Notes: (a) while the name of this district literally means "Derawan Island", in practice the district includes a dozen large islands (Badakbadak, Bingkar, Derawan, Guntung, Labulabu, Lalawan, Manambula, Panjang, Samama, Sangalaki, Tempurung and Tidung) together with part of the 'mainland' of Kalimantan.

(c) all six are kelurahan - Bugis, Gayam, Gunung Panjang, Karang Ambun, Sungai Bedungun and Tanjung Redeb.

Konservasi Kawasan Laut (KKL) Berau (or "Berau Marine Conservation Area") was formed in 2005 and has an area of 1.321 million hectares, which includes Pulau Panjang (Long Island), Karangtigau Cape, and Baliktaba Reef.

[6] The novelist Joseph Conrad made four visits to Berau, stopping at Tanjung Redeb, while employed as the first mate of the merchant vessel S.S. Vidar in 1887–1888.

The geographical setting and the lives of the small number of European traders based in Berau made a profound impression on him, and the setting for three of his novels (Almayer's Folly, An Outcast of the Islands and the second part of Lord Jim) is loosely based on Berau.