Provinsi Kalimantan merupakan salah satu provinsi yang kedua terbesar di Indonesia setelah Papua, dengan luas tanah 127.267,52 km2 dan luas laut 25.656 km2. Ia berbatasan dengan Kalimantan Utara di utara, dengan Selat Makassar dan Laut Sulawesi di timur, dengan Kalimantan Selatan di selatan, sedangkan di sebelah barat ia bersebelahan dengan Kalimantan Tengah, Kalimantan Barat, dan Negara Bagian Sarawak dari Malaysia Timur.
Jumlah penduduk Kalimantan Timur pada tahun 2018 adalah 3.648.835 jiwa. Provinsi ini sangat terkenal karena produksi gula jawa, bahan tambang, dan produk kehutanan, serta pusat perlindungan hewan liar yang dimilikinya, seperti misalnya orang utan dan hiu paus
Before the Dutch colonial era, East Kalimantan is ruled by several kingdoms, namely the Kingdom of Kutai (Hindu), the Sultanate of Kutai Kartanegara ing Martadipura, the Sultanate of Pasir and the Sultanate of Bulungan and the Sultanate of Banjar.
Kalimantan region has a rich cultural diversity as a result of cultural assimilations of many nations and tribes living in the region. Some of the indigenous tribes living in East Kalimantan are the Tunjung, the Benuaq, the Bentian, the Penihing, the Bukat, the Dayaks, the Banjars, the Bugis, and the Javanese. The majority of population adheres to Islam (85,57%), Christian (9,41%), Catholic (4,17%) and Buddha (0,49%)
East Kalimantan has its typical art and culture festival called Erau. Erau is an international festival in Kutai, which is held every year in the center of Tenggarong city. The word ‘Erau’ itself comes from the Kutai language which means crowded.
The East Kalimantan region has good topographic characteristics that make it safe from disaster risks, such as catastrophic floods, earthquakes, tsunamis, forest fires, and landslides. Thanks to these advantageous factors, some regions in East Kalimantan, namely Penajam Paser Utara and Kutai Kartanegara, are designated as the new Indonesian Capital City after Jakarta in 2025.