Kapuas Hulu Regency

Kapuas Hulu Regency is a regency in West Kalimantan province of Indonesia. Located around the upper drainage area of the Kapuas River, it has a total land area of 31,318.25 square kilometres or around 21.3% of West Kalimantan province's area. The regency seat is located in town of Putussibau, where most of its economic and government activities take place. Kapuas Hulu Regency is one of the few Indonesian regencies having a land border with another country (in this case, with Malaysia). It is also the largest regency in the province by land area. Due to its relatively large area, it is sparsely populated compared to neighbouring regencies around it. The regency had a population of 222,160 at the 2010 Census and 252,609 according to the 2020 Census; the official estimate as at mid 2023 was 262,404 (comprising 134,520 males and 127,890 females).

The area was under kingdom of Selimbau, which was under influence of Sultanate of Sambas in early 17th and 18th century. Other than it, there were several smaller kingdoms and Malay chieftains such as Suhai, Jongkong, and Bunut, scattered around the region. On 1823, Dutch settlers began exploring the region and Dutch colonial government signed a treaty with kingdom of Selimbau, acknowledging its domination over smaller kingdoms and chieftains in the region. Over time, the kingdom gradually lost its autonomy and the last king of Selimbau, Haji Gusti Usman, abdicated on 1925. The region was incorporated into Dutch East Indies and administrated from Sintang. During Japanese occupation of Dutch East Indies, the region was administrated by Imperial Japanese Navy from Banjarmasin. Japanese opened a coal mine around Mentabah and Tebaung river in 1942 to support their war effort on Pacific. The locals welcomed Japanese at first, thought them to be liberator from Dutch rule. However, due to exploitation and treatment on locals, they turned against the Japanese later on. It was estimated around 1,000 native worked as Rōmusha died in the region during Japanese occupation. The occupation resulted in Majang Desa War or more popularly known as Dayak Desa War, with Japanese expelled from Borneo interior as the result. One of leader's war and Dayak chieftain, nicknamed Pang Suma, today is regarded as hero not only in the region but also Indonesia in general. The region became an autonomous royal region within West Kalimantan in 1946 and later became a regency under Law Number 3 of 1953. However, due to a moratorium on new administrative division creations for financial reason since 2014, its creation has been put on halt by the Indonesian government.

The regency borders Sarawak in the north, Sintang Regency in the west and south, and East Kalimantan as well as Central Kalimantan in the east. Soil formation in the region is considered to be one of the oldest in Indonesian archipelago. There are numerous lakes, swamps, and wetlands in the region and lower region is often submerged by water from nearby rivers as long as six months a year. Settlements are mostly located around rivers due to historical importance of inland waterways in the past. There are 925,134 hectares of national park, 834.140 hectares of protected forest, and 769,000 hectares of production forest. and 2020 Censuses, as well as the official estimates as at mid 2023. The table also includes the locations of the district administrative centres, the number of administrative villages in each district (totaling 278 rural desa and 4 urban kelurahan), and its post code. Kode Wilayah Name of District(kecamatan) Area in km2 Pop'n 2010Census Pop'n 2020Census Pop'n mid 2023Estimate AdmincentreNo. ofvillagesPostcode 61.06.15 Silat Hilir 859.89 16,987 19,791 20,690 Nanga Silat 13 78773 61.06.16 Silat Hulu 1,012.00 10,735 11,395 11,590 Nanga Dangkan 14 78774 61.06.08 Hulu Gurung 429.75 12,339 13,914 14,410 Nanga Tepuai 15 78764 61.06.05 Bunut Hulu 1,729.50 12,889 14,588 15,120 Nanga Suruk 15 78762 61.06.20 Mentebah 613.09 8,905 10,754 11,360 Nanga Mentebah 8 78757 61.06.02 Bika 405.47 4,228 4,601 4,720 Bika 8 78753 61.06.18 Kalis 2,664.72 11,764 13,578 14,150 Nanga Kalis 17 78756 61.06.17 Putussibau Selatan(South Putussibau) 6,497.72 18,718(a) 23,112 24,570 Kedamin 16 (b) 78714 61.06.03 Embaloh Hilir 583.08 5,369 5,830 5,970 Nanga Embaloh 9 78754 61.06.05 Bunut Hilir 807.41 8,434 8,554 8,590 Nanga Bunut 11 78761& 78762 61.06.19 Boyan Tanjung 760.06 10,283 12,573 13,330 Boyan Tanjung 16 78758 61.06.21 Pengkadan 357.37 7,959 9,454 9,940 Menendang 11 78759 61.06.07 Jongkong 490.98 9,907 10,868 11,160 Jongkong 14 78763 61.06.09 Selimbau 1,032.91 13,986(c) 13,844 13,840 Selimbau 17 78765 61.06.22 Suhaid 592.37 8,112 9,305 9,680 Nanga Suhaid 11 78775 61.06.11 Seberuang 533.24 10,314 11,314 11,610 Sejiram 15 78772 61.06.10 Semitau 808.48 7,992 9,206 9,590 Semitau 12 78771 61.06.13 Empanang 603.72 2,858 3,570 3,810 Nanga Kantuk 6 78768 61.06.23 Puring Kencana 267.28 2,214 2,302 2,330 Sungai Antu 6 78769 61.06.14 Badau 638.40 5,203 6,738 7,260 Nanga Badau 9 78767 61.06.12 Batang Lupar 1,413.80 4,552 5,473 5,770 Lanjak 10 78766 61.06.04 Embaloh Hulu 3,543.12 4,675 5,337 5,550 Benua Martinus 10 78755 61.06.01 Putussibau Utara(North Putussibau) 4,673.89 23,737 26,519 27,380 Putussibau 19 (d) 78716 Totals 31,318.25 222,160 252,619 252,404Putussibau 282

