Mentawai Islands Regency (original) (raw)

Regency in West Sumatra, Indonesia

Mentawai Islands Regency Kabupaten Kepulauan Mentawai
Regency
Coat of arms
Motto(s): Musara Kasimaeru(Together for Goodness)
Location within West Sumatra
Mentawai Islands RegencyLocation in Sumatra and IndonesiaShow map of SumatraMentawai Islands RegencyMentawai Islands Regency (Indonesia)Show map of Indonesia
Coordinates: 2°11′S 99°39′E / 2.183°S 99.650°E / -2.183; 99.650
Country	Indonesia
Province	West Sumatra
Regency seat	Tua Pejat
Government
• Acting Regent	Martinus Dahlan
• Vice Regent	Vacant
Area
• Total	6,033.76 km2 (2,329.65 sq mi)
Population (2023 estimate)[1]
• Total	95,068
• Density	16/km2 (41/sq mi)
Demographics[2]
• Religion	Christianity 76.98%- Protestanism 48.06%- Catholicism 28.92% Islam 22.82% Others 0.19%
Time zone	UTC+7 (Indonesia Western Standard Time)
Area code	(+62) 759
Website	mentawaikab.go.id

The Mentawai Islands Regency is a regency of West Sumatra Province which consists of a chain of about a hundred islands and islets approximately 150 kilometres (93 miles) off the western coast of Sumatra in Indonesia. They cover a land area of 6,033.76 km2 and had a population of 76,173 at the 2010 Census[3] and 87,623 at the 2020 Census;[4] the official estimate as of mid-2023 was 95,068.[1]

Siberut at 3,877.9 square kilometres (1,497 square miles) is the largest of the islands, occupying 64.27% of the land area of the regency. The other major islands are Sipura (or Sipora), North Pagai (Pagai Utara), and South Pagai (Pagai Selatan). The islands lie off the Sumatran coast, across the Mentawai Strait. The indigenous inhabitants of the islands are known as the Mentawai people. The Mentawai Islands have become a noted destination for surfing,[5] with over 40 boats offering surf charters to international guests.[6]

Administrative districts

[edit]

Mentawai Islanders

Islanders in a photo by C.B. Niewenhuis

The Mentawai Islands have been administered as a regency within the West Sumatra (Sumatera Barat) province since 1999. The regency seat is Tua Pejat, on the island of Sipora. Padang, the capital of the province, lies on the Sumatran mainland opposite Siberut. The regency is divided into ten districts (kecamatan), tabulated below from south to north with their areas and their populations at the 2010 Census[3] and the 2020 Census,[4] together with the official estimates as at mid-2023.[1] The table also includes the locations of the district administrative centres, the number of villages (all classed as rural desa) and the number of named offshore islands in each district, and its postcode.

Note: (a) Sikakap District covers the northern part of South Pagai Island and the southern part of North Pagai Island, plus some intervening small islands. Of the three desa, Matobek is entirely on North Pagai Island, while Sikakap and Taikato are mainly on North Pagai Island but each includes areas on South Pagai as well as the intervening small islands.

The ten districts comprise forty-three rural villages (desa) listed below with their areas and their populations as officially estimated for mid 2023:[17]

Macaronis was first discovered in 1980 by pioneer surf discoverers Chris Goodnow, Scott Wakefield, and Tony Fitzpatrick, who originally named the break ‘P-Land’ on their first visit (after Pasangan Bay / Pagai Islands). Amazingly, and considering the remote location, P-Land may have been the first wave surfed in the Mentawai Islands. Lances Right was discovered a full 10 years later, while Chris, Scott, and Tony continued to keep their discovery a secret. They returned in 1981 with friend Tim Annand, and again on a boat trip in the 90’s.[18][19][20][21]

The first photos of the surf breaks in the Mentawais area were leaked after a surf trip in 1992 aboard the MV Indies Trader, with professional surfers Ross Clarke-Jones, Tom Carroll, and Martin Potter.[22] Ever since then, the Mentawai Islands have been well on the radar of surf travellers around the world. At the West of Sumatra, the Mentawai Islands have the most consistent surf breaks in Indonesia making it one of the preferred choices for serious surfers. The tropical waters surrounding the islands offer year-round waves up to 15 ft (4.5 m).[23][24]

