Balikpapan

There are several popular stories and legends explaining the origin of Balikpapan:[12][13]

• The 10 pieces of board returned to Jenebora from the 1,000 pieces requested by the Sultan of Kutai as donations of building materials for the construction of the New Kutai Palace. The ten boards that were returned were referred to by the people of Kutai as Balikpapan Tu. So that the area along Balikpapan Bay, precisely in Jenebora is called Balikpapan.[14]
• Tribe of Pasir Balik (native people of Balikpapan) is a descendant of grandfather and grandmother named Kayun Kuleng and Papan Ayun. So that the area along Balikpapan Bay by its descendants is called Kuleng-Papan or means Balikpapan (in Paser, Kuleng means Balik).[13]
• In other legends it is also mentioned the origin of Balikpapan, namely from a daughter who was released by her father a king who did not want his daughter to fall into the hands of the enemy. The daughter who was still a toddler was tied up on several pieces of board in a state of lying. Because it was carried away and hit by waves, the board was reversed. When the board was stranded on the shore found by a fisherman and so it turned out that there was a daughter who was still bound. It is said that the princess was named Putri Petung who came from the Kingdom of Sand. So that the area where it was found was called Balikpapan.[13]

The city has had several nicknames throughout its history such as the Oil City, City of Believers (Kota Beriman), which uniquely "BERIMAN" word is acronym from: BERsih (clean), Indah (magnificent), dan nyaMAN (comfortable).[15]

Bataafsche Petroleum Maatschappij oil refinery, 1910s

Before the oil boom of the early 1900s, Balikpapan was an isolated Bugis fishing village. Balikpapan's toponym (balik = "behind" and papan = "plank") is from a folk story in which a local king threw his newborn daughter into the sea to protect her from his enemies. The baby was tied beneath some planks that were discovered by a fisherman. An alternative story is that, at the time of the Kutai sultanate, Sultan Muhammad Idris sent 1000 planks to aid the Paser Kingdom to build a new palace. The planks were shipped from Kutai to Paser along the Borneo shoreline by roping all the planks together. 10 out of the 1000 planks that were originally shipped resurfaced in a place currently called Balikpapan.

Second World War

Battle of Balikpapan (1945)

On 24 January 1942, a Japanese invasion convoy arrived at Balikpapan and was attacked by four United States Navy destroyers that sank three Japanese transports.[18] The Japanese army landed and after a sharp but short fight defeated the Dutch garrison.[19] The defenders had partially destroyed the oil refinery and other facilities.[19] After this the Japanese massacred many of the Europeans they had captured.[20]

Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) intelligence determined that half of all lubricating oils used by the Japanese military and 60 percent of all their aviation fuel came from refineries in Balikpapan, and it was therefore an extremely important target. The American 380th Bombardment Group under the command of the RAAF, including the famous B-24 Liberator Shady Lady, attacked the oil refineries in August 1943 from Darwin, Australia. Amazingly, there were no aircraft losses, despite the crash landing and subsequent repair of the Shady Lady.

In September and October 1944, the 5th and 13th Air Forces under the command of General George Kenney launched a series of five raids from Noemfoor Island.[21][22] Kenney was a strong advocate for using the powerful B-29 Superfortress for this raid but was forced to use the B-24 Liberator instead. Unbeknownst to the Allied forces, the Japanese Air Force had conserved many of its dwindling numbers of fighters to protect the important oil refineries. The first two raids did not have fighter cover and suffered severe losses.

The 1945 Battle of Balikpapan concluded the Borneo campaign and Allied forces took control of Borneo island. Extensive wartime damage curtailed almost all oil production in the area until Royal Dutch Shell completed major repairs in 1950.

Balikpapan is bordered by Kutai Kartanegara Regency to the North, by the Makassar Strait to the South and East, and by Penajam North Paser Regency to the West. The city is divided into 6 districts (kecamatan) and 34 subdistricts (kelurahan) tabulated below with their 2010 Census population.[31]

During the Suharto dictatorship Balikpapan achieved unprecedented economic growth by attracting foreign investments, particularly in the exploitation of natural and mineral resources. The policy was heavily criticized for uncontrolled environmental damage and corrupt bureaucrats and politicians, but it significantly boosted urban development in resource-rich cities. In the 1970s Balikpapan experienced 7% population growth annually, while exports of timber and petroleum increased dramatically.[17]

