Tarakan is an island and co-extensively the sole city within the newly established Indonesian province of North Kalimantan. The island city is located in northern Borneo, midway along the coast of the province. The city boundaries are co-extensive with the island (including a couple of small islands off the coast of the Tarakan Barat District). Once a major oil-producing region during the colonial period, Tarakan had great strategic importance during the Pacific War and was among the first Japanese targets early in the conflict. It is the sole city within the newly established (in 2012) Indonesian province of North Kalimantan. According to Statistics Indonesia, the city had a population of 193,370 at the 2010 Census and 242,786 inhabitants at the 2020 Census; the official estimate as at mid 2022 was 248,972 (comprising 128,895 males and 120,077 females.
The city is located on Tarakan island, which composed of of land. 27.5% of the city is composed of podzol soil and 57.63% latosol soil. The city is located between above sea level.
According to legends, native Tidungs established their kingdom in Tarakan around 1076 CE. After moving their capital several times over the centuries, in 1571 CE they settled their kingdom on the eastern coast of Tarakan, apparently already under the influence of Islam. The name Tarakan comes from the Tidung language: tarak (meeting place) and ngakan (to eat); thus Tarakan was originally a meeting place for sailors and traders to eat, rest and trade their catch in the Tidung area.
Dutch explorers noted oil seepages in 1863. In 1905, an oil concession was granted to Koninklijke Nederlandsche Petroleum Maatschappij' a predecessor to Royal Dutch Shell. One year later oil production began with a yield of over 57,928 barrels of oil per year. Production continued to increase and in the 1920s Tarakan yielded over five million barrels a year, a third of the total oil production in the whole of the Dutch East Indies.
The oil produced here had a paraffin base instead of the usual asphalt base.