It is one of the largest, one of the least populated and one of the wealthiest regencies of Indonesia. With a land area of about 24,000 km2, it is not much smaller than the province of Central Java, although it has a population of around 100,000 only. Per capita income in the regency is over twice the national average. Much of this is derived from the extraction of mineral and natural resources, of which logging and coal mining are the most important. The Berau regency is located in the northwestern part of East Kalimantan province.
Road transport is only of some importance within the regency.
Owing to the isolated position of the regency, air transport and sea transport are much more important for communications with other parts of the country. Tanjungredeb is the regency capital. The towns of Gunung Tabur and Sambaliung are adjacent to Tanjungredeb, and form a larger urban area with a population of about 50,000. Major economic sectors Services, mining, forestry.