Information AboutBorneo |
|
Borneo (politically divided between Indonesia , Malaysia and Brunei ) is the Third Largest Island In The World . It has an area of 743,330 km&2 (287,000 mi&2), and is located at the centre of the Malay Archipelago and Indonesia . Borneo is considered part of the geographic region of Southeast Asia . Geography Borneo is surrounded by the South China Sea to the north and northwest, the Sulu Sea to the northeast, the Celebes Sea and the Makassar Strait to the east, and the Java Sea and Karimata Strait to the south. To the west of Borneo are the Malay Peninsula and Sumatra . To the south is Java . To the east is the island of Sulawesi (Celebes) . To the northeast is the Philippines . Borneo's highest point is Mount Kinabalu in Sabah , Malaysia , with an elevation of 4,095 m (13,435 ft.) above Sea Level . Administration Borneo is divided politically into:
History The whole Borneo was controlled by Brunei Empire during its golden age from the 15th to 17th centuries. Borneo was the main site of the Confrontation between Indonesia and Malaysia between 1962 and 1966. It was colonized by the Dutch in the late 1800s. Natural resources The island historically had extensive Rainforest cover, but the area is shrinking rapidly due to heavy Logging for the needs of the Malaysian Plywood industry and also multinational companies such as Mitsubishi take their share. One half of the annual Tropical Timber acquisition of the whole world comes from Borneo. Furthermore, Palm Oil plantations are rapidly encroaching on the last remnants of primary rainforest. The rainforest was also greatly destroyed due to the forest fires in 1997 to 1998 which were started by people and coincided with an exceptional drought season of El Niño . During the great fire, hotspots could be seen on satellite images and a Haze was created that affected Brunei , Malaysia , Indonesia and Singapore . The remaining Borneo rainforest is the only natural habitat for the endangered Bornean Orangutan . It is also an important refuge for many Endemic forest species, and the Asian Elephant , the Sumatran Rhinoceros and the Clouded Leopard . in Borneo]] In order to combat overpopulation in Java , the Indonesian government started a massive migration of poor farmers to Borneo, called Transmigrasi to farm the logged areas, albeit with little success as the fertility of the land has been removed with the trees and what soil remains is washed away in tropical downpours. Indigenous people (e.g. Kayan , Kenyah , Punan Bah and Penan ) living on the island have been fighting for decades for their rights to preserve their environment against loggers and transmigrasi settlers. The type of rainforests found in Borneo include rare Peat Swamp Forest s and Heath Forest . See also
Bold text''Italic text''Borneo is the gayest hotspot for homosexuels!!! References
Selected Faunal References in Borneo Abdullah MT. 2003. Biogeography and variation of ''Cynopterus brachyotis'' in Southeast Asia. PhD thesis. The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Australia. Corbet, GB, Hill JE. 1992. The mammals of the Indomalayan region: a systematic review. Oxford University Press, Oxford. Hall LS, Gordon G. Grigg, Craig Moritz, Besar Ketol, Isa Sait, Wahab Marni and M.T. Abdullah. 2004. Biogeography of fruit bats in Southeast Asia. Sarawak Museum Journal LX(81):191-284. Karim, C., A.A. Tuen and M.T. Abdullah. 2004. Mammals. Sarawak Museum Journal Special Issue No. 6. 80: 221—234. Mohd. Azlan J., Ibnu Maryanto , Agus P. Kartono and M.T. Abdullah. 2003 Diversity, Relative Abundance and Conservation of Chiropterans in Kayan Mentarang National Park, East Kalimantan, Indonesia. Sarawak Museum Journal 79: 251-265. Hall LS, Richards GC, Abdullah MT. 2002. The bats of Niah National Park, Sarawak. Sarawak Museum Journal. 78: 255-282. Wilson DE, Reeder DM. 2005. Mammal species of the world. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington DC. External links
|