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Pontianak, also known as Khuntien in Teochew Min and Hakka Chinese, is the capital of the Indonesian province of West Kalimantan, founded first as a trading port on the island of Borneo, occupying an area of 118.21 km2 in the river delta of the Kapuas River, at a point where it is joined by its major tributary, the Landak River. The city is on the equator, hence it is widely known as Kota Khatulistiwa (Equatorial City). The city center is less than south of the equator. Pontianak is the 23rd most populous city in Indonesia (as of 2023), and the fourth most populous city on the island of Borneo (Kalimantan) after Samarinda, Balikpapan and (Malaysia's) Kuching; it is now slightly ahead of Banjarmasin. It had a population of 658,685 at the 2020 CensusBadan Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 2021. within the city limits, with significant suburbs outside those limits. The official estimate as of mid-2024 was 680,852 (comprising 340,426 males and 340,426 females - a gender ratio of exactly 1:1).
The city was founded as a small Malay fishing village at the mouth of the Kapuas River. It then became the seat of the Pontianak Sultanate for several centuries. Pontianak was then incorporated into the Dutch East Indies after an agreement between the Pontianak Sultanate and the Dutch Government. During the colonial era, Pontianak was the seat of the Residentie Westerafdeeling van Borneo, one of the residencies of the Dutch East Indies.
When the Japanese occupied the Dutch East Indies, Pontianak became the site of the Pontianak massacre, in which many Malay aristocrats and sultans as well as people from other ethnic groups (Particularly high profile Arabs and Chinese) were massacred by the Imperial Japanese Navy, especially in the Massacre of Mandor (Holocaust of Mandor).
After the Japanese surrendered, Pontianak became part of the Republic of Indonesia and was designated as the capital city of the province of West Kalimantan.
Pontianak is a multicultural city, as different ethnic groups such as the Dayak people, Malay Indonesian, Bugis people, and Chinese live in the city, with some immigrants such as Javanese, Madura people, Bataks, Ambon people, Papuans, and Manado people. This has created a culture that cannot be found in other parts of Indonesia. Various languages are spoken in Pontianak, such as Pontianak Malay, Dayak language and different dialects of Chinese and some varieties of Malays, Dayaks, Javanese, Bataks, and Bugis.
Pontianak is connected by air to other cities of Indonesia as well as some cities in Malaysia such as Kuala Lumpur and Kuching. Connected with the Supadio International Airport. Well paved roads of the Trans Kalimantan Road connect Pontianak to all Cities in the Kalimantan, such as Palangkaraya, Banjarmasin, Balikpapan, Samarinda, and Tanjung Selor. other towns also connected in the Province of West Kalimantan, such as Ketapang, Singkawang, Sintang, etc., as well as other provinces. As Pontianak lies on the Trans Kalimantan Highway, it is possible to travel to East Malaysia and Brunei by land using the Trans Kalimantan Highway. Several bus routes operate from Pontianak to Kuching in Malaysia and Bandar Seri Begawan in Brunei Darussalam.
Pontianak in the Chinese language is known as , ((pinyin): Kūndiàn) in the local Hakka Chinese, Pontianak is known as Khuntîen.
In Malay mythology, the Pontianak is also the name of an astral creature that is said be a spirit of a woman who died while pregnant. Similar stories about the Pontianak first emerged from mythical and folkloric tales that are popular in Kalimantan (Borneo) before the city was built on a large scale of natural habitat. This was an active ancient civilization in the late 17th century.
According to him, the Dutch started to go to Pontianak in 1773 from Jakarta. Verth wrote that Syarif Abdurrahman, son of Sharif Hussein bin Ahmed cleric Alqadrie (or in another version called Al Habib Husin), left the Kingdom of Mempawah and began to wander. In the region of Banjarmasin, he married the sister of the sultan of Banjar, Sunan Nata Nature and was sworn in as prince. He was successful in commerce and accumulated enough capital to arm ships and boats and then started to take the fight against Dutch colonialism. Sejarah Berdirinya Kota Pontianak; Situs Pemerintah Kota Pontianak (in Indonesian)
With the help of Sultan Sand, Syarif Abdurrahman then successfully hijacked Dutch ship near Bangka, also British and French ships in the port of Pasir. Abdurrahman became a rich man and then tried to establish a settlement on an island in the Kapuas River. He found branching Landak River and then to develop the area into a prosperous trading center. This is the region that is now called Pontianak. He then established the Sultanate of Pontianak with himself as the first sultan. The influential Arab-Malay writer, Abdullah al-Misri, was closely connected to the rulers of Pontianak at around this time.
The sultanate imported Chinese laborers in the 18th century to work in gold or tin Mining. A number of mining companies ( kongsi) enjoyed some political autonomy. As the Dutch were expanding its power on Borneo, in 1777, the Chinese declared the formation of the Lanfang Republic (Chinese language: 蘭芳共和國), led by Luo Fangbo to oppose the Dutch attempt to colonize West Kalimantan, including Pontianak. The settlers subsequently elected Luo as their inaugural president. Luo implemented many democratic principles, including the idea that all matters of state must involve the consultation of the republic's citizenry. He also created a comprehensive set of executive, legislative, and judicial agencies. The Republic did not have a standing military, but had a defense ministry that administered a national militia based on conscription. During peacetime, the populace mostly engaged in farming, production, trading, and mining. Lanfang's administrative divisions included three tiers (province, prefecture, and county) with the people electing leaders for all levels. Lanfang was allied with Sultan Abdurrahman of the Pontianak Sultanate. Lanfang was also declared a tributary state of the Chinese Qing Empire.
On 5 July 1779, the Dutch made an agreement with the Sultanate of Pontianak regarding the Verkendepaal so that it would serve as the area of activities of the Dutch nation which later became the seat of government of Resident het Hoofd Westerafdeeling van Borneo (Regional Head residency of Borneo West) and Assistant Resident het Hoofd der Afdeeling van Pontianak (Resident assistant Chief of Pontianak regency). This area then became Controleur Onderafdeeling van het Hoofd Pontianak or Plaatselijk Bestuur van Pontianak. The Assistant Resident het Hoofd van der Afdeeling Pontianak (as a sort of regent of Pontianak) set the Plaatselijk Fonds. The agency manages government wealth and took care of tax funds.
The Dutch first recognized the independence of the Lanfang Republic. However, the Dutch decided to expand its territory in Borneo, This was resisted by the officials of Lanfang. In the mid-to-late 19th century, the Chinese Qing Empire weakened substantially and became increasingly unable to support the Lanfang Republic as its vassal state. The republic's citizenry waged a tenacious resistance, but ultimately failed due to poor weaponry. Lin Ah Sin was the last leader of Lanfang. Many of Lanfang's citizens and their descendants made their way to Sumatra or Singapore. The three campaigns waged by the Dutch East Indies Army against the Chinese kongsi, called the Kongsi Wars, were:
In 1942, the Japanese occupied Pontianak and expelled the Dutch. The Japanese military government decided to allow the Pontianak Sultanate to remain. However, the Japanese soon become distrusted to the Sultanate, and between 1943 and 1944, Japanese troops did a mass arrest of Malay Indonesian elites, Arab Indonesians, Chinese, Javanese people, Manado, Dayak people, Bugis people, Batak people, Minangkabau, Dutch, Indians, and Indo people in Kalimantan, including all of the Malay Sultans, accused them of plotting to overthrow Japanese rule, and then massacred them. This is known as the Pontianak massacre.
After the surrender of Japan, a Dutch military court in Pontianak on 18 October 1947 convicted the Japanese Admiral Michiaki Kamada of war crimes and sentenced him to death.
Following a fact-finding mission by the Government Commission, the RUSI House of Representatives voted by 50 votes to one to merge West Kalimantan into the Republic of Indonesia. Following clashes with demobilised KNIL troops in Makassar and the attempted secession of an Ambon Island Republic of South Moluccas, the federal United States of Indonesia was dissolved on 17 August 1950, turning Indonesia into a unitary state dominated by the central government in Jakarta. Pontianak then became the capital city of the new province of West Kalimantan.
The city is built on fall peneplain and alluvial sediments that are physically a clay type. This type of soil is in the form of peat and silt deposits of Kapuas river. Under these conditions, the soil is very unstable and has a very low carrying capacity. The soil composition along the river is formed from a precipitation process that produces a tropaquent area coupled with tropofluevent and under permanently saturated fluvawuent conditions. It is derived from the new sapphire sediment from various compositions and shapes, including organic matter.
Pontianak consists of a kind of soil organosol, gray, humus, and alluvial with different characteristics. At some points, the thickness of the peat soils reaches up to 1–6 meters, thus causing a poor carrying capacity if it is designated to construct large buildings to make it as a farm.
