Kutai Kartanegara Regency
Kutai Kartanegara Regency (abbreviated as "Kukar") is a regency of East Kalimantan province, Indonesia. It has a land area of 27,263.10 km and a water area of 4,097 km, geographically located between 1°18′40″S and 116°31′36″E. The population of the regency was 626,286 at the 2010 Census and 729,382 at the 2020 Census. The town of Tenggarong is the capital of the regency. In 2019, President Joko Widodo proclaimed that the new national capital of Indonesia will be built in an area partly in the Kutai Kartanegara Regency and partly in the adjacent Penajam  North Paser Regency, and that the construction process will set off around 2024. History. Kutai Kartanegara Regency lies in the historical region of Kutai, home to the first and oldest Hindu kingdom of Indonesia, the Kutai Martadipura Kingdom founded in the 4th century CE by king Kudungga. Administrative districts. Kutai Kartanegara Regency is divided into eighteen districts ("kecamatan"), tabulated below with their areas and their populations at the 2010 Census and 2020 Census. Bukit Bangkirai rainforest. Bukit Bangkirai ("Bangkirai Hill") is a 1,500-hectare natural tropical located about 58 kilometres (around 45 minutes by car) from the city of Balikpapan . Plants of the family Dipterocarpaceae dominate in the area, especially Bangkirai trees ("Shorea laevis" of the genus "Shorea") growing to 40–50 metres in height. There are over 120 bird species as well as gibbons (Müller's Bornean gibbon), macaque monkeys (Southern pig-tailed macaques, Crab-eating macaques), Maroon leaf monkeys, Banded pigs, and Banggai crows. Black Orchids ("Coelogyne pandurata"), among 45 kinds of orchids, are endemic to Bukit Bangkirai. To visit the forest, visitors can walk along a 64-metre canopy bridge which connects five big Bangkirai trees 30 metres above the ground. Mangrove information, research center. East Kalimantan province  has developed an 18-hectare plot of land for mangrove information and research center in Sepatin village, in Anggana District, as Bali has done. It will functioning as a research, exhibition, information, breeding as well as education center on mangroves, especially in the Mahakam Delta. Smart City. In early 2015 it was announced that part of Kutai Kartanegara Regency had been selected to be a trial 'smart city', the first in Indonesia, based on the Fujisawa Sustainable Smart Town (SST) concept. The aim of the SST concept was to reduce CO2 emissions by 70 percent and reduce consumption of water  by 30 percent. The Kutai Kartanegara area was chosen as a trial area because of good investment growth in the region, the extensive area, relatively moderate levels of population density, effective planning in the area, and rich energy resources.