they based their living on a mixed economy – Swidden agriculture[5] with hill paddy as the main crop, supplemented by a range of tropical plants which include maniok, taro, sugar cane, tobacco, etc.

Hunting, especially wild boar, fishing, and gathering of forest resources,[5] are the other important factors in their economy.

However, in the late 1980s, many Punan, notably the younger, more educated, gradually migrated to urban areas such as Bintulu, Sibu, Kuching and Kuala Lumpur in search of better living.

These tribes include: Officially, as under the Sarawak Interpretation Ordinance,[8] Punan is group under Kajang together with Sekapan, Kejaman, Lahanan and Sihan.

Research on Northeast Bornean Punan communities revealed them to display strong genetic ancestry connections to each other, and that they form an outgroup to other Austronesian-speaking groups.

The results of a 2023 study "support long-term occupation of Borneo by Punan-related people" predating the arrival of other Austronesian-speakers from which they diverged earlier.

Punan peoples can only be found at Pandan, Jelalong and Kakus in Bintulu Division; along the Rajang River, their longhouses dotted areas spanning from Merit District to lower Belaga town.

to be one of the earliest peoples to have settled in the central part of Borneo, the Rajang River and Balui areas together with the Sekapan, Kejaman and Lahanan.

However, the mass migrations of Kayans, subsequently followed by the warfaring Ibans into Rejang and Balui areas approximately some 200 years ago, forced the Punan communities living in these areas retreating to Kakus and subsequently to Kemena basin.

The Brooke era saw the arrival of Christian missionaries, bringing education and modern medicine into Sarawak.

As of 2006, almost half of Punan are now Christian, leaving only the elderly, less educated still remain observing "Bungan" religion.