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Tarakan
Tarakan is an island and co-extensively the sole city within the Indonesian province of North Kalimantan. The island city is the largest urban area in North Kalimantan population-wise and is located in northern Borneo, midway along the coast of the province. The city boundaries are co-extensive with the island (including a couple of small islands off the coast of the Tarakan Barat District). Once a major oil-producing region during the colonial period, Tarakan had great strategic importance during the Pacific War and was among the first Japanese targets early in the conflict. It is the sole city within the Indonesian province of North Kalimantan (established in 2012). According to Statistics Indonesia, the city had a population of 193,370 at the 2010 Census and 242,786 inhabitants at the 2020 Census; the official estimate as at mid 2024 was 255,310 (comprising 132,175 males and 123,135 females).
The city is located on Tarakan island (off the east coast of Kalimantan), which composed of 8,635 hectares (21,340 acres) of land. 27.5% of the city is composed of podzol soil and 57.63% latosol soil. The city is located between 0–110 metres (0–361 ft) above sea level.
According to legends, native Tidungs established their kingdom in Tarakan around 1076 CE. After moving their capital several times over the centuries, in 1571 CE they settled their kingdom on the eastern coast of Tarakan, apparently already under the influence of Islam. The name Tarakan comes from the Tidung language:[which?] tarak (meeting place) and ngakan (to eat); thus Tarakan was originally a meeting place for sailors and traders to eat, rest and trade their catch in the Tidung area.
Dutch explorers noted oil seepages in 1863. In 1905, an oil concession was granted to Koninklijke Nederlandsche Petroleum Maatschappij' a predecessor to Royal Dutch Shell. One year later oil production began with a yield of over 57,928 barrels of oil per year. Production continued to increase and in the 1920s Tarakan yielded over five million barrels a year, a third of the total oil production in the whole of the Dutch East Indies.
The oil produced here had a paraffin base instead of the usual asphalt base. Tarakan oil fields produced a light, sour crude oil with an unusually low pour point. By 1940, the island had an oil refinery with four petroleum loading piers, and was one of the five largest petroleum processing centers in the East Indies.
Japanese oil-fields in Sakhalin and Formosa provided only about ten percent of the petroleum needed to sustain Japanese industry through the mid-20th century.[page needed] Reserves of California crude oil at Japanese refineries would have been exhausted in less than two years at the rate of consumption when the United States terminated exports to Japan on 26 July 1941. Japan initiated hostilities against the United States and the United Kingdom four months later in December 1941 in preparation for seizing alternative sources of petroleum in the East Indies. Japan declared war on the Netherlands East Indies on 10 January 1942; and Japanese troops landed on Tarakan the following day. The Netherlands had declared war on Japan a month earlier. Dutch forces sabotaged the Tarakan oil-field and refinery prior to surrender.[need quotation to verify]
Japan had captured the Miri oil-field in Sarawak in December 1941, and captured oil-fields and refineries at Balikpapan in Dutch Borneo in January 1942, Sumatra in February, and Java in March. Oil technicians accompanied the invading Japanese troops to maintain production at captured facilities. A team of one thousand additional petroleum engineers and technicians sailed from Japan aboard the Taiyo Maru, but nearly 800 drowned when USS Grenadier sunk the Taiyo Maru southwest of Kyushu on 8 May 1942. Despite this loss, Tarakan crude oil (mixed with lesser quantities of Manchurian oil-shale distillates) became the primary feedstock for Japanese diesel fuel in 1942, while reserve supplies of California crude oil remained the primary feedstock for Japanese gasoline and residual fuels until 1943.
Tarakan became a Japanese strategic air-base from which further attacks could be launched following the Dutch surrender. Tarakan's inhabitants suffered under Japan's occupation. The large number of Japanese troops stationed on the island led to food-shortages and many civilians suffered from malnutrition. During the occupation, the Japanese transported some 600 labourers to Tarakan from Java. The Japanese also forced an estimated 300 Javanese women to work as "comfort women".
