Borneo, like New Guinea, has long had two very
different populations: lowly populated, highly tribal groups in the inaccessible interior and relatively dense
agricultural populations along the coast and the lower floodplains of major rivers. The inland people (Dyaks) were
primarily hunter-gatherers with some shifting cultivation, spoke a number of tribal languages, and practiced mostly
animist religions. In contrast, coastal populations relied heavily on oceanic trade, rice farming and fishing,
spoke regional dialects of Malay, and were predominantly Muslim. The coastal Malay population dominated (as they
still do today) politically and militarily the inland tribal population, which was characterized by constant clan
war-fare.
When the Dutch arrived in Borneo they encouraged missionaries to convert the inland Dyaks. The Dutch had considerably
less success making inroads with the coastal Muslim. There had long been animosity between the inland and the coastal
populations, and the addition of organized religion only added fuel to the fire. Today violence rages on in Borneo
between the largely Christian Dyaks and the Muslims of the coast and those imported into the interior through transmigration
programs. New conflicts arise as greater numbers of Dyaks are displaced by logging.