On 1 January 1988 by Presidential Decree No. 41, West Kalimantan (together with Central Kalimantan) moved back 1 hour from the Central Indonesian Time (WITA) zone, to the Western Indonesian Time (WIB) zone. As such, in 1988 the city of Pontianak celebrated the New Year twice: at 00:00 on GMT+8 and then 00:00 on GMT+7.
| 78123 & 78124 |
| 78124 |
| 78132–78136 |
| 78113–78136 |
| 78111–78117 |
| 78241–78244 |
The first four of the above districts lie on the south bank of the Kapuas River (listed from west to east), while the last two districts lie on the north bank (the East and North districts are separated by the Landak River, which joins with the Kapuas Kecil River at this point to create the Kapuas Besar River). The built-up or urbanized area continues southeastwards along the south bank of the Kapuas River into the "town" of Sungai Raya, now sub-divided into 13 desa which comprise the urbanised northwestern part of Sungai Raya District of Kubu Raya Regency.
Researchers conducted research on population data in the city of Pontianak during the years from 2010 onwards, collected by the Central Bureau of Statistics (BPS) Pontianak by accessing the data online. According to the data obtained, the population growth rate in Pontianak City in 1990–2000 is 0.7 percent per year, while for the period 2000-2010 increased to 1.8 percent per year; the average for 2020-2024 was 0.89 percent per year.
| 30.50% |
| 29.81% |
| 18.92% |
| 12.84% |
| 4.96% |
| 2.98% |
In 2009, the government website of Pontianak City posted this ethnicity data:
| 32.24 |
| 31.05 |
| 13.12 |
| 11.67 |
| 3.35 |
| 4.57 |
| 100 sic |
Intermarriage between different ethnic groups is common in Pontianak.
Compared to other Indonesian cities, Pontianak is one of the few cities with a significant number of Chinese Indonesians. The Chinese have lived in Pontianak for centuries. Most of the Chinese were passing through west Borneo from the third century for a last rest on their sailing journeys before returning to China. Beginning in the 7th century many Chinese had started to trade in western Borneo. Apart from the Chinese traders, in the 17th century Dutch colonization brought in mass Chinese for mining gold. Most of these Chinese miners originated from the Fujian or Guangdong provinces.
The two largest sub-groups of the Pontianak Chinese are the Teochew people and Hakka people. The Teochew people are from the northeastern coast of Guangdong and Hakka people from the interior of Fujian come to West Kalimantan. The Hakka people are pioneer groups living in villages and mining areas, working as miners, farmers, and also small traders. This is in contrast to the Teochew people who prefer to live in urban areas for trade. Even now the Teochew people form the largest ethnic Chinese population in the city of Pontianak and south of Pontianak. The Hakka people mostly live in the northern area of Pontianak.
The second largest ethnic group in Pontianak is the Malay people. The Pontianak Malay are one of the early inhabitants of the city. Pontianak was the seat of the Pontianak Sultanate, a great Malay kingdom for centuries. The Malay people mostly live on the bank of the Kapuas River and other rivers in Pontianak. They also live in coastal areas of the city. Most of the Pontianak Malay work as traders, government officials, and in other jobs.
Other significant ethnic groups living in Pontianak are the Dayak, Bugis, Madurese, and Javanese. Most of the Dayak living in Pontianak are the indigenous/native people of the interior part of West Kalimantan. Some of the Dayak still practice animism, which involves traditional rituals and dances. However, most of the Dayaks have converted to Christianity and are more urbanized. The Bugis, Javanese, and Madurese are immigrants from other parts of Indonesia. They migrated to Pontianak due to the Transmigration program enacted by the Dutch and continued during the New Order. Conflicts often erupted between the Madurese and the Dayak.
The other prevailing language in Pontianak is the Chinese language. Several varieties of Chinese exists in Pontianak, the most notable being Teochew and Pontianak Hakka. Teochew is a variant of Southern Min originating from Guangdong. It is mostly mutually intelligible with Hokkien. Teochew is mostly spoken in the central and southern parts of the city, as well as suburbs south of the city. Hakka is spoken in the northern part of the city, as well as in suburbs north of the city. There are more Teochew speakers than Hakka speakers in Pontianak. These varieties of Chinese has been influenced by other languages such as Malay, Indonesian, and other languages. They have incorporated words from Indonesian and other languages. Therefore, native speakers from China may find it difficult to communicate using Teochew and Hakka with the people from Pontianak. Other Chinese variants such as the Cantonese and Hokkien have fewer speakers.
Other languages such as the Javanese, Madurese, Buginese, and different dialects of Dayak are also spoken.
