trip indonesia now (South Kalimantan)

South Kalimantan (Indonesian: Kalimantan Selatan) is a province of Indonesia. It is located in Kalimantan, the Indonesian territory of Borneo. The provincial capital is Banjarmasin. The population of South Kalimantan was recorded at just over 3.625 million people at the 2010 Census.^[1]
One of five Indonesian provinces in Kalimantan, it is bordered by the Makassar Strait in the east, Central Kalimantan in the west and north, the Java Sea in the south, and East Kalimantan in the north.

South Kalimantan Kalimantan Selatan
Province
Seal
Motto: Haram Manyarah Waja Sampai Kaputing (Banjarese) (Spirit as strong as steel from the start until the end)
Location of South Kalimantan in Indonesia
Coordinates: 2°30′S 115°30′ECoordinates: 2°30′S 115°30′E
Country	Indonesia
Capital	Banjarmasin
Government
• Governor	Drs. H. Rudi Arifin
Area
• Total	38,744.23 km2 (14,959.23 sq mi)
Population (2010 Census)[1]
• Total	3,626,119
• Density	94/km2 (240/sq mi)
Demographics
• Ethnic groups	Banjarese (76%), Javanese (13%), Bugis (12%) [2]
• Religion	Islam (96.67%), Protestantism (1.32%), Roman Catholicism (0.44%), Hinduism (0.44%)Buddhism (0.32%), Confucianism (0.01%)
• Languages	Indonesian (official), Banjarese
Time zone	WITA (UTC+8)
Website	http://www.kalselprov.go.id

Geography

About three quarters of the province is flat and less than 100m above sea level, while about 8,000 km² are swampland. The Meratus Mountains are situated approximately along the south-western part to the north-eastern part of the province, dividing the flat area into two. Its highest peak is Gunung Besar with 1,892 metres.
The annual rainfall intensity is high, ranging between 2,000 and 3,700 mm. The mean number of rainy days per year is 120. Barito is the main river, used as a transportation route to the northern part of the province and to Central Kalimantan. Other smaller rivers are mostly springing from the Meratus Mountains.
The main natural resources in South Kalimantan are forest and coal. Coal deposits are found over almost the whole province, and in some places they are exploited commercially. Other minor resources are oil, gold, gem stones, quartz sand, phosphate and granite.^[3]

Administration

There are nine regencies and two cities in South Kalimantan as listed below with their populations in 2005 (estimated) and at the 2010 Census,^[4] together with their administrative capitals:

Name	Population 2005 estimate	Population 2010 Census	Capital
Kota Baru Regency	261,104	290,651	Kotabaru
Tanah Bumbu Regency	210,287	267,913	Batulicin
Tanah Laut Regency	255,188	296,282	Pelaihari
Banjarbaru City	152,839	199,359	Banjarbaru
Banjar Regency	459,748	506,204	Martapura
Banjarmasin City	589,115	625,395	Banjarmasin
Barito Kuala Regency	258,682	276,066	Marabahan
Tapin Regency	149,332	167,796	Rantau
Hulu Sungai Selatan Regency	203,635	212,678	Kandangan
Hulu Sungai Tengah Regency	236,021	243,389	Barabai
Hulu Sungai Utara Regency	209,107	209,037	Amuntai
Balangan Regency	100,466	112,395	Paringin
Tabalong Regency	185,889	218,954	Tanjung
Totals	3,271,413	3,626,119

Economy

In 2010, South Kalimantan's exports grew by 27%, the highest increase among all Indonesian provinces. The province's total exports rank seventh out of all provinces.^[5]
In 2008 the number of visitors to the province was 339,000 of which 21,000 were international visitors, mostly from China, Philippines and India.^{[citation needed]}

History

Historical population
Year	Pop.	±%
1971	1,699,105	—
1980	2,064,649	+21.5%
1990	2,597,572	+25.8%
1995	2,893,477	+11.4%
2000	2,985,240	+3.2%
2010	3,626,616	+21.5%
Source: Badan Pusat Statistik 2010

South Kalimantan is the origin of Austronesian peoples who arrived in Madagascar between the 3rd and 10th century, and are most closely related to Dayaks living near the Barito River. Current day peoples of Madagascar largely have origins from this region.
Right after Indonesia's proclamation of independence (17 August 1945), the government under Soekarno and Hatta appointed Ir. H. Pangeran Muhammad Noor as the governor of the whole of Kalimantan on 18 August 1945; its capital was Banjarmasin. Later on, it was decided to divide the area into several provinces. On 7 December 1956, the province of South Kalimantan was formed out of these areas: Kotawaringin, Dayak Besar (Great Dayak), Daerah Banjar (Banjar Region), and the Federation of Southeast Kalimantan. Later on, Pasir regency (a part of the Southeast Kalimantan Federation) was transferred to the province of East Kalimantan instead. Furthermore, on 23 May 1957, Kotawaringin and Dayak Besar removed themselves from South Kalimantan to form their own province, Central Kalimantan.