# Berau Regency

Berau Regency (Indonesian: Kabupaten Berau, Berau: Barrau) is the most northern of the seven regencies in East Kalimantan province in Indonesia. The capital is the town of Tanjung Redeb. The regency has an area of 36,962.37 km$^2$ and had a population of 179,079 at the 2010 census and 248,035 at the 2020 census; the official estimate as at mid 2023 was 280,998.
Berau was formerly the name of a local sultanate that existed during the Dutch colonial period. In the early 19th century, it was divided into two separate sultanates: Gunung Tabur and Sambaliung.

## Administrative districts

Berau Regency is divided into thirteen districts (kecamatan), tabulated below with their areas and their populations at the 2010 census and the 2020 census, together with the official estimates as at mid 2023. The table also includes the location of the district headquarters, the number of administrative villages in each district (a total of 100 rural desa and 10 urban kelurahan), and of offshore islands in each district, and its postal codes.
| Kode Wilayah | Name of District (kecamatan) | Area in km$^2$ | Pop'n census 2010 | Pop'n census 2020 | Pop'n Estimate mid 2023 | Admin centre | No. of villages | No. of islands | Post codes |
| 64.03.01 | Kelay | 6,556.54 | 4,493 | 8,958 | 7,255 | Sido Bangen | 14 | - | 77362 |
| 64.03.02 | Talisayan | 1,621.57 | 10,061 | 14,614 | 17,020 | Talisayan | 10 | 1 | 77375 |
| 64.03.10 | Tabalar | 1,837.34 | 5,151 | 6,843 | 7,917 | Tubaan | 6 | 2 | 77374 |
| 64.03.07 | Pulau Derawan $^{(a)}$ | 4,423.99 | 8,372 | 11,341 | 14,399 | Tanjung Batu | 5 | 12 | 77380 |
| 64.03.08 | Biduk-Biduk | 2,429.97 | 5,342 | 6,609 | 7,733 | Biduk-Biduk | 6 | 6 | 77373 |
| 64.03.11 | Maratua | 5,616.26 | 3,076 | 3,664 | 3,881 | Maratua Teluk Harapan | 4 | 25 | 77381 |
| 64.03.03 | Sambaliung | 2,163.37 | 24,174 | 36,784 | 44,532 | Sambaliung | 14 $^{(b)}$ | - | 77371 |
| 63.03.04 | Segah | 5,241.29 | 8,396 | 14,368 | 17,942 | Tepian Buah | 13 | - | 77361 |
| 64.03.05 | Tanjung Redeb | 24.42 | 62,725 | 71,231 | 74,976 | Tanjung Redeb | 6 $^{(c)}$ | - | 77315 $^{(d)}$ |
| 64.03.06 | Gunung Tabur | 1,963.32 | 14,938 | 25,012 | 31,394 | Gunung Tabur | 11 $^{(e)}$ | 15 | 77352 |
| 64.03.09 | Teluk Bayur (Bayur Bay) | 316.98 | 20,596 | 31,135 | 34,960 | Teluk Bayur | 6 $^{(f)}$ | - | 77352 $^{(g)}$ |
| 64.03.12 | Batu Putih | 3,575.30 | 6,691 | 8,840 | 9,519 | Batu Putih | 7 | 5 | 77373 $^{(h)}$ |
| 64.03.13 | Biatan | 1,192.03 | 5,064 | 8,636 | 9,470 | Biatan Lempake | 8 | - | 77372 |
| | Totals | 36,962.37 | 53,671 | 248,035 | 280,998 | Tanjung Redeb | 110 | 66 | |
Notes: (a) while the name of this district literally means "Derawan Island", in practice the district includes a dozen large islands (Badakbadak, Bingkar, Derawan, Guntung, Labulabu, Lalawan, Manambula, Panjang, Samama, Sangalaki, Tempurung and Tidung) together with part of the 'mainland' of Kalimantan. (b) includes one kelurahan - the town of Sambaliung. (c) all six are kelurahan - Bugis, Gayam, Gunung Panjang, Karang Ambun, Sungai Bedungun and Tanjung Redeb. (d) except the towns of Gunung Panjang (with a post code of 77311) and Bugis (with a post code of 77312. (e) includes one kelurahan - the town of Gunung Tabur. (f) includes two kelurahan - the towns of Teluk Bayur and Rinding. (g) except the towns of Rinding (with a post code of 77313) and Teluk Bayur and the village of Tumbit Melayu (with a post code of 77315). (h) except the villages (desa) of Tembudan, Kayu Indah and Sumber Agung (all with a post code of 77372).

## Berau Marine Conservation Area

Konservasi Kawasan Laut (KKL) Berau (or "Berau Marine Conservation Area") was formed in 2005 and has an area of 1.321 million hectares, which includes Pulau Panjang (Long Island), Karangtigau Cape, and Baliktaba Reef. The area has the second highest coral reef biodiversity in Indonesia after Raja Ampat Islands and third highest in the world. The ecosystem covers coral reef, mangrove forest and sea grass.

## Literary significance

The novelist Joseph Conrad made four visits to Berau, stopping at Tanjung Redeb, while employed as the first mate of the merchant vessel S.S. Vidar in 1887–1888. The geographical setting and the lives of the small number of European traders based in Berau made a profound impression on him, and the setting for three of his novels (Almayer's Folly, An Outcast of the Islands and the second part of Lord Jim) is loosely based on Berau. Conrad sometimes refers to the Berau river as Pantai ("beach") and uses the fictional name Sambir to refer to Tanjung Redeb.