The indigenous tribe of Balikpapan is the Balik ethnic group which is a minority.[32] Based on its origin, migrants come from neighbouring islands such as Java, Madura and Sulawesi. Residents mainly from ethnic migrants who have long settled in Balikpapan, namely from the ethnic Banjar, Bugis, Makassar, and Javanese. Other migrants including ethnic Minahasan, Gorontaloan, Madurese, and Sundanese.[33] At the beginning of June 2014, the population reached 684,339 people with the number of arrivals during 2012 of 21,486 people, the highest number in the past three years.[34] The number of migrants was able to exceed the number of newcomers who entered in Singapore in the same year which was as many as 20,693 inhabitants. The highest number of arrivals came from Java, which was 30%, then followed by Banjar and Bugis each by 20%, Toraja by 11%, Madura by 8%, Buton by 7% and Betawi by 4%.[35]

Sun bear is an endangered animal and official mascot of Balikpapan

In Wain River Protection Forest, which is the main water catchment area and habitat for endangered species of Borneo, the community begins to encroach on how to burn it so that during the dry season some areas become barren and damage 40%.[36] The area of Wain River forest reaches 10,000 hectares (25,000 acres), slowly but surely continues to decrease, leaving 9,000 hectares (22,000 acres) with forest conditions that are still good at only 63 percents.[37] Residents around looked for wood to cook in the forest even though the surrounding area had been lined with wire.[37] Previously between 2000 and 2001, illegal logging occurred in 10 to 15 points in the Wain River forest,[38] and in 2009 this forest was hit by a fire along with the Manggar River forest which made 15 hectares (37 acres) of forest area engulfed in fire.[37] The threat of coal mining from the surrounding area which provides mining permits such as Paser and Kutai Kartanegara also disrupts the border ecosystem of Wain River forest.[38]

The urban forest in Telagasari, which was inaugurated in 1996 with an area of 29.4 hectares (73 acres), has now shrunk to just around 8 hectares (20 acres).[39] The forest in the middle of this city has been surrounded by residential areas.[39] The protected forest of the Manggar River also suffered considerable damage, which is around 60%.[40] The reservoirs in this forest are also threatened because coal mining fields and brick mills were set up so close that there was siltation of reservoir water.[41] The majority of those who founded it were even known to be immigrant communities.[41] In addition, the construction of the Samarinda-Balikpapan toll road planned by the East Kalimantan government which divides the forest for 8 kilometers across the reservoir[42] could damage the quality of the clean water reserve in Balikpapan.[43]

Forest damage resulted in Balikpapan being easily hit by floods and landslides when it was hit by heavy rains.[44] Clean water supply is also decreasing[44] because water absorption is narrowing,[44] erosion is easily to occur[43] and sediment from mining sites that flow into the river worsens[45] and lowers reservoirs,[41] coupled with Balikpapan conditions has few rivers[45] and less fertile land.[46] The population of the Balikpapan's mascot, the sun bear is fewer and only 50 are left.[47] This is due to coal mining which narrows the habitat of sun bears, so its are reluctant to reproduce.[48] In addition to sun bears, other Balikpapan animals that are declared endangered are proboscis monkeys, borneo gibbon, bornean orangutans, pangolin and otter civet.[49] Whereas extinct animals in Balikpapan are Bornean Banteng (Bos javanicus lowi).[49]

Balikpapan oil refinery in 1988

Some multinational corporations operate in East Borneo. Companies including Baker Hughes (US), ChevronTexaco (US), Halliburton (US), Pertamina (Indonesia), Schlumberger (France), Thiess (Australia), Total S.A. (France) and Weatherford International (US) use Balikpapan as their base of operations in the region. Governmental public services including Bank Indonesia, the Finance Department, Angkasa Pura 1,[51] the Port of Semayang, and several others also attract many people to work in this area.

Balikpapan has been chosen as the site of some important governmental agencies such as Komando Daerah Militer VI Tanjungpura and Kepolisian Daerah Kaltim.[52]

Balikpapan oil refinery is on the shore of Balikpapan Bay and covers an area of 2.5 square kilometers (0.97 square miles). Founded in 1922, it is the oldest refinery in the area. The Allies destroyed it in the Second World War and Shell re-built it in 1950. The refinery has two subunits, Balikpapan I and Balikpapan II.

