Bontang

Bontang – A quiet coastal escape

Bontang's story begins, as is the case with many Indonesia cities, as a simple settlement, which in this case was a small coastal town in East Kalimantan province. It then went through several evolutionary stages, being made into a district headquarters by the Dutch in 1920 and a district by the Indonesian government in 1972. It wasn't until 1974 that two major state-owned enterprises--PT Badak Natural Gas Liquefaction and PT Pupuk Kaltim--were established in the area that specialized in ammonia and fertilizer production that Bontang finally came into its own. The subsequent years were periods of rapid expansion, and by 1999, the city was named an autonomous independent city. Today, the 161.88 square kilometer city is home to roughly 190,000 citizens.

Despite its nature of being more of an industrial town, Bontang still features sights and destinations that continue to attract visitors, including the white sandy shores of Marina Beach and the secluded island of Beras Basah (with its own snorkeling and diving sites). Bontang's Kutai National Park, which extends over an area of 2,000 square kilometers, is one of the country's oldest national parks and houses 958 species of flora, and 10, 90 and 300 species of primates, mammals and birds respectively. Bontang Kuala Village provides photogenic sceneries at dusk and dawn and has houses that almost appear to float on top of water where people can unwind.

The two major state-owned enterprises mentioned earlier continue to influence the city's economy. Pupuk Kaltim efforts have made Bontang the nation's biggest fertilizer maker, with Rp 14.5 trillion in profits in 2022, up from 6 trillion in 2021. Badak LNG produced 22.5 million metric tons per annum of liquified natural gas as of 2021. The city also recently opened up investment opportunities in 17 key areas, including warehouses, ports, waste and salt processing plants, sea water distillation factories. Among the most recent major investments was the opening of a Rp 1.2 trillion ammonium nitrate factory as of the end of 2023. The city's Gross Regional Domestic Product (GRDP) at current prices in 2023 reached Rp 68.11 trillion, an increase of Rp 5.00 trillion compared to Rp 63.11 trillion in 2022. Based on the 2010 constant prices, the GRDP also increased from Rp 40.93 trillion in 2022 to Rp 42.63 trillion in 2023. This represents an economic growth of 4.16 percent.

The city's three main gross regional domestic products are in the processing industry, the construction industry and the Wholesale and Retail Trade,  Car and Motorcycle Repair industry.