Paser Regency


Paser Regency is the southernmost regency within the East Kalimantan province of Indonesia. It was created in 26 June 1959 from the northern parts of Kotabaru. It was previously known as Pasir Regency until its renaming on 22 August 2007. Its northeastern districts were split off on 10 April 2002 to form the new Penajam North Paser Regency. The residual regency covers an area of 11,603.94 km2, and it had a population of 230,316 at the 2010 Census and 275,452 at the 2020 Census; the official estimate as at mid-2024 was 309,667. Its administrative centre is the town of Tana Paser.

History

On 26 June 1959, Pasir was first established as a regency in East Kalimantan, after being separated from Kotabaru in South Kalimantan, for "historic and social-economic reasons". At the time of its formation, it originally consisted of four districts as mentioned: Central Pasir, North Pasir, Pasir Hulu, and South Pasir. Meanwhile, it largely inherited the borders from, with the exception of parts south of modern East Kalimantan–South Kalimantan border. Little are known the archives relating to its separation from South Kalimantan.
Twenty-eight years later, on 13 October 1987, Pasir annexed the district of Penajam, then known as Balikpapan Seberang. The northeastern districts were later separated on 10 April 2002 to form Penajam North Paser. On 22 August 2007, Pasir was officially renamed to Paser by the regional government.

Boundaries

Following the separation of the districts in the northeast to form the new Penajam North Paser Regency on 10 April 2002, the residual Paser Regency is now divided into ten districts, tabulated below with their areas and their populations at the 2010 Census and the 2020 Census, together with the official estimates as of mid-2024. The table also includes the locations of the district administrative centres, the number of administrative villages in each district, and its postal codes.
Kode
Wilayah		Name of
District
Area
in
km2		Pop'n
Census
2010		Pop'n
Census
2020		Pop'n
Estimate
mid 2024		Admin
centre		No.
of
villages		Post
code
64.01.01Batu Sopang1,111.3822,54026,86729,874Batu Kajang976252
64.01.10Muara Samu855.254,2216,8558,036Muser976250
64.01.09Batu Engau1,507.2611,66216,96921,401Kerang1376261
64.01.02Tanjung Harapan 714.057,7208,85610,641Tanjung Aru776260
64.01.03Paser Belengkong990.1123,54328,59531,845Pasir Belengkong1576271
64.01.04Tanah Grogot 335.5863,31176,34487,219Tanah Grogot 1776251
64.01.05Kuaro747.3023,93429,18832,298Kuaro 1476281
64.01.06Long Ikis 1,204.2236,70141,14744,519Long Ikis 2776282
64.01.07Muara Komam1,753.4012,45913,05614,573Muara Koman 1476253
64.01.08Long Kali2,385.3924,22527,57529,261Long Kali 2476283
Totals11,603.94230,316275,452309,667Tanah Grogot144

Note: including the offshore islands of Pulau Batukapal, Pulau Burung and Pulau Merayap.
including the offshore islands of Pulau Rantau Besar and Pulau Rantau Kecil.
includes one urban kelurahan - the district admin centre. including the offshore island of Pulau Bansik.

Climate

Tana Paser has a tropical rainforest climate with moderate rainfall in August and September and heavy to very heavy rainfall in the remaining months.