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Kapuas Hulu Regency (or "Upper Kapuas" Regency) is a regency in West Kalimantan province of Indonesia in the middle of Borneo. Located around the upper drainage area of the Kapuas River, it has a total land area of 31,318.25 square kilometres or around 21.3% of West Kalimantan province's area. The regency seat is located in town of Putussibau, where most of its economic and government activities take place. Kapuas Hulu Regency is one of the few Indonesian regencies having a land border with another country (in this case, with Malaysia). It is also the largest regency in the province by land area. Due to its relatively large area, it is sparsely populated compared to neighbouring regencies around it. The regency had a population of 222,160 at the 2010 Census and 252,609 according to the 2020 Census; the official estimate as at mid 2025 was 280,198 (comprising 144,135 males and 136,063 females).

Tarian dari Dayak Iban di perbatasan Indonesia-Malaysia. ki|Pakaian adat pria Dayak dengan tato sebagai ciri khasnya Masyarakat Sungai Utik dan Hutan Adat

Sebagian besar penduduk kabupaten Kapuas Hulu berasal dari suku bangsa Dayak dan Melayu. Suku Dayak sendiri terdiri dari beberapa sub suku, yakni Dayak Iban, Dayak Kayan Mendalam, Dayak Embaloh, Dayak Taman, dan Dayak Kantuk. Selain itu, suku pendatang lain seperti Jawa, Bugis, Sunda, Batak, Tionghoa dan beberapa suku lain juga ada di Kapuas Hulu. Pengaruh budaya Dayak dan Melayu sangat kuat di Kapuas Hulu, sehingga tradisi-tradisi suku tersebut memengaruhi adat istiadat Kapuas Hulu.

Kebudayaan Melayu yang terdapat di Kapuas Hulu seperti tarian Jepin, Syair, Pantun, Qasidah dan juga Hadrah, yang sering diadakan pada upacara adat dan pesta perkawinan. Sementara untuk suku Dayak, budaya yang ada di Kapuas Hulu yakni budaya Ngajat dan Sandauari dan Gawai Kenalang dari Dayak Iban, kemudian budaya Baranangis dan Nyonjoan dari Dayak Embaloh. Ada juga budaya Bejande, Betimang dan Bedudu dari Dayak Kantuk, kemudian budaya Mandung dari Dayak Taman, dan Dange’ dari Dayak Kayan Mendalam.

The area was under kingdom of Selimbau, which was under influence of Sultanate of Sambas in early 17th and 18th century. Other than it, there were several smaller kingdoms and Malay chieftains such as Suhai, Jongkong, and Bunut, scattered around the region.

On 1823, Dutch settlers began exploring the region and Dutch colonial government signed a treaty with kingdom of Selimbau, acknowledging its domination over smaller kingdoms and chieftains in the region. Over time, the kingdom gradually lost its autonomy and the last king of Selimbau, Haji Gusti Usman, abdicated on 1925. The region was incorporated into Dutch East Indies and administrated from Sintang.

During Japanese occupation of Dutch East Indies, the region was administrated by Imperial Japanese Navy from Banjarmasin. Japanese opened a coal mine around Mentabah and Tebaung river in 1942 to support their war effort on Pacific. The locals welcomed Japanese at first, thought them to be liberator from Dutch rule. However, due to exploitation and treatment on locals, they turned against the Japanese later on. It was estimated around 1,000 native worked as Rōmusha died in the region during Japanese occupation. The occupation resulted in Majang Desa War or more popularly known as Dayak Desa War, with Japanese expelled from Borneo interior as the result. One of leader's war and Dayak chieftain, nicknamed Pang Suma, today is regarded as hero not only in the region but also Indonesia in general. The region became an autonomous royal region within West Kalimantan in 1946 and later became a regency under Law Number 3 of 1953.

There has been ongoing discussion about forming a new province, Kapuas Raya, which would include Kapuas Hulu Regency as part of it (together with the regencies of Sanggau, Sekadau, Sintang and Melawi), to be separated from West Kalimantan. However, due to a moratorium on new administrative division creations for financial reason since 2014, its creation has been put on halt by the Indonesian government.

Lake Sentarum National Park The regency borders Sarawak in the north, Sintang Regency in the west and south, and East Kalimantan as well as Central Kalimantan in the east. Soil formation in the region is considered to be one of the oldest in Indonesian archipelago. There are numerous lakes, swamps, and wetlands in the region and lower region is often submerged by water from nearby rivers as long as six months a year. Settlements are mostly located around rivers due to historical importance of inland waterways in the past. There are 925,134 hectares of national park, 834.140 hectares of protected forest, and 769,000 hectares of production forest.

The regency has tropical climate with temperature between 22.9 and 33.5 Celsius, with 84.6% air humidity, and 38% sunlight intensity. The wettest month is May with average rainfall of 547.66 mm3, and the driest is August with average 222.2 mm3.

One of largest lakes in Kalimantan, Danau Sentarum National Park situated to the west of Putussibau is the largest wetland conservation area in Indonesian (127,000 ha). It comprises a series of interconnected lakes with freshwater and peat swamp forest, fishing villages and a number of hills. The lake level fluctuates with the seasons. In the dry season the water can drop by 10-12 m leaving many lakes dry and other very small size. There is high diversity of plants and animals.