The island city is the largest urban area in North Kalimantan population-wise and is located in northern Borneo, midway along the coast of the province.

Once a major oil-producing region during the colonial period, Tarakan had great strategic importance during the Pacific War and was among the first Japanese targets early in the conflict.

[1] The city is located on Tarakan island (off the east coast of Kalimantan), which composed of 8,635 hectares (21,340 acres) of land.

After moving their capital several times over the centuries, in 1571 CE they settled their kingdom on the eastern coast of Tarakan, apparently already under the influence of Islam.

In 1905, an oil concession was granted to Koninklijke Nederlandsche Petroleum Maatschappij' a predecessor to Royal Dutch Shell.

[12][page needed] Reserves of California crude oil at Japanese refineries would have been exhausted in less than two years at the rate of consumption when the United States terminated exports to Japan on 26 July 1941.

[11] Japan declared war on the Netherlands East Indies on 10 January 1942; and Japanese troops landed on Tarakan the following day.

[16] Despite this loss, Tarakan crude oil (mixed with lesser quantities of Manchurian oil-shale distillates) became the primary feedstock for Japanese diesel fuel in 1942, while reserve supplies of California crude oil remained the primary feedstock for Japanese gasoline and residual fuels until 1943.

The large number of Japanese troops stationed on the island led to food-shortages and many civilians suffered from malnutrition.

Tarakan oil-field production reached 350,000 barrels per month by early 1944, but Japan no longer had enough oil tankers to transport this volume to Japanese refineries.

Without adequate supplies of refined residual fuel-oil for the forthcoming Battle of the Philippine Sea, Japanese aircraft-carriers refueled with unrefined Tarakan crude-oil in June 1944.

The undesalted crude-oil damaged boiler tubes, and the unremoved naphtha fraction volatilized to form explosive atmospheres, contributing to the loss of the aircraft carriers Taihō, Shōkaku, and Hiyō.

The city witnessed the Tarakan riot in 2010 following a clash between Buginese migrants from neighboring Sulawesi island and the Tidung people.

[18] The two groups later agreed to a peace deal, mediated by local police and the governor of then-East Kalimantan, Awang Faroek Ishak.

[5] In 2015, the city witnessed another riot, this time related to the 2015 North Kalimantan gubernatorial election between the candidates' supporters.

The city population has increased rapidly which is thought to be caused by high urbanization rate with people moving in from neighbouring regions.

Life expectancy in the city as of 2020 was 74 years, which is considerably higher than both the provincial and national average; it has been increasing consistently.

[30][31] The city has fiber optic cables connected to Balikpapan and Samarinda, which also serve other regencies of North Kalimantan province.

[37][38] There is a plan to build a bridge connecting the island to mainland Kalimantan, which is currently delayed because of the government refocusing fund allocations from development and infrastructure to COVID-19 pandemic mitigation.

[1] The table also includes the number of administrative villages (all rated as urban kelurahan) in each district, and its postal codes.