Ketapang


Ketapang, or Tau-pang in Teochew, is the town and regency seat of Ketapang Regency, one of the regencies of West Kalimantan province on the island of Borneo in Indonesia. Ketapang town is located at and is a town on the delta of the Pawan River. Ketapang is served by the Rahadi Oesman Airport.

History

Ketapang is named from the local Malay name for ketapang tree.
In 1936, Ketapang Regency became one of the Afdeling in Keresidenan Kalimantan Barat. In 1956, Ketapang Regency became an autonomous regency in West Kalimantan province, and led by a regent.
Image:Keraton Saunan.JPG|thumb|Keraton Matan used to be a Malay's kingdom palace. It is now a museum

Administration

In formal Indonesian administrative subdivision, Ketapang is a town district, not a city. The name of Ketapang is only officially applied to Ketapang Regency. Although there is no exact border of the built-up area, most of the government offices and the central of business of Ketapang Regency are located in Delta Pawan District and because of that the district is considered as the capital of the regency. The district itself is located on the delta of the Pawan River.
Delta Pawan District is sub-divided into five urban communities and four rural villages - the desa being listed last in the table below - all listed below with their areas and populations as of mid 2023, together with their postcodes.
Kode
Wilayah		Name of
kelurahan
or desa		Area
in
km2		Population
mid 2023
estimate		Post
code
61.04.16.1001Kantor6.465,95578811
61.04.16.1002Tengah7.087,13478812
61.04.16.1003Mulia Baru9.3912,71978813
61.04.16.1004Sampit8.8115,81978813
61.04.16.1005Sukaharja23.0818,12078813
61.04.16.2006Sukabangun3.768,41678813
61.04.16.2007Kali Nilam7.6313,40578813
61.04.16.2008Paya Kumang2.166,97278813
61.04.16.2009Sukabangun Dalam5.634,21578813
61.04.16Totals74.0092,755

Economy

The main industries consists in the production of palm oil, rubber and wood. And also there are some mining like alumina, bauxite, zircon sand and lead

Education

There are 37 high schools operated by state, private and religious institutions. The town has a polytechnic
and an Open University.

Health

The three hospitals located in the town are RSUD Dr. Agoesdjam, RS Fatima, and RS Permata Bunda.

Demographics

Ketapang is a multicultural town. It has a large population of Chinese. Madurese and Javanese are significant minorities, in terms of size. Most Chinese residents in Ketapang are of either Teochew or Hakka descent with Teochew being the majority. Because of this, Teochew is the main dialect used among Chinese residents in Ketapang. The native Indonesians living there are mainly of Malay and Dayak descent. In regards to speech, most citizens of Ketapang incorporate a type of Malay accent in their Indonesian, which is somewhat similar to that used in Malaysia.

Transportation

Ketapang is served by the Rahadi Oesman Airport. The airport has some connecting flights to Pontianak and Semarang via Pangkalan Bun. Since February 2011, Ketapang also has direct flight to Jakarta, by Aviastar. Aviastar stopped the service in 2018. Ketapang can also be reached via ship from Pontianak. The ship also stopped the service in 2018. But there are some ship from Teluk Melano, 2 hours drive from Ketapang and home pick-up included, to Pontianak every day. Pontianak's airport serves flights to Jakarta.
By 2024, it is possible to drive to Pontianak by car in about 9 hours and 30 minutes passing Trans-Kalimantan road.

Main sights

  • Gunung Palung National Park, a rainforest park that can be reached from Ketapang. It was once wholly part of Ketapang regency, but now only a small part is, the rest in the regency that is named Kayong Utara or North Kayong. Kayong is the nickname of Ketapang.
  • Pematang Gadung, The Peat Forest, the home of wild Orangutan.
  • Kelenteng Tua Pek Kong, a Chinese temple.
  • Tugu Ale-ale. Ale-ale is a kind of shell.
  • Beaches in Ketapang include Sungai Jawi beach, Tanjung Batu beach, and Pulau Datok beach.
  • Makam Raja-Raja Tanjungpura, 3 hour from Ketapang town, by motorcycle and small boat that carries motorcycle through a section of road that is flooded. The flooded section is being repaired in 2019.

    Notable people

  • Daud Yordan, boxer.
  • Hamzah Haz, a former Indonesian vice President, born in Ketapang.

    Villages

  • Pematang Gadung

    Climate