Dugout canoes on a river in Siberut

Mentawai Islands topography

The islands have been separated from Sumatra since the mid-Pleistocene period, which has allowed at least twenty endemic species to develop amongst its flora and fauna. This includes six endemic primates: the Kloss's gibbon (Hylobates klossii), Mentawai macaque (Macaca pagensis), Siberut macaque (Macaca siberu), Mentawai langur (Presbytis potenziani), Siberut langur (Presbytis siberu), and pig-tailed langur (Simias concolor). They are highly endangered due to logging, unsustainable hunting, and conversion of rainforest to palm oil plantations.[25] Some areas of the Mentawai Islands rainforest ecoregion are protected, such as the Siberut National Park. Red junglefowl, the Asian palm civet, and crab-eating macaque are also native.[26]

September 2007 Sumatra earthquakes

The Mentawai Islands lie above the Sunda megathrust, a seismically active zone responsible for many great earthquakes. This megathrust runs along the southwestern side of Sumatra island, forming the interface between the Eurasian Plate and the Indo-Australian Plate.

Earthquake and tsunami activity has been high since the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake. In 1833, the region was hit with an earthquake, possibly similar in size to the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake;[27] another large earthquake struck in 1797. On October 25, 2010, an earthquake in southern Sumatra led to a deadly tsunami that devastated villages in South and North Pagai.[28] On March 3, 2016, an earthquake of 7.8 magnitudes occurred off the Indian Ocean, a few hundred kilometres from Mentawai islands, as a result of strike-slip faulting within the oceanic lithosphere of the Indo-Australia plate.[29]

• Mentawai ethnic group
• Mentawai Festival

1. ^ a b c Badan Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 26 September 2024, Kabupaten Kepulauan Mentawai Dalam Angka 2024 (sum of district Katalog returns as references below)
2. ^ "Religion in Indonesia".
3. ^ a b Biro Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 2011.
4. ^ a b Badan Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 2021.
5. ^ "SURFAID". SURFAID. Archived from the original on May 17, 2014. Retrieved May 3, 2017.
6. ^ "Every Surf Charter Boat in the Mentawais | 41 Boats with Photos and Info". Indies Trader. Retrieved 2019-05-05.
7. ^ Badan Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 26 September 2024, Kecamatan Pagai Selatan Dalam Angka 2024 (Katalog-BPS 1102001.1301011)
8. ^ Badan Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 26 September 2024, Kecamatan Sikakap Dalam Angka 2024 (Katalog-BPS 1102001.1301012)
9. ^ Badan Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 26 September 2024, Kecamatan Pagai Utara Dalam Angka 2024 (Katalog-BPS 1102001.1301013)
10. ^ Badan Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 26 September 2024, Kecamatan Sipora Selatan Dalam Angka 2024 (Katalog-BPS 1102001.1301021)
11. ^ Badan Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 26 September 2024, Kecamatan Sipora Utara Dalam Angka 2024 (Katalog-BPS 1102001.1301022)
12. ^ Badan Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 26 September 2024, Kecamatan Siberut Selatan Dalam Angka 2024 (Katalog-BPS 1102001.1301030)
13. ^ Badan Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 26 September 2024, Kecamatan Siberut Barat Daya Dalam Angka 2024 (Katalog-BPS 1102001.1301031)
14. ^ Badan Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 26 September 2024, Kecamatan Siberut Tengah Dalam Angka 2024 (Katalog-BPS 1102001.1301032)
15. ^ Badan Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 26 September 2024, Kecamatan Siberut Utara Dalam Angka 2024 (Katalog-BPS 1102001.1301040)
16. ^ Badan Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 26 September 2024, Kecamatan Siberut Barat Dalam Angka 2024 (Katalog-BPS 1102001.1301041)
17. ^ "Daftar Desa & Kelurahan di Kabupaten Kepulauan Mentawai". www.nomor.net. Kode Pos Indonesia. 2020. Retrieved 2020-02-25.
18. ^ "Finding-Macaronis-Part1". www.swellnet.com. Retrieved 2023-05-10.
19. ^ "Finding-Macaronis-Part2". www.swellnet.com. Retrieved 2023-05-10.
20. ^ "Finding-Macaronis-Part3". www.swellnet.com. Retrieved 2023-05-10.
21. ^ "Original P-Land Discoverers Reunion". www.macaronisresort.com. Retrieved 2023-05-10.
22. ^ "Mentawai". www.surfindonesia.com. Retrieved 2020-12-18.
23. ^ "Top 10 Place to Surf in Indonesia". allindonesiatravel. Retrieved 2020-12-18.
24. ^ "15 Surfing Destination". indonesia.travel. Retrieved 2020-12-18.
25. ^ Whittaker, D. 2006. A conservation action plan for the Mentawai primates. Primate Conservation 20: 95–105.
26. ^ "Mentawai Islands rain forests". Terrestrial Ecoregions. World Wildlife Fund.
27. ^ "INDONESIA - THE GREAT EARTