Baram River (Sarawak)

The Baram River (Malay: Sungai Baram) is a river in Sarawak on the island of Borneo. The river originates in the Kelabit Highlands, a watershed demarcated by the Iran Mountains of East Kalimantan, which form a natural border with Sarawak. The river flows westwards through tropical rainforest to the South China Sea. The Baram River terminates in a delta, which is subdivided into two units: East Barma Delta of Middle-Late Miocene age and West Baram Delta of Late Miocene-Quaternary age. The western unit is composed of mudstones enriched in organic components (total organic carbon content is more than 1.0 wt.%) which constitute substantial oil and gas reserves. The Baram river basin, an area of some 10,000 square miles (30,000 km2), has been part of Sarawak since it was ceded to the White Rajah of Sarawak by the then sultan of Brunei in 1882, for a perpetual annual payment of 6,000 dollars. The river is crossed not far from its mouth by the Miri-Baram Highway, Federal Route 22, on the Batang Baram Bridge opened in 2003. Some 100 km upstream lies the town of Marudi.