke was ordained by a grateful Sultan as the 'Rajah of Ancient Borneo

Sarawak' in 1839 for assisting him in quelling a local rebellion. The Union Jack only came down over Borneo in 1941 when the invading Japanese took brief control. Australian post-war administration in Sabah and Sarawak was followed by a brief and spectacularly unsuccessful period of colonial rule before full independence in 1963 under the federation of Malaysia. Dutch Borneo, now Kalimantan, was handed to the Indonesians in 1949 after the Dutch reoccupation failed.

Brunei sultanate was in existence since the 15th century. At one time the Sultan controlled nearly all of Borneo until his power declined in the early 19th century. Brunei had become a haven for pirates. In 1888 the British established a protectorate over Brunei, administered by a British resident, although the sultan retained formal authority. The Japanese overran the area during World War II. Since independence, the Sultan has been an absolute monarch.

The island of Borneo is largest of the Malay Archipelago and third largest island in the world. Borneo is split between three countries – Malaysia, Brunei and Indonesia. The southern half is Kalimantan, belonging to Indonesia which covers over 70% of the total area. The northern states of Sarawak and Sabah are known as East Malaysia and the tiny country of Brunei is nestled in between these two provinces, on the islands northwest coast. The island is 743,330 sq km.

Say the word Borneo and you immediately think of deep dark jungles and primitive headhunting tribes. Yes, there were headhunting tribes but is no longer practiced. The island is still largely covered by dense jungle and mountains, reaching its highest point at Mount Kinabalu (4,101 m) in Sabah. Much of the terrain is virtually impassable and large areas are unexplored. Many of the rivers are navigable to small craft, which provide access into the interior. The largest rivers are the Kapuas in the west and the Barito in the south of Kalimantan Borneo. The coastal area is generally swampy and fringed with mangrove forests. The climate is tropical, that is hot and humid. Annual rainfall averages more than 254 cm and there is a prolonged monsoon generally from November to May.

Major cities such as Kota Kinabalu, Kuching, Bandar Seri Bengawan, Balikpapan have developed over the years. Business class hotels to magnificent holiday resorts have been mushrooming. Infrastructures have been invested by respective countries on the island. This includes a trans-boundary highway linking Sabah, Brunei and Sarawak. Banjarmasin, Pontianak, Balikpapan, Tarakan, Kuching, Bandar Seri Begawan, Sandakan and Kota Kinabalu are leading ports.

The island is one of the most sparsely populated regions in the world. Civilisations with such evocative names as the Iban, Melanau, Penan, Kelabit and Bidayuh (grouped together under the generic term, Dayak) established themselves alongside ethnic Malays and Chinese to form an incredibly diverse population, each with their own distinctive culture and tradition. Kalimantan was also a center for Chinese settlement and has a number of immigrants resettled during the second half of the 20th century, from overcrowded areas of Indonesia, particularly Madura.

Today, Borneo is paradise for the trekker – jungles with well-marked trails, mountains, stunning beaches and some of the best diving in the world. The South East Asian island of Borneo is home to one of the oldest remaining tropical rainforest. As large as it is, Borneo is still a microcosm of awe-inspiring flora and fauna. The endangered Orang Utan, the rare and endemic to Borneo, Proboscis Monkey are just few of its unique animals. Plants have their own bizarre repertoire, including the enormous Rafflesia, the world's largest flowering plant with a one metre span and the insect digesting Pitcher Plant that dines on insects by dissolving them in its own corrosive juices.

Like so many of the world's wilderness habitats, Borneo is a land under threat. In 1997, the annual open burning on large chunk of agriculture land continued despite the late onset of the monsoon rains. Dense, acrid smoke wafted throughout the region, choking inhabitants as far away as Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines. People were forced to wear protective masks and asthma and lung infection rates soared. Poor visibility even affected air travel in the region.

Uncontrolled logging has contributed to the horrendous deforestation of Borneo. Animals such as the Orang Utan and the native peoples reliant on the jungle for survival have progressively retreated into the dwindling reserves and national parks. This imbalance is countered, in part, by growing interest from non-governmental organizations, ranging from scientific to human rights. The NGOs have developed working relationships with the government, local communities and industries to reduce impacts that may eventual cause detrimental losses in once Borneo has ever enjoyed and owned.

Over millions of years, the forest of Borneo has provided a wide variety of natural habitats for wildlife. Borneo was periodically joined and separated from mainland Asia. As a result, many of the species found here today are unique to the island.