Country Indonesia Area 39,800 km² Province North Kalimantan | Area code(s) +62 553 Population 62,423 (2010) | |
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Time zone Central Indonesian Time (UTC+8) | ||
Malinau Regency is a regency of North Kalimantan Province in Indonesia. The administrative centre is the town of Malinau. Malinau is also often called Earth Intimung. The district is home to the Kayan Mentarang National Park.
Contents
Map of Malinau Regency, North Kalimantan, Indonesia
Administration
The regency is divided into twelve districts (kecamatan), tabulated below with their 2010 Census population.
History
Malinau was originally a residential area inhabited by the Tidung ethnic group. Based on information from Tidung community leaders, the name Malinau originated when the Dutch settled an area formerly known as Desa (village) Selamban. At the time Desa Selamban was inhabited by the Tidung Tribe, while across the Kabiran river the village Pelita Canaan was inhabited by the Dayak Abai tribe. When the Dutch arrived in the Desa Selamban they met a group of Abai who were harvesting sago from the sago palm, and asked the name of the river that ran between the two villages. The Abai did not understand the questions, and assumed the Dutch wanted to know what they were working on. One of the Abai said "Mal Inau" which means harvesting sago in the local Abai language; "mal" meaning making, while "inau" means tree. Thus the name Malinau was born. A map of the area made during the colonial period called the local river "the Malinau", and the area has been known as Malinau since.
As people migrated into the area Desa Selamban eventually grew much larger and became a town, renamed Malinau. When Bulungan Regency was divided in 1999, Malinau became the administrative centre of the newly formed Malinau Regency. In December 2012, Malinau Regency became part of the new province of North Kalimantan.
Ethnic Groups
There are a number of indigenous groups in Malinau, namely: