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51-603: Barus was a significant settlement on the west coast of Sumatra widely recorded in many historical documents. Other related sites in Sumatra include Lamuri in Aceh and Pannai in North Sumatra. The second-century Greek geographer Claudius Ptolemy in his work Geography recorded the name Barusai (or Barousai) ( Ancient Greek : Βαροῦσαι ) as a group of five islands, which some scholars believe to refer to islands facing

102-565: A wetland of international importance under the Ramsar Convention . Sumatra has lost almost 50% of its tropical rainforest since 1980. Many species are now critically endangered , such as the Sumatran ground cuckoo , the Sumatran tiger , the Sumatran elephant , the Sumatran rhinoceros , and the Sumatran orangutan . Deforestation on the island has also resulted in serious seasonal smoke haze over neighbouring countries, such as

153-436: A 9.2 earthquake shook Bengkulu and Western Sumatra. Both events caused large tsunamis . Earthquakes are very common throughout the coastal area of the west and center of the island, and tsunamis are common due to the high seismicity in the area. By population, Medan is the largest city in Sumatra. Medan is also the most visited and developed city in Sumatra. Sumatra supports a wide range of vegetation types that are home to

204-535: A diagonal northwest–southeast axis. The Indian Ocean borders the northwest, west, and southwest coasts of Sumatra, with the island chain of Simeulue , Nias , Mentawai , and Enggano off the western coast. In the northeast, the narrow Strait of Malacca separates the island from the Malay Peninsula , which is an extension of the Eurasian continent. In the southeast, the narrow Sunda Strait , containing

255-400: A few miles to the north of modern Barus at Lubok Tua (or Lobu Tua) produced artifacts of Chinese, Arab, Egyptian, Persian, and Indian origin. Lubok Tua however was abandoned around the turn of the 12th century. A site at Bukit Hasang was settled in the mid-12th century and abandoned in the 15th but resettled again in the late 15th to mid-16th century. Tombstones found in the area, of which one of

306-528: A rich variety of species, including 17 endemic genera of plants. Unique species include the Sumatran pine which dominates the Sumatran tropical pine forests of the higher mountainsides in the north of the island and rainforest plants such as Rafflesia arnoldii (the world's largest individual flower), and the titan arum (the world's largest unbranched inflorescence ). The island is home to 201 mammal species and 580 bird species. There are nine endemic mammal species on mainland Sumatra and 14 more endemic to

357-675: A stiff economic decline as the heritage of the Srivijaya empire was superseded by the economic policy of the Singhasari and Majapahit . The Palembang sultanate experienced a terminal decline in the early 19th century. With the coming of the Dutch Empire , the many Sumatran princely states gradually fell under their control. Aceh posed major obstacles, as the Dutch were involved in the long and costly Aceh War (1873–1903). During

408-464: Is a regency in North Sumatra province, Sumatra , Indonesia . The seat of the regency government is at Pandan . The regency covers an area of 2,194.98 km and consists of a long extent of land along the western coast of North Sumatra, together with offshore islands of which the largest is Mursala Island ; it had a population of 311,232 at the 2010 census and 365,177 at the 2020 Census;

459-641: Is a double kingdom and the two parts have separate administration", and that its western kingdom was Barus. There may have been Tamil presence in the 11th century; four inscribed stones have been found in Barus, and one in Tamil known as the Lobu Tua Inscription has been dated to 1088. It named the local inhabitants as Zabedj , a name also found in Arabic sources as Zabag or Zabaj and may refer here to

510-495: Is also an area in the archipelago that received the spread of Islam first compared to other islands or other areas. The island of Sumatra became the first area to receive the spread of Islam because of the position of the island of Sumatra which is close to the Malacca strait. The initial process of Islamization related to trade and also the formation of the kingdom. Islam entered Sumatra through pious Arabs and Tamil traders in

561-521: Is also used as an inter-ethnic means of communication in some parts of Aceh province. Religion in Sumatra (2023) The majority of people in Sumatra are Muslims (87.12%), while 10.69% are Christians, and less than 2.19% are Buddhists and Hindus. Sumatra is one of seven geographical regions of Indonesia , which includes its adjacent smaller islands. Sumatra was one of the eight original provinces of Indonesia between 1945 and 1948. Including adjacent archipelagoes normally included with Sumatra (such as

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612-628: Is located to the northwest of Sibolga along the Sumatran coast. There are two main kampungs in the town. Both are located along the Batu Gerigis River, one upstream (Mudik) and one downstream (Hilir), with the one downstream on the river mouth now the center, although in the past the one upstream was more important. Historically, the Barus population is a mixed people descended from the Minangkabau , Batak , and Acehnese , known as

663-580: Is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia . It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the sixth-largest island in the world at 482,286.55 km (182,812 mi. ), including adjacent islands such as the Simeulue , Nias , Mentawai , Enggano , Riau Islands , Bangka Belitung and Krakatoa archipelago . Sumatra is an elongated landmass spanning

714-583: Is the largest producer of Indonesian coffee . Small-holders grow Arabica coffee ( Coffea arabica ) in the highlands, while Robusta ( Coffea canephora ) is found in the lowlands. Arabica coffee from the regions of Gayo, Lintong and Sidikilang is typically processed using the Giling Basah (wet hulling) technique, which gives it a heavy body and low acidity. Sumatra is a highly seismic island. Huge earthquakes have been recorded throughout history. In 1797, an 8.9 earthquake shook Western Sumatra, and in 1833,

765-529: The 2005 Nias–Simeulue earthquake and the 2010 Mentawai earthquake and tsunami . Lake Toba is the site of a supervolcanic eruption that occurred around 74,000 years ago, representing a climate-changing event. The most important rivers in Sumatra belong to the catchment area of the South China Sea . Heading north to south, the Asahan , Rokan , Siak , Kampar , Indragiri , Batanghari flow into

816-404: The 2013 Southeast Asian haze which caused considerable tensions between Indonesia and affected countries Malaysia and Singapore . The widespread deforestation and other environmental destruction in Sumatra and other parts of Indonesia has often been described by academics as an ecocide . Several unconnected railway networks built during Netherlands East Indies exist in Sumatra, such as

867-807: The Barisan Mountains in the west and swampy plains in the east. Sumatra is the closest Indonesian island to mainland Asia. To the southeast is Java , separated by the Sunda Strait . To the north is the Malay Peninsula (located on the Asian mainland), separated by the Strait of Malacca . To the east is Borneo , across the Karimata Strait . West of the island is the Indian Ocean . The Great Sumatran fault (a strike-slip fault), and

918-620: The Batak people. A 13th-century source mentions that there were once Christians there, although no trace of these early Christians remains. In Indonesian sources, Barus is mentioned in Carita Parahyangan as one of the conquests of King Sanjaya . It is also named in the 1365 Old Javanese epic poem Nagarakretagama as one of the vassal states of the Majapahit that formed part of 'tanah ri Malayu'. Barus has not been located in

969-665: The Krakatoa Archipelago , separates Sumatra from Java . The northern tip of Sumatra is near the Andaman Islands , while off the southeastern coast lie the islands of Bangka and Belitung, Karimata Strait and the Java Sea . The Bukit Barisan mountains, which contain several active volcanoes, form the backbone of the island, while the northeastern area contains large plains and lowlands with swamps, mangrove forest and complex river systems. The equator crosses

1020-532: The Malacca Strait , while the island's largest river, the Musi , flows into the sea at Bangka Strait in the south. To the east, big rivers carry silt from the mountains, forming the vast lowland interspersed by swamps. Even if mostly unsuitable for farming, the area is currently of great economic importance for Indonesia. It produces oil from both above and below the soil – palm oil and petroleum . Sumatra

1071-584: The Second World War , Japan invaded Sumatra in 1942. The Free Aceh Movement fought against Indonesian government forces in the Aceh Insurgency from 1976 to 2005. Security crackdowns in 2001 and 2002 resulted in several thousand civilian deaths. The island was heavily impacted by both the 1883 Krakatoa eruption and the 2004 Boxing Day Tsunami . Sumatra’s population as of 2023 was estimated to be about 60,795,669 ; it has about

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1122-509: The Sumatran elephant , the Sumatran rhinoceros , and the Sumatran orangutan . Deforestation on the island has also resulted in serious seasonal smoke haze over neighbouring countries, such as the 2013 Southeast Asian haze which caused considerable tensions between Indonesia and affected countries Malaysia and Singapore . The widespread deforestation and other environmental destruction in Sumatra and other parts of Indonesia has often been described by academics as an ecocide . Sumatra

1173-526: The Sunda megathrust (a subduction zone ), run the entire length of the island along its west coast. On 26 December 2004, the western coast and islands of Sumatra, particularly Aceh province, were struck by a tsunami following the Indian Ocean earthquake . This was the longest earthquake recorded, lasting between 500 and 600 seconds (8.33–10 minutes). More than 170,000 Indonesians were killed, primarily in Aceh. Other recent earthquakes to strike Sumatra include

1224-479: The 13th century. In terms of economic development the port of Banda Aceh only started to face competition in the 18th century when more ports were constructed in Sumatra for maritime transport . Nevertheless, major pepper suppliers used the port of Banda Aceh at the beginning of the 19th century. The port in Medan grew swiftly in the late 19th and early 20th century. Meanwhile the medium sized port of Palembang faced

1275-1250: The 2010 census (including Riau Islands , Bangka Belitung , Nias , Mentawai , Simeulue and islands around it) There are over 52 languages spoken, all of which (except Chinese and Tamil) belong to the Malayo-Polynesian branch of the Austronesian language family. Within Malayo-Polynesian, they are divided into several sub-branches: Chamic (which are represented by Acehnese in which its closest relatives are languages spoken by Ethnic Chams in Cambodia and Vietnam), Malayic ( Malay , Minangkabau and other closely related languages), Northwest Sumatra–Barrier Islands ( Batak languages , Gayo and others), Lampungic (includes Proper Lampung and Komering ) and Bornean (represented by Rejang in which its closest linguistic relatives are Bukar Sadong and Land Dayak spoken in West Kalimantan and Sarawak ( Malaysia )). Northwest Sumatra–Barrier Islands and Lampungic branches are endemic to

1326-477: The 6th and 7th centuries AD. At the beginning and end of the 13th century the formation of the kingdom, the king of the Samudra kingdom had converted to Islam. Marco Polo visited the island in 1292, and his fellow Italian Odoric of Pordenone in 1321. Aceh in the north of Sumatra became known in the 16th century as trading centre for the pepper trade by shipping quality piperaceae ( pepper ). Aceh became

1377-703: The Chinese writer Zhao Rukuo （or Chau Ju-kua, 趙汝适）wrote in Zhu Fan Zhi that Binsu (賓窣, Pansur) was one of the countries producing camphor. According to the Venetian traveller Marco Polo , the camphor from Fansur was the best in the world, it's quality "so fine that it sells for its weight in fine gold". Barus may have been an important site during the Srivijaya period; Xin Tangshu says that "Srivijaya

1428-565: The Indonesian government announced a plan to protect Sumatra's remaining forests. The island includes more than 10 national parks, including three which are listed as the Tropical Rainforest Heritage of Sumatra World Heritage Site – Gunung Leuser National Park , Kerinci Seblat National Park and Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park . The Berbak National Park is one of three national parks in Indonesia listed as

1479-686: The Portuguese throughout the 16th and 17th century. When the Dutch were weakened in the 18th century the British empire began to actively intervene in Aceh, establishing close relations between Banda Aceh and Penang . In the 17th and 18th century the Aceh Sultanate battled the Siak sultanate in the south of Sumatra. The port city of Banda Aceh was recorded in European historical writings since

1530-563: The Riau Islands, Nias and the Bangka-Belitung group), it now covers ten of Indonesia's 38 provinces , which are set out below with their areas and populations. The longest axis of the island runs approximately 1,790 km (1,110 mi) northwest–southeast, crossing the equator near the centre. At its widest point, the island spans 435 km (270 mi). The interior of the island is dominated by two geographical regions:

1581-545: The Western Sumatran coast at Barus. The Indian text Mañjuśrī-mūla-kalpa refers to a Warusaka that may be Barus. In 4th Chinese records, the name " Po-lu " is found, suggested to mean Barus or the northern part of Sumatra. During the Tang dynasty, the Chinese traveller Yijing mentioned the island of Polushi (婆魯師洲) to the west of Palembang where Mulasarvastivada Buddhism was practiced. Arabic language sources use

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1632-466: The biggest is Mursala Island with 8,000 hectares (1 hour by motorboat from Sibolga ), which has a waterfall that directly drops to the sea; around 100 metres from the waterfall the water still tastes plain and the corals are unique and beautiful. In 1933, the first King Kong film has taken pictures here. 1°54′00″N 98°40′00″E  /  1.9000°N 98.6667°E  / 1.9000; 98.6667 This North Sumatra location article

1683-514: The earliest may be dated to 1370, indicate Arabic, Persian, and possibly Chinese influences or presence. The site at Kedai Gadang was occupied from the 13th to the 19th century. Gold and silver coins found in Barus indicate it may have produced a currency as early as the 10th century, which may be the earliest found in Sumatra. Barus at present is a small town and a district in the Central Tapanuli Regency in North Sumatra. It

1734-466: The earliest mentions of Barus in Muslim sources may be by Sulaiman who wrote in 851 of gold mines and "plantations called Fansur, where one obtains a superior quality of camphor". In the 10th century, Al-Masudi wrote that "... the land of Fansur, whence is derived the fansuri camphor , which is only found there in large quantities in the years that have many storms and earthquakes". In the 13th century,

1785-597: The ethnic of Pesisir ( Pasisia ). Located near the town of Barus and in Northern Barus are the Islamic funerary monuments, the Mahligai Tomb Complex and Makam Papan Tinggi which have been developed as tourist attractions. 2°00′00″N 98°24′00″E  /  2.0000°N 98.4000°E  / 2.0000; 98.4000 Sumatra Sumatra ( / s ʊ ˈ m ɑː t r ə / )

1836-474: The island at its centre in West Sumatra and Riau provinces. The climate of the island is tropical , hot, and humid. Lush tropical rain forest once dominated the landscape. Sumatra has a wide range of plant and animal species but has lost almost 50% of its tropical rainforest in the last 35 years. Many species are now critically endangered , such as the Sumatran ground cuckoo , the Sumatran tiger ,

1887-678: The island. Like all parts of Indonesia, Indonesian (which was based on Riau Malay) is the official language and the main lingua franca. Although Sumatra has its own local lingua franca, variants of Malay like Medan Malay and Palembang Malay are popular in North and South Sumatra, especially in urban areas. Minangkabau (Padang dialect) is popular in West Sumatra, some parts of North Sumatra, Bengkulu, Jambi and Riau (especially in Pekanbaru and areas bordered with West Sumatra ) while Acehnese

1938-417: The locations of the district administrative centres, the number of administrative villages in each district (totaling 160 rural desa and 55 urban kelurahan ), and its postcode. Note: (a) includes Mursala Island and 18 smaller islands off the coast. Central Tapanuli's beaches are ideal for surfing, although they are not as well known as those of Nias Island . The regency has 30 offshore islands; one of

1989-643: The main commercial centre of the Aceh Sultanate and trading routes were established to the Mediterranean via the Red Sea to rival the Portuguese shipping lanes . The reign of Iskandar Muda is known as the golden age of Sumatra because he extended the cultural influence of the Aceh Sultanate to Padang and Johor . The Aceh Sultanate sustained the rivalry with the Johor sultanate , the Dutch, and

2040-457: The milestone of Kepaksian Sekala Brak in the 13th century AD with the Dalom building. At the same time, the spread of Islam in Indonesia occurred gradually and indirectly, starting from the western regions such as the Sumatra area which became the first place for the spread of Islam in the archipelago, then Java, then to the eastern regions of Indonesia, Sulawesi and Maluku. The island of Sumatra

2091-543: The name Fansur or Pansur, the 9th-century Persian geographer Ibn Khurdadhbih also used the term the "island of Bālūs", although the Arabs appeared to consider Bālūs different from Fansur. Around 900 Ahmad ibn Rustah called Fansur "a well-known country in the Indies" and wrote about its jurisdiction. The best-known commodity produced and traded in Barus was camphor , locally known as kapur barus (lit. "Barus' chalk"). One of

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2142-618: The name for the entire island. By the year 692 , the Melayu Kingdom was absorbed by Srivijaya . Srivijaya's influence waned in the 11th century, specifically in the year 1025, after suffering defeat at the hands of the Chola Empire in southern India By the end of the 12th century, Srivijaya had been reduced to a kingdom, and its dominant role in South Sumatra ended with the last king, Ratu Sekekhummong, who founded

2193-416: The nearby Mentawai Islands . There are about 300 freshwater fish species in Sumatra. There are 93 amphibian species in Sumatra, 21 of which are endemic to Sumatra. The Sumatran tiger , Sumatran rhinoceros , Sumatran elephant , Sumatran ground cuckoo , Sumatran orangutan and Tapanuli orangutan are all critically endangered, indicating the highest level of threat to their survival. In October 2008,

2244-456: The official estimate as at mid-2023 was 386,895 (comprising 195,086 males and 191,809 females). The regency surrounds the landward side of the city of Sibolga , which is administratively separate from the regency. The regency is divided into twenty districts ( kecamatan ), tabulated below with their areas and their populations at the 2010 Census and the 2020 Census, together with the official estimates as of mid-2023. The table also includes

2295-707: The ones connecting Banda Aceh - Lhokseumawe - Besitang - Medan - Tebingtinggi - Pematang Siantar - Rantau Prapat in Northern Sumatra (the Banda Aceh-Besitang section was closed in 1971, but is currently being rebuilt). Padang - Solok - Bukittinggi in West Sumatra , and Bandar Lampung - Palembang - Lahat - Lubuklinggau in Southern Sumatra. Central Tapanuli Regency Central Tapanuli Regency ( Tapanuli Tengah in Indonesia)

2346-503: The relationship between India and the Indonesian archipelago. In the late 13th century, Marco Polo referred to the kingdom as Samara , while his contemporary fellow Italian traveller Odoric of Pordenone used the form Sumoltra . Later in the 14th century the local form "Sumatra" became popular abroad due to the rising power of the kingdom of Samudera Pasai and the subsequent Sultanate of Aceh . From then on, subsequent European writers mostly used Sumatra or similar forms of

2397-473: The same number of inhabitants as South Africa , making it the fifth-most populous island in the world . Yet because it is such a large island, it is not densely populated: it has an average of about 126 people per km . The largest indigenous ethnic groups in Sumatra are Malays, Minangkabaus, Bataks, Acehnese, and Lampungs. Other major non-indigenous ethnic groups are Javanese , Sundanese , and Chinese . Below are 11 largest ethnic groups in Sumatra based on

2448-540: The same place all through its history; a Batak chronicle mentions that Barus had moved three times. Older sites may decline and become abandoned. In the 16th century, Barus was a prosperous port; the Portuguese writer Tomé Pires mentioned in Suma Oriental the "very rich kingdom of Baros" that was also known to people from many nations as "Panchur" or "Pansur". The first known Malay poet Hamzah Fansuri may have been either born or raised in Barus in this period. Barus

2499-541: The tenth through thirteenth centuries, in reference to a kingdom near modern-day Banda Aceh which was the first landfall for traders. The island has also been known by other names, including Andalas or Percha Island . Scholars suggest that mention of Suwarnadwipa in the Hindu Epic the Ramayana may be a reference to Sumatra. According to experts on The Ramayana , the epic is one of the first sources to document

2550-506: Was known in ancient times by the Sanskrit names of Svarṇadvīpa ('Island of Gold') and Svarṇabhūmi ('Land of Gold'), because of the gold deposits in the island's highlands . The earliest known mention of the current form "Sumatra" was in 1017, when the local king Haji Sumatrabhumi ("king of the land of Sumatra") sent an envoy to China . Arab geographers referred to the island as Lamri ( Lamuri , Lambri or Ramni ) in

2601-818: Was then dominated by the Aceh Sultanate around the middle of the 16th century and an Acehnese Panglima or governor was stationed there. Later it came under the influence of the Dutch East India Company in 1668 after they ousted the Acehnese Panglima. The area also came under the influence of the Minangkabaus and became part of the Malay cultural sphere. Archaeological excavations at several sites around Barus have uncovered significant evidence of human settlement and trading activity. These settlements were inhabited at different times. A site

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