Kotawaringin, or also spelledKota Waringin, was asultanate on the south coast ofBorneo. It covered an area in what is now the western part of theIndonesian province ofCentral Kalimantan. It then had a brief existence as an autonomous "native state" in theUnited States of Indonesia between 1949 and 1950, before being formally created as a separateKotawaringin Regency within what was then the Province ofSouth Kalimantan (from which the western part, then consisting of threeregencies — thekabupaten of Barito, Kapuas, and Kotawaringin, was split off in 1957 to form the new Central Kalimantan province). However, on 26 June 1959, Kotawaringin Regency was divided into aWest Kotawaringin Regency andEast Kotawaringin Regency.
During theHindu kingdom era, before the arrival of Islam there, the westernmost border of Kotawaringin was the Nanga Pinoh River, while to the west was the Sintang Kingdom which controlled theMelawi River, both rivers are currently in the administrative area ofMelawi Regency,West Kalimantan. This can be seen from the presence ofbenang pukat (trawl nets) found in Nanga Sokan. This trawl nets thread is a kind of proof of a peace agreement between the kingdoms of Sintang and Kotawaringin.[1]
On 10 April 2002, additional regencies were created by splitting the two existing regencies —Sukamara andLamandau from parts of West Kotawaringin Regency, andSeruyan andKatingan from parts of East Kotawaringin Regency.
In recent years, there has been some research into local attitudes, with a view to the putative re-establishment of Kotawaringin as a separate province, separate from the rest of Central Kalimantan, based upon the recognition of a shared identity of "Orang Kotawaringin".[2] Such a province would cover an area of some 71,600 km2 and would have a population as at 2023 of some 1.25 million people.[3]
| Kode Wilayah | Name of Regency | Area in km2 | Pop'n 2010 Census | Pop'n 2020 Census | Pop'n mid 2023 Estimate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 62.01 | West Kotawaringin | 9,480.3 | 235,803 | 270,388 | 279,740 |
| 62.02 | East Kotawaringin | 15,543.8 | 374,175 | 428,895 | 443,359 |
| 62.08 | Sukamara Regency | 3,311.2 | 44,952 | 63,464 | 66,633 |
| 62.09 | Lamandau Regency | 7,673.6 | 63,199 | 97,611 | 102,103 |
| 62.07 | Seruyan Regency | 15,215.2 | 139,931 | 162,906 | 171,304 |
| 62.06 | Katingan Regency | 20,382.5 | 146,439 | 162,222 | 169,355 |
| Totals | 71,606.6 | 1,004,499 | 1,185,486 | 1,232,494 |
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