Asia is the largest and most populous continent on planet Earth. With almost 45 million square kilometers and 4.6 billion inhabitants, the largest island in Asia is Borneo . Located in Southeast Asia, from an administrative point of view it is divided between Malaysia, Brunei and Indonesia.
It has an area of 743,330 square kilometers and a population of 18.5 million inhabitants. Considering the size of the island, the human population is scarce as most of Borneo is virgin forest. The highest point in Borneo is Mount Kinabalu in Sabah, which is 4,095 meters high.
Discovery
It was the navigators Magellan and Elcano who discovered the island of Borneo for the West in the year 1521. Those who opened the largest island in Asia to Western trade were the Portuguese and the Dutch.
During World War II , the entire island was occupied by the Japanese. In 1950 it became part of the Republic of Indonesia, and is currently administered by three countries:
- The Sabah and Sarawak regions belong to Malaysia.
- The Kalimantan region belongs to Indonesia.
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The rest is from the independent sultanate of Brunei.
Fauna and Flora
It should be noted that Borneo is the only place in the world where tigers, elephants, bears, orangutans and rhinos coexist in the same forest .
To this we must add that only here endemic animals such as the pygmy elephant, the Malayan bear, the proboscis monkey or the freshwater dolphin can be found. Unfortunately, all of these species are critically endangered.
In recent years, more than 50 species of animals and plants have been found: fluorescent goldfish, a catfish with protruding teeth, a miniature fish … Most of these species have been found in the “Heart of Borneo”, a mountainous region located in the center of the island and covered with equatorial humid forests.
Dayak Tribu
The Dayak Tribe inhabits the forests of Borneos. They live in traditional houses built on stilts. In ancient times they had the custom of displaying the skull of their enemies in the ritual that they celebrated as the reason for the birth of a child. Its subsistence economy is based on the cultivation of rice, complemented by fishing and hunting.
