PANGKALAN BUN - CENTRAL KALIMANTAN

Pangkalanbun
Pangkalanbun is the capital of the Kotawaringin Barat regency, in the western part of Central Kalimantan. It is busy lisle town. In this town, the old Palace of Pangkalanbun now 200 years old, can still be seen. Made of ulin [iron-wood), it is the only Banjar royal legacy found in Central Kalimantan.
The Mosque of Kyai Gede is the oldest mosque, being more than 300 years old, found in Kotawaringin district. The Tanjung Puting National Park is a very well- known nature and wildlife reserve for lowland and swamp forests, inhabited by orang titans, owaowa, bekantan and other primates. One can visit the Orang Utan Rehabilitation Centre which is supported by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF).

PANGKALAN BUN AND KUMAI

The word Kumai comes from the phrase “kembali ke pangkuanku”, in the Bugis language. It means “return to my lap”. Kumai was once part of the Kutaringin Monarchy. It was originally lead by Pangeran Bendahara, who later gave Kumai to Muhammad Cik, Kumai’s village leader. Cik then gave his position to Amsar, who was chosen to be regent of Kumai.

There are many historical places in Kumai. This is because it was a base for Indonesian fighters to attack the Dutch and also Japanese. The tragedy happened on January 14, 1946. Many warriors were killed there, but they could maintain their base. To commemorate the battle, the government has built a monument and a park there. The name of the park is “Taman Bahagia”. It is located in Sei. On Tendang and on every January 14, people celebrate in the park to remember Kumai’s warriors. The Kobar regent always attends.

Kumai District is the largest district in the West Kotawaringin regency, and is divided into three subdistricts, namely Kumai, Pangkalan Lada and Pangkalan Banteng. Those districts are about 4.456 km², and have been mutually agreed upon by the Local House of Representative (DPRD). The Regent at that time, H Abdul Razak signed the region regulation about the district forming in plenary meeting forum of council. The final result was a long process from various solutions with the first plan. The modification happened either from the name of district and opinion about Kumai which was intended by government to divide into four political districts plus one regional political district of coastal area.

In that plenary meeting, seven factions of council supporters had agreed and accepted the Raperda (Regional government meeting) dividing Kumai District into the specified Regions. "By saying ‘Bismillahirahmanirrahim’, we express to accept the Raperda become the Region regulation about regional forming of Pangkalan Lada district and Pangkalan Banteng, while Kumai as main district" said Sumanto, S.E, chief of Army Fraction of Republic Indonesia police. Regent of West Kotawaringin at that time, H Abdul Razak after signing the region regulation explained, the result of formula and agreement between regency government and DPRD have specified two new districts as a part of Kumai district. He said "By forming two new districts, we expect that it can support the public service in governance affairs, development issue and social affairs."

The capital of Pangkalan Lada district is Pandu Senjaya (ex Pangkalan Lada SP 4). The district is initially proposed as a Center for Kumai, covering seven counties, namely Makarti Jaya, Pangkalan Lada, Pandu Senjaya, Lada Mandala Jaya, Sumber Agung, Sungai Rangit Jaya and Purba Sari. Karang Mulya is the capital of Pangkalan Banteng District (ex Natai Kerbau SP 4). The easternmost initially is proposed by as East Kumai covering eight counties. These are Desa Mulya Jadi, Pangkalan Banteng, Karang Mulya, Marga Mulya, Arga Mulya, Amin Jaya, Sido Mulya and Kebun Agung. At that time, the Regent hoped, if two new districts could have the larger ones opportunity in existing exploiting the potency of resources.

Geography
Kumai has total area about 2.921,00 km². On the north side, the Kumi is adjacent to the Arut Utara district. Seruyan regency is to the East, Java Sea to the South, and Arut Selatan to the West.

Topographics
North: plain and kinds of land/ground which hold up to erosion Center: raddle, lake and bog. South: bog, alluvial which has many aqueous/water.

Climate
There are 2 seasons in Kumai, namely dry and rain season. The temperature is about 20 to 30 degrees Celsius, the mount inclination is about 0 to 100 m and 0 to 80%.

Demographics
There are 39.086 people living in Kumai. Kumai has 155 RT (neighborhood administrative unit) and 23 RW (residence administrative unit).
The capital of Kumai District is Kumai. It is divided into 3 sub districts and 14 regions. The sub districts are Kumai Hulu, Kumai Hilir and Candi and the regions are Sei. Cabang, Teluk Pulai, Sei. Sekonyer, Batu Belaman, Pangkalan Satu, Kubu, Sei. Bakau, Sei. Bedaun, Teluk Bogam, Keraya, Sebuai, Sei. Kapitan, and Bumiharjo.

Ethnic backgrounds
The majority of the people are Malay and Banjarese. The others are Maduranese, Javanese, Bugisnese, Sundanese, Dayaknese, Chinese and some foreign citizens (volunteers, researchers and tourists).

Language
Kumai Language (Coastal Language) is the daily language of Kumai. It bears similarities to Banjar language, because some of the residents originated from Banjar. Being a Port city an host to many immigrants, the languages in Kumai are highly varied.