Geography and land use

Central Kalimantan has an area of 153,654 square kilometres. It is the third largest province in terms of its area in Indonesia. Most of the land, or about 80 percent, is covered by forest in different stages of exploitation, while the remaining 20 percent is taken up by agriculture and settlements. The proportion of first-growth forest has declined rapidly, as, a result of intensive logging, and virgin forest now only exists in relatively remote and protected areas. Agriculture and population are concentrated along the rivers and in a broad band running from southwest to northeast. The majority of the population lives in the 1,328 villages with Palangka Raya accounting for 10 percent of the Province's population. The southern part of the Province is mainly flat land, while the north is hilly.

Administrative subdivisions

The Province was divided into five regencies (Kabupaten), with the capital of Palangka Raya forming one municipality outside regencies. The number of regencies has increased from five into thirteen (by 10 April 2002).

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