Barito

The Barito drains a great part of southern Borneo, flowing from the island's interior to the Java Sea. Its long course gathers tributaries including the Laung, Lahei and Negara, linking upland forests with the river settlements of the south. The Ma'anyan language, spoken in the wider Barito region, belongs to the same Southeast Barito group as Malagasy, the language of distant Madagascar. This linguistic kinship recalls an ancient connection across the Indian Ocean, long before the European arrival in Borneo.