Tanjung Selor

Tanjung Selor was a small market town under the Sultanate of Bulungan, which later became the subject of the Dutch East Indies. After the Indonesian National Revolution, it became part of the Swapraja (Autonomous Royal Region) of Bulungan following Decree No. 186/ORB/ 92/14/1950 from the then-Kalimantan province governor. This later changed again into the Special Region of Bulungan under Law No. 22 of 1955. In 1959, the sultanate was abolished and became a second-level administrative region, now called a regency.^[5][6][7]

Tanjung Selor was split from Tanjung Palas District, based on Bulungan Regency Law No. 13 of 2002, together with other seven new districts after the decentralization.^[1] Before the creation of the new North Kalimantan province split from East Kalimantan, it was determined to locate the provincial capital on mainland Kalimantan rather than in the then-largest urban body of Tarakan, which is an island. As such, Tanjung Selor is among few Indonesian provincial capitals to be created from scratch, along with Sofifi and Palangka Raya. However, for financial reasons a moratorium under President Joko Widodo on creating second-level administrations so far has prevented granting Tanjung Selor city status, since the town itself solely consists of its own district. As of 2025, North Kalimantan remains among the few Indonesian provinces with its capital not having city status.^[8][9]

The district is mostly a flat, low-lying region with hills whose height varies from 0 to 500 meters above sea level. The district borders Central Tanjung Palas District in the north, East Tanjung Palas District in the east and the south, and Kayan river in the west. Soil in the district is acidic, with a pH range between 4 and 6. Another river, the Selor, also runs through the district.^[10][11] The district of Tanjung Selor shares a border to the south with Segah in Berau Regency, East Kalimantan Province.

Tanjung Selor District is composed of nine villages, of which three (those asterisked in the table below) have the status of urban kelurahan and six have the status of rural desa.^[12]

Tanjung Selor has a tropical rainforest climate (Köppen Af) with heavy rainfall year-round.

Agricultural land use includes chilis, tomatoes, ginger, galangal, and turmeric. Chili production was 337 tons in 2019, with 295 tons of tomatoes, 57 tons of ginger, 52 tons of galangal, and four tons of turmeric. The district also includes plantation sectors which produce mangoes, citrus, durian, and bananas. There are 68 registered restaurants in the district as of 2019 and 12 convenience stores. There also are 11 hotels as of 2019. Twelve banks operate in the district, of which nine are branches of state-owned banks, two are private banks, and one, the People's Credit Bank, is a municipally owned BPR. There also are 45 registered cooperatives.^[15]

As an administrative district, it is a third-level administrative entity under a regency. A district head (camat) is appointed directly by the regent with recommendation from the regency secretary. Tanjung Selor itself has no parliament.^[16][17] The district is divided into nine villages, of which three have the status of urban villages (kelurahan), and six are classed as rural villages (desa).

• Gunung Seriang
• Tanjung Selor Hulu
• Jelarai Selor
• Gunung Sari
• Bumi Rahayu
• Apung
• Tengkapak
• East Tanjung Selor
• Tanjung Selor Hilir

At the regency level, the district, together with East Tanjung Palas, is part of the Bulungan first electoral district, which sends 11 representatives to the regency-level parliament. The latest election was in 2019, and the next is expected in 2024.^[18]