Several places of worship are located in Pontianak, such as the Jami Mosque of Pontianak, which is considered the great mosque of Pontianak. Located in the complex of the palace of the former Pontianak Sultanate, this mosque is the oldest mosque and is one of the two buildings that witnessed the establishment of the city of Pontianak. At first, this mosque was also used as a center of government for the Sultanate of Pontianak. The name of this mosque was given by Syarif Usman Alkadri who is the son of Sultan Sharif Abdurrahman, who continued the construction of the mosque until it was completed.
Other places of worship are the Cathedral of Saint Joseph, Pura Giripati Mulawarman, Vihara Budhisatva Karaniya Metta, and the Pontianak Congregation of West Kalimantan Christian Church. Some of these have existed since the Dutch colonial era, while some are constructed by the Indonesian government.
This can be seen from the percentage distribution of GDP, where the large and retail trade sector has the greatest role in total GDP compared to other sectors, which is 18.30 percent. In terms of usage, the value of GDP shows how products of goods and services are used for consumption, investment, or trading purposes with foreign/regional parties. Based on the percentage of GDP, aggregate demand in Pontianak City in 2015 as a whole experienced a growth of 4.84 percent compared to the previous year, whereas the household consumer component contributed as much as 10.61 trillion rupiah or by 51 percent.
The resulting output value of large industrial enterprises or medium amounted to 1.51 trillion rupiah, where large industrial enterprises or are located in the District of North Pontianak dominated by rubber industry companies. The smallest output value derived from companies located in the District Pontianak City, worth 2.85 billion Rupiahs.
For Gross Value Added (NTB) obtained from all large and medium-sized industrial enterprises in Pontianak City during 2005, this amounted to 217.57 billion rupiah and indirect taxes obtained amounted to 462.78 million rupiah. The value added at factor fees earned amounted to 217.10 billion rupiah.
For small industrial centers, the industry results for agriculture and forestry (IHPK) shows that the snack food industry, centered in Sungai Kuhl, is the largest local small industry, employing as many as 329 people. Investment value reached 249.50 million and the sales amounted to 780.50 million. The water taro weaving industry has 16 business units with an investment of 17.5 million and sales of 110 million rupiah, mostly located in Tanjung Hulu, Pontianak East.
In the surrounding areas of Pontianak, the herb Mitragyna speciosa, known colloquially as kratom, is grown, and Pontianak is a major center for exportation of the herb.
School Participation Rate (APS) in Pontianak for 7–12 years age group during the last three years has been around 100 percent. In the 13-15-year age group, school participation in this age group has fluctuated considerably in recent years. However, school participation of children aged 13–15 years continues to increase to close to 100 percent.
There are colleges and universities operated by both state authorities, as well as private and religious institutions. The University of Tanjung Pura, a state university, was established in Pontianak in 1963. Other universities are maintained by private institutions: Muhammadiyah University, University of Widya Dharma, Institut Teknologi dan Bisnis Sabda Setia, University of Panca Bhakti, STMIK, STAIN, POLNEP, and AKBID St Benedicta.
The equatorial line passing Pontianak is marked by a monument north of the city center. Between 19 and 21 March and 21–23 September (the equinoxes), solar culmination can be observed near the monument, where the setting of the sun will be exactly at 0° at noon (12:00), causing shadows at the monument and everything nearby to disappear for a few seconds.
After construction of a new modern terminal to replace the old and overutilised terminal, the airport currently has a capacity of 3.8 million passengers annually, double the previous terminal's capacity. The airport serves direct domestic flights to other major cities in Indonesia, mostly in Java and Kalimantan. Moreover, the airport also has international flights to some cities in Malaysia, such as Kuala Lumpur and Kuching. The airport is expected to be expanded again in the future to cater to the increasing number of passengers travelling to and from Pontianak. Currently, the only ways to get to the airport are by taxi, private cars, or using Perum DAMRI buses.
There are two port areas under the auspices of PT. Pelindo II (Persero), namely the Port of Sintete and Ketapang Port.
This port's hinterland is dominated by plantations, the forestry sector, the mining sector, and raw materials processing industry. To cater for increased economic activity in this region, Pelindo II has operated the container terminal for Pontianak's port. It has been equipped with two container cranes and various modern equipment that can provide optimal support for loading and unloading activities in the region.
The Pontianak Crossing Port is the main passenger port. It allows ferry connection to other cities in Indonesia such as Jakarta, Surabaya, Medan, Batam, etc. The port currently does not serve international destinations such as Singapore and Malaysia.
Pontianak currently does not have a toll road. However, there is a proposal to build a highway connecting Pontianak with Singkawang, and to the Entikong border checkpoint near Malaysia.
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