The five provinces of Kalimantan, compared

Kalimantan’s five provinces share an island and a dependence on land, but they aren’t one market. They differ in what they produce, how goods leave and which of the four real-asset sectors (property, oil palm, gold and coal) carry weight there.

The table gives the short version. The sections after it add what a table can’t show.

The provinces side by side

Province	Capital	Economic base	Main gateways	Sectors that stand out
West Kalimantan	Pontianak	Plantations, processing, trade, bauxite	Pontianak port, Kijing terminal in Mempawah, Supadio airport	Oil palm, small-scale gold, city property
Central Kalimantan	Palangka Raya	Plantations and forestry, processing, mining	Sampit and Kumai ports, Tjilik Riwut airport	Oil palm, coal on the Barito, small-scale gold
South Kalimantan	Banjarbaru	Coal mining, processing, agriculture	Trisakti port in Banjarmasin, Batulicin and Kotabaru, Syamsudin Noor airport	Coal, oil palm, property in Banjarmasin and Banjarbaru
East Kalimantan	Samarinda	Coal, oil and gas, plantations, the new capital	Balikpapan port and its Kariangau terminal, Palaran terminal in Samarinda, airports in both cities	Coal, oil palm, property in Balikpapan and Samarinda
North Kalimantan	Tanjung Selor	Coal mining, trade, construction	Malundung port and Juwata airport, both in Tarakan	Coal, property in Tarakan

Population and output figures change every year, so they’re left out here. For current numbers, use the latest statistical yearbook from each province’s office of the statistics agency (Badan Pusat Statistik, BPS), and note the year it covers.

West and Central Kalimantan

West Kalimantan borders the Malaysian state of Sarawak. Pontianak sits near the mouth of the Kapuas, which at 1,143 km is Indonesia’s longest river and still carries goods to and from the interior. Silting limits the old port in the city, so a deep-water terminal was built at Kijing in Mempawah district. It opened on 9 August 2022 and is meant to take over from the city port over time. Bank Indonesia’s provincial office named agriculture, processing, trade and construction as the main contributors to growth in 2025. The province also mines bauxite, which feeds an alumina refinery at Mempawah that began commissioning in 2024. Gold is dug in many districts, mostly by small and often unlicensed operations.

Central Kalimantan has been Indonesia’s largest province by area since Papua was split into several provinces in 2022. Its capital, Palangka Raya, lies inland on the Kahayan river, and the main seaports are Sampit and Kumai, on rivers near the south coast. Plantations and forestry, processing and mining are the three biggest parts of the economy, according to provincial figures. Coal comes mostly from the upper Barito basin and travels downstream by barge, so its delivery depends on the river’s depth. In the 2026 dry season, parts of the upper Barito became too shallow for coal barges. Large parts of the province are peat or designated forest, which makes the forest-area check especially important here.

South Kalimantan

South Kalimantan is the smallest of the five by area. Its capital moved from Banjarmasin to Banjarbaru under Law 8 of 2022, but Banjarmasin, where the Martapura river meets the Barito, is still the main port and trading city. Syamsudin Noor airport, in Banjarbaru, serves both cities.

Mining, mostly coal, is the largest sector of the economy, ahead of processing and agriculture, according to the finance ministry’s regional treasury office. Coal leaves by barge from river and coastal terminals, and the province’s other ports include Batulicin and Kotabaru on the south-east coast. Outside the coal districts, oil palm and rubber are the main estate crops. For property, Banjarmasin and Banjarbaru are the two main markets, and the city markets article covers what drives each.

East and North Kalimantan

East Kalimantan is where coal, oil and gas meet the new national capital. Mining and quarrying made up 34.11% of its economy in the second quarter of 2025, according to the finance ministry’s treasury office in Samarinda. Balikpapan has Pertamina’s refinery, the main seaport and Sepinggan airport. Samarinda, the capital, sits on the Mahakam river, which carries coal barges down to the coast. A toll road, Kalimantan’s first, has linked the two cities since sections opened in December 2019 and August 2021. Nusantara is being built in the districts of Penajam Paser Utara and Kutai Kartanegara, and the article on the new capital covers what it does and doesn’t change.

North Kalimantan was split from East Kalimantan in 2012 and borders the Malaysian state of Sabah. Its capital, Tanjung Selor, is a small town in Bulungan district, and the island city of Tarakan is still the main port and airport. Mining, mostly coal, is the largest sector, and Bank Indonesia’s provincial office reported that coal output fell in early 2026 after the government limited mines’ approved production plans for the year. Construction has carried growth, driven by a large green industrial estate at Tanah Kuning and Mangkupadi in Bulungan. In December 2025, residents of Mangkupadi took the land rights granted for the estate to court, a reminder that even a national strategic project can carry a land dispute.

Using the comparison

• Know which level of government decides what. Mining licences come from the central government. Spatial plans, building approvals and many plantation approvals sit with the district, and land titles with the district land office of the national land agency.
• Trace the route to market, not only the nearest port. River depth, the season and the haul road matter as much as the distance on a map.
• Treat every figure as dated. A share of the economy or a production number from one year can be out of date the next, especially in coal.
• Compare districts as well as provinces. Two districts in the same province can have very different title quality, forest cover and access.