Borneo
Topography of Borneo
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| Borneo (Indonesian: Kalimantan) is the third-largest island in the world and the largest island of Asia. At the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, in relation to major Indonesian islands, it is located north of Java, west of Sulawesi, and east of Sumatra. | |
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The island is divided among three countries: Brunei and Malaysia on the north, and Indonesia to the south. Approximately 73% of the island is Indonesian territory. In the north, the Malaysian states of Sabah and Sarawak, along with the federal territory of Labuan, make up about 26% of the island. The sovereign state of Brunei, located on the north coast, comprises about 1% of Borneo’s land area. Borneo is home to one of the oldest rainforests in the world.
– Sourced from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borneo –
That is an introduction of Borneo where I came from. Before I moved to New Zealand, I have never thought of calling myself a Borneo girl. I am a Malaysian of Chinese heritage, born and bred in Kuching, the capital city of Sarawak (East Malaysia) in the island of Borneo.
Many foreigners know or have heard of Borneo (especially the older generation) but not many know Sarawak and that was when I started using Borneo to describe where I was came from. I chose the name ‘littlegirlstory’ for my blog and to make it more authentic to my heritage, I named myself the Little Borneo Girl who writes her ‘littlegirlstory’.
Sarawak has more than 40 sub-ethnic groups, each with its own distinct language, culture and lifestyle.
| Ethnic in Sarawak | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ethnic | Percentage | |||
| Iban | 29% | |||
| Chinese | 24% | |||
| Malay | 23% | |||
| Bidayuh | 8% | |||
| Melanau | 6% | |||
| Orang Ulu | 5% | |||
| Others | 5% | |||
To a local, a Borneo girl is often thought of as a native of an ethnic tribe, where their ancestors live in longhouses as a big community. I am not of any tribal heritage, I am a Chinese migrant, perhaps second generation Malaysian but I embraced the title ‘Little Borneo Girl’ to signify where I came from, the island of Borneo, home of the rainforests.
Borneo Girls – Image courtesy of http://www.shutterstock.com/
Image courtesy of http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhinoceros_Hornbill
littlegirlstory 
HI Little Borneo Girl! I´m also quite a Borneo girl! I was born in Balikpapan and lived there til I was 2. Then I lived in Brunei for a few years in my teens. I have travelled to Sabah and Sarawak plenty of times when I lived in Brunei. I adore the lush green smell of the rainforest 🙂 Thanks for sharing this post.
Hi Sofia, I am so happy to meet another little Borneo girl. Two little Borneo girls now, hand in hand, reminiscing and running wild in the lush rainforests, from the Land of the Hornbill to the Land below the wind. (I am now living in the Land of the long white cloud.) Thank you for visiting me. 🙂
Wow!
🙂
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