Sampit - Geography

Geography

Sampit lies in southern-mid Borneo on the banks of the Sampit River also called the "Mentaya River" is a river of Central Kalimantan in Borneo. The river takes its name from the town of Sampit which is situated on the bank of river not too distant from the Java Sea. The Schwaner mountain range extends with long hill ridges southwards, separating the major river systems of the area, most notably the Bukit Baka hill range which extends down to Sampit Bay. The area between the town of Sampit and the coast was historically heavily forested but has since been reduced due to road construction and development projects.

To the north of Sampit, on the road to Pangkalanbun, is an area of peat-swamp forest.

Sampit is 20 kilometres (12 mi) from the mouth of the river. Road networks connect to the capital cities of the regency and one such road is the Palangkaraya-Sampit-Purukcahu. However, river transport is the common transport for communications. Apart from navigational approach from the Java Sea and inland road network, Sampit also has the Sampit Airport (IATA: SMQ, ICAO: WAOS), also known as H.Asan Airport, is a public airport in Sampit, Central Kalimantan, Indonesia. Airline services are provided by the Kal Star Aviation to Banjarmasin, Ketapang, Pangkalan Bun and Pontianak, and the Merpati Nusantara Airlines to Jakarta and Surabaya.