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Tarakan
Tarakan is an island and co-extensively the sole city within the Indonesian province of North Kalimantan. The island city is the largest urban area in North Kalimantan population-wise and is located in northern Borneo, midway along the coast of the province. The city boundaries are co-extensive with the island (including a couple of small islands off the coast of the Tarakan Barat District). Once a major oil-producing region during the colonial period, Tarakan had great strategic importance during the Pacific War and was among the first Japanese targets early in the conflict. It is the sole city within the Indonesian province of North Kalimantan (established in 2012). According to Statistics Indonesia, the city had a population of 193,370 at the 2010 Census and 242,786 inhabitants at the 2020 Census; the official estimate as at mid 2024 was 255,310 (comprising 132,175 males and 123,135 females).
The city is located on Tarakan island (off the east coast of Kalimantan), which composed of 8,635 hectares (21,340 acres) of land. 27.5% of the city is composed of podzol soil and 57.63% latosol soil. The city is located between 0–110 metres (0–361 ft) above sea level.
According to legends, native Tidungs established their kingdom in Tarakan around 1076 CE. After moving their capital several times over the centuries, in 1571 CE they settled their kingdom on the eastern coast of Tarakan, apparently already under the influence of Islam. The name Tarakan comes from the Tidung language:[which?] tarak (meeting place) and ngakan (to eat); thus Tarakan was originally a meeting place for sailors and traders to eat, rest and trade their catch in the Tidung area.
Dutch explorers noted oil seepages in 1863. In 1905, an oil concession was granted to Koninklijke Nederlandsche Petroleum Maatschappij' a predecessor to Royal Dutch Shell. One year later oil production began with a yield of over 57,928 barrels of oil per year. Production continued to increase and in the 1920s Tarakan yielded over five million barrels a year, a third of the total oil production in the whole of the Dutch East Indies.
The oil produced here had a paraffin base instead of the usual asphalt base. Tarakan oil fields produced a light, sour crude oil with an unusually low pour point. By 1940, the island had an oil refinery with four petroleum loading piers, and was one of the five largest petroleum processing centers in the East Indies.
Japanese oil-fields in Sakhalin and Formosa provided only about ten percent of the petroleum needed to sustain Japanese industry through the mid-20th century.[page needed] Reserves of California crude oil at Japanese refineries would have been exhausted in less than two years at the rate of consumption when the United States terminated exports to Japan on 26 July 1941. Japan initiated hostilities against the United States and the United Kingdom four months later in December 1941 in preparation for seizing alternative sources of petroleum in the East Indies. Japan declared war on the Netherlands East Indies on 10 January 1942; and Japanese troops landed on Tarakan the following day. The Netherlands had declared war on Japan a month earlier. Dutch forces sabotaged the Tarakan oil-field and refinery prior to surrender.[need quotation to verify]
Japan had captured the Miri oil-field in Sarawak in December 1941, and captured oil-fields and refineries at Balikpapan in Dutch Borneo in January 1942, Sumatra in February, and Java in March. Oil technicians accompanied the invading Japanese troops to maintain production at captured facilities. A team of one thousand additional petroleum engineers and technicians sailed from Japan aboard the Taiyo Maru, but nearly 800 drowned when USS Grenadier sunk the Taiyo Maru southwest of Kyushu on 8 May 1942. Despite this loss, Tarakan crude oil (mixed with lesser quantities of Manchurian oil-shale distillates) became the primary feedstock for Japanese diesel fuel in 1942, while reserve supplies of California crude oil remained the primary feedstock for Japanese gasoline and residual fuels until 1943.
Tarakan became a Japanese strategic air-base from which further attacks could be launched following the Dutch surrender. Tarakan's inhabitants suffered under Japan's occupation. The large number of Japanese troops stationed on the island led to food-shortages and many civilians suffered from malnutrition. During the occupation, the Japanese transported some 600 labourers to Tarakan from Java. The Japanese also forced an estimated 300 Javanese women to work as "comfort women".