Borneo

American  

[bawr-nee-oh] / ˈbɔr niˌoʊ /

noun

1. an island in the Malay Archipelago, politically divided among Indonesia, Malaysia, and the British-protected sultanate of Brunei. 290,000 sq. mi. (750,000 sq. km).

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Borneo British  

/ ˈbɔːnɪˌəʊ /

noun

1. an island in the W Pacific, between the Sulu and Java Seas, part of the Malay Archipelago: divided into Kalimantan ( Indonesian Borneo ), the Malaysian states of Sarawak and Sabah, and the sultanate of Brunei; mountainous and densely forested. Area: about 750 000 sq km (290 000 sq miles)

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Borneo Cultural  

1. Island in Indonesia southwest of the Philippines and north of Java.

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Discover More

The third-largest island in the world, Borneo is mostly covered by dense jungle and rain forest.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• Bornean
  adjective

Example Sentences

In Borneo, a mythic spider brings forth life by feeding a tree; in Polynesia, spider-silk ladders connect heaven and earth.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 15, 2026

After climbing expeditions to Chad and Borneo, Honnold was inspired to research environmental activism and in 2012 founded the Honnold Foundation to support solar energy projects, according to the organization’s website.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 23, 2026

Borneo island has one of the world's largest tracts of rainforest and hosts orangutans, long-nosed monkeys, clouded leopards, pig-tailed macaques, flying fox bats and the smallest rhinos on the planet.

From Barron's • Oct. 21, 2025

Four closely related civets, a small nocturnal animal found in Africa and Asia, have made the same geographical area in the rainforests of Borneo home.

From Science Daily • Nov. 20, 2024

How on earth could prehistoric people of Borneo, presumably voyaging in boats without maps or compasses, end up in Madagascar?

From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond