Welcome to the Jungle: Borneo
Borneo is located in Indonesia and is the third largest island in the entire world. This place is located in the north of Australia. The island is divided politically into three parts, Brunei, Indonesia, and Malaysia. About seventy-three percent of the island is Indonesian. Malaysia occupies about twenty-six percent of the islands.
Brunei on the other hand has about one percent of the total land mass. This island of Borneo is surrounded by the sea of South China. These lie to the north and the northwest. The Makassar Strait lies to the east and the Marimata Strait lies to the south. The island has an area of about seven hundred and forty-three square kilometers.
The Malay Peninsula lies to the west and Java lies to the south of this place. The tallest peak here is Mount Kinabalu which is located in the Malaysian region. The peak is at a height of four thousand meters above sea level. This also makes it the tallest island in the entire world. The Kapuas River is the largest river system in the country. The river stretches for about seven hundred miles and it is also the longest river here.
The caves here on the island are also well known for them being quite extensive. Also, the Clearwater Cave has one of the world’s longest underground rivers. Also, known to be the largest cave in the world, the Deer Cave is thought to be the largest cave passage in the world.
According to Chinese, Indian, and Javanese manuscripts, the city of Borneo had then become a trading hub. This also became part of their trade routes in their first millennium. The Chinese manuscripts were originally made here. The Chinese manuscripts were made of gold and sometimes camphor tortoise shells, ivory from hornbills, ivory from rhinoceros’ horns, crane nests, beeswax, Lakewood, dragon blood, and rattan.
These and various other edible spices were the most valuable items from Borneo. Also, the Indian here is called Borneo, Suvarnabhumi. This means ‘the land that is made of gold’. And it was also referred to as Karpuradvipa which is ‘Camphor Island’. The Javanese people name Borneo Puradvipa which means Diamond Island. The many archeological findings here show that this place used to be a large trading center, that serviced both India and China from as early as five hundred right to one thousand three hundred AD.
The stone pillar has stone inscriptions in Pallava script found in Kutai which lies along the Mahakam River. This is dated from the three hundred AD. The Majapahit kingdom had control over the coastal parts of Borneo. Brunei used to rule a large part of Borneo while it was at its golden age in the fifteenth century right up to the seventeenth century. The Sultanate of Sulu received Borneo from the Sultan of Brunei.
Borneo is very rich in biodiversity, there are about fifteen thousand species of plants that flower and about three thousand different species of trees here. Also, there are two hundred and twenty-one species of terrestrial mammals and about four hundred and twenty species of resident birds in Borneo. This place just happens to seem like the center of evolution and radiation of most of the species and plants and animals. This turned out to e be the subject of mass deforestation. The Borneon Orangutan is an endangered specie that is only found in the Borneon rainforest.
Check back here in a short while to find out more about the beautiful island of Borneo.