Story

Sambas Regency is the most northerly regency in West Kalimantan Province of Indonesia. The regency is one of the original regencies in West Kalimantan, but on 20 April 1999 the southern districts were removed from Sambas Regency to form a new Bengkayang Regency (then including the town of Singkawang). The residual regency now covers 5,938.48 km2, and had a population of 496,120 at the 2010 census and 629,905 at the 2020 census; the official estimate as at mid 2025 was 661,452 (comprising 336,918 males and 324,534 females). The administrative centre is at the town of Sambas.

The famous Sambas Treasure, a collection of 9th century Buddhist sculptures, was found near Sambas Town. It is now part of the British Museum's collection.

Sambas was also part of the Sultanate of Sambas until the Dutch occupied the area in 1819.

In the Sambas riots in 1999, Malays and Dayaks joined to massacre the Madurese during the conflict. Madurese were mutilated, raped, and killed by the Malays and Dayaks; 3,000 of them died in the massacres, with the Indonesian government doing little to stop the violence.

Following the establishment of Bengkayang Regency on 27 April 1999, the administrative centre of Sambas Regency was formally moved from Singkawang (now in the new regency) to Sambas (town) on 15 July.

Kabupaten Sambas terletak di antara 1’23” LU dan 108’39” BT dengan batas-batas wilayah administratif sebagai berikut:

Kabupaten Sambas termasuk daerah beriklim tropis dengan curah hujan bulanan rata-rata 227,94 mm dan jumlah hari hujan rata-rata 11 hari/bulan. Curah hujan yang tertinggi terjadi pada bulan September sampai dengan Januari dan curah hujan terendah antara bulan Juni sampai dengan Agustus.

Temperatur udara rata-rata berkisar antara 22,9°C. Sampai 31,05 °C. Suhu udara terendah 21,2 °C terjadi pada bulan Agustus dan yang tertinggi 33,0 °C pada bulan Juli. Kelembapan udara relatif 81-90%, tekanan udara 1,001-1,01hari, elipasi sinar matahari 50.73%, penguapan (evaporasi ) harian antara 4,2-5,9 Hm dan evapotranspirasi bulanan 134,7 – 171,4 mm.

Lahan pada pantai di Kabupaten Sambas berupa rawa pasang surut. Jenis tanah di daerah datar meliputi jenis Organosol, Aluvial dan Podsolik merah kuning sedangkan di daerah [bukit|berbukit dan bergunung meliputi jenis tanah Latosol dan Podsolik merah kuning. Secara terperinci luas masing-masing jenis tanah tersebut adalah sebagai berikut: Organosol: 136.230 ha Podsolik Merah Kuning (PMK): 157.320 ha Aluvial: 230.630 ha Podsol: 44.600 ha Latosol: 70.790 ha

Halus: 300.798 ha Sedang: 157.320 ha Kasar: 76.112 ha Gambut: 69.510 ha Lainnya: 72.990 ha

Kondisi wilayah Kabupaten Sambas bedasarkan ketinggian di atas permukaan laut dapat dikelompokkan sebagai berikut: Ketinggian 0–7 mdpl terdapat di kecamatan: Sejangkung Sambas Tebas Selakau Jawai Paloh Teluk Keramat Ketinggian 8–25 mdpl terdapat di kecamatan: Sejangkung Sambas Tebas Selakau Pemangkat Teluk Keramat Ketinggian 26–100 mdpl terdapat di kecamatan: Sejangkung Sambas Tebas Selakau Pemangkat Teluk Keramat Paloh

Secara umum Kabupaten Sambas memiliki 3 Daerah Aliran Sungai dengan total hamparan 516.200 ha, meliputi: DAS Paloh: 64.375 ha. DAS Sambas: 258.700 ha DAS Sebangkau: 193.125 ha. DAS Salakau: 190.155 ha.