Balikpapan I has two raw oil refinery units that produce naphtha, kerosene, gasoline, diesel fuel, and residue and one high-vacuum unit that produces 100 metric tons (110 short tons) of paraffin oil distillate (POD), used as raw material for wax factories. The wax itself has various grades and is sold domestically and internationally.

Opened on 1 November 1983, Balikpapan II has a hydro-skimming and hydro-cracking refinery and produces petrol, LPG, naphtha, kerosene, and diesel fuel.

Indonesian government and their Pertamina planning as for 2017 expanding the oil refinery including the area of Persiba Balikpapan FC (old) stadium and Pertamina residents near the refinery. Balikpapan's Major Rizal Effendi ask for primarily using Balikpapan peoples as worker that Pertamina needed up to 20.000 new employers.

The municipality of Balikpapan's topography is generally hilly (85%), with only small areas of flat land (15%), mostly along the coast and surrounding the hilly areas. The hills are less than 100 meters (330 feet) higher than the adjacent valleys. The altitude of Balikpapan ranges from 0 to 80 meters (260 feet) above sea level. The city proper itself is located on eastern side of Bay of Balikpapan.

Most of the soil in Balikpapan contains yellow-reddish podsolic soil and alluvial and quartz sand, making it extremely prone to erosion.[53]

Sepinggan Airport, one of the busiest airports in Indonesia

Balikpapan is served by Sultan Aji Muhammad Sulaiman Airport, which was previously known as Sepinggan airport. The airport has capacity to serve 10 million passengers per year, as well as hospitality (immigration, passenger convenience, company reps offices, restaurants, shopping, lodging, and many others). The airport is equipped with 11 aerobridges, a transit hotel, and four-level parking garages.[60][61]

There are several public and private sea ports located at Balikpapan Bay. Semayang seaport serves commercial boats to many destinations to Indonesia including Jakarta, Makassar, Manado, Pare Pare and Surabaya. In the 1990s maritime transport was very popular. Today, due to more affordable and efficient airplane travel, more people choose to fly. Taking the ferry is a main choice for traveling to Penajam.

Kariangau Seaport was built to serve containers and all other industrial needs. It is located in km.13, as part of Kariangau Industrial Estate.[62]

The large coal loading port of Tanjung Bara (TBCT) lies about 180 kilometers (110 miles) to the north of Balikpapan.[63]

Balikpapan is connected by Trans-Kalimantan Highway Southern Route. From Balikpapan to Samarinda, the highway runs in parallel with the first controlled-access expressway in Borneo, the Samarinda-Balikpapan Expressway, which is now under construction, and expected to be operational by the end of 2018.[64]

As a coastal city, Balikpapan has many beaches, including Manggar Beach, Segara Beach, Monument Beach, Kemala Beach, and Brigade Mobile Beach near the police academy. Melawai Beach is the most popular for local citizens.[65]

Balikpapan is a departure point for nature tourism. Wain River Protected Forest, a Balikpapan natural reserve covering 10,000 hectares and also the habitat to a number of endangered animals, like the Beruang Madu (honey bear) which are sun bears endemic to the area, Orangutans and Proboscis monkeys or Bekantan. Wain river reserve, moreover, houses a number of endangered plants. Near Balikpapan is also a crocodile farm called Teritip, in Lamaru.[66]

There is also a well-known forest site which has been developed for visitors at Bukit Bangkirai rainforest, about 45 minutes by car from Balikpapan.[67]

A mangrove forest at Kariangau is a worthwhile tourist attraction at Balikpapan. There are still some Japanese artillery sites from World War II, and there is a military monument at Kampung Baru.[68]

Panorama of Kemala Beach.

• Conboy, Kenneth; Morrison, James (1999). Feet to the Fire CIA Covert Operations in Indonesia, 1957–1958. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 1-55750-193-9.
• Kahin, Audrey R; Kahin, George McT (1997) [1995]. Subversion as Foreign Policy The Secret Eisenhower and Dulles Debacle in Indonesia. Seattle and London: University of Washington Press. ISBN 0-295-97618-7.
• Magenda, Burhan Djabier (2010). East Kalimantan: The Decline of a Commercial Aristocracy. Singapore: Equinox Publishing. p. 45. ISBN 978-602-839721-6.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Balikpapan.

Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Balikpapan.

• JoTravelGuide.com – A comprehensive up to date travel guide to Balikpapan
• Klemen, L (1999–2000). "Forgotten Campaign: The Dutch East Indies Campaign 1941–1942".