Notes: (a) including 5,880 in the former Hulu Kapuas District. (b) including 2 kelurahan Kedamin Hilir and Kedamin Hulu. (c) including 3,868 in the former Danau Sentarum District. (d) including 2 kelurahan Putussibay Kota (town) and Hilir Kantor.

The regency is a second level administrative division equivalent to a city. As a regency, it is headed by a regent who is elected democratically. Head of districts are appointed directly by the regent with the recommendation of the regency secretary. Executive power lies with the regent and vice regent, while legislative function is exercised by the regency's parliament.

Agriculture and construction are the biggest sector in the regency as of 2020. Agriculture consisted of 23% of the regency's gross regional product, while construction consisted of 22.42%. Manufacture industry is the third largest sector, with account of 11.28% of the regency's gross regional product. The most rapid growth is found on information and communication sector with figure of 7.02% as of 2020, while general service sector declined as many as 17.93% in the same year. Agriculture employed 62.61% of the regency's workforce, followed by service sector with 22.14% and manufacture with 15.25%. The regency produced total around 680 tons of various vegetables such as cucumber and water spinach. Other than that, there were total 174,195 tons of fruit production in the regency due to significance of fruit plantation in regency's agriculture sector. The regency also produced 375 tons of rubber and 5 tons of coffee bean in the same year. Significant livestock includes chicken, with total meat production of 1,305 tons on 2020. In addition, there are 132,064 pigs, 3,991 goats, and 161,777 cows. Despite being landlocked, the regency also has significant fish catch, mostly from aquaculture and freshwater catches. Significant species from the regency included Nile tilapia with 7,073 tons, Clarias with 3,760 tons, Channa micropeltes with 17,007 tons, and Pangasius with 4,236 tons. There are noted 5,297 fish ponds used for aquaculture in the regency with total area of 8,258 hectares and 7,930 keramba with total area of 15,860 hectares. The actual figure is possibly higher due to informal nature of Indonesian economy. Tourism is a growing sector in the regency, especially ecotourism. There are 60 hotels in the regency as of 2020, and the regency was visited by 2,339 international tourists as well as 6,805 domestic tourists. In total there are 116 registered restaurants in the regency. Unemployment rate on 2020 was 4.02% and poverty rate was 8.99%.

As with most places in Indonesia, the population is generally young and consist of reproductive age workforce. From the population, as of 2022 there are 146,654 people considered as part of workforce above age 15. Two most populousdistricts, North and South Putussibau, contain nearly 20% of the regency's population; these contain the regency's largest towns in their urban (densely populated) core, but also wide and sparsely populated rural areas. Population growth was 3.48% with sex ratio of 105.5, meaning there are around 105 men per 100 women population. Dominant religion in the regency is Islam, with figure 153,486 Muslims as of 2022, followed by 83,979 Catholics, 21,880 Protestants, 330 Confucians, 291 Buddhists, 25 Hindus, and two people identified as folk religion followers.

There are a total of 33 kindergartens, 417 elementary schools, 118 junior high schools, 37 senior high schools, and 6 vocational high schools, in addition to two higher education institutions as of 2020. One of the higher education institutions is Tarbiyah College, which is a private college focused on Islamic studies. The other higher education institution is a branch of Pontianak State Polytechnic. It is state owned and the main campus is located in city of Pontianak with a smaller branch for Kapuas Hulu located in North Putussibau District. On healthcare sector, there are three hospitals, 132 puskesmas, and 183 village healthcare centers in the regency as of 2020. One of the main hospital, Dr. Achmad Diponegoro General Hospital, or sometimes referred as Putussibau General Hospital, is a public hospital owned by the regency government. It is classified as C class hospital by Ministry of Health. On 2020, the hospital received building rehabilitation and expansion with new buildings. Another hospital, Pratama Semitau Hospital, is a private hospital and relatively new, inaugurated on 2019 and classified as D class hospital. Badau Bergerak Hospital, located in Badau District, is the only hospital located outside of Putussibau and also owned by regency government as public hospital. In addition of that, there are total 28 family planning clinics. There are exactly 505 mosques, 490 churches, and four Chinese Buddhist temple in the regency as of 2019. Total roads in the regency as of 2020 was 1,108.33 kilometres, out of which 217.34 kilometres have been paved with asphalt. The regency is served by Pangsuma Airport, which is located in Putussibau and has regular flights to Pontianak and Sintang. There's also a regular bus route from Pontianak to Putussibau, managed by Perum DAMRI. In Putussibau, usage of online ride hailing app service is also present.