SINGKAWANG

Singkawang or San Khew Jong in Hakka, is a city located in the Province of West Kalimantan, on the island of Borneo in Indonesia.

How to reach Singkawang.

Since Singkawang has no airport, you must first fly to Supadio Airport of Pontianak  then continue to Singkawang by private car, taxi or public bus.

Population:  In 2011 the population was 246,306 and the density  369.7.  It has grown rapidly since then.

Religions:  Buddha 47%, Khongfucu 10%, Islam 21%, Catholic 15%, Prostestant 4%, Tao 3% and Hindu 0.011%

Singkawang, a middle city located on North West of Borneo Island is a unique place in Indonesia. Unlike others cities in this country, Singkawang inhabited by a majority of ethnic Chinese, presently 60% of Singkawang residents are Chinese. The background of this community composition is related to the arrival of large numbers of immigrants from the mainland of China to the western parts of the wild jungle of Borneo. According to oral history, their arrival in large numbers in the 17th century is associated with gold deposits around Monterado.  At first they worked for the Sultan of Sambas - ruler of the area at that time.  Sometime later they began to form consortiums and solidarity groups, as a response to various problems on their new homeland. They had to face many problems at the beginning, economic and cultural conflicts were the main problem they had to solve. The conflicts happened with various parties; the Sultan of Sambas authorities, the indigenous people, and the Dutch colonials. 

The majority of Chinese people come from the Hakka ethnic group, a sub ethnic group of the Chinese.

The dialect used daily by many Singkawang residents is Fujian-Hakka dialect and many children only learn to speak Indonesian when they start school. 

Besides the ethnic Chinese (about 42% of total population), the other main ethnic groups who live in Singkawang are the Malay, Dayak, Javanese and a few other minority ethnic groups. Singkawang is a part of the West Kalimantan Province.  It is located about 145 km north of Pontianak, the provincial capital.

Singkawang is also informally named City of Thousand Temples because its many temples.