Bontang

Bontang is a coastal city on the eastern shore of Borneo in the province of East Kalimantan, Indonesia, facing the Makassar Strait. Only about a third of its roughly 498 square kilometre territory is land, some 160 square kilometres, and most of that is low and flat. It began as a small settlement under the Kutai Sultanate, became a district headquarters in 1920, an administrative city in 1989 and an autonomous city in 1999. Its growth followed the founding of the Badak natural gas liquefaction company in 1974 and the Pupuk Kaltim fertiliser company in 1977, which made it a major producer of liquefied natural gas, ammonia and urea, and nearby coal mining adds to the industrial base. The 2020 census recorded 178,917 residents, and the climate is tropical rainforest with warm, stable temperatures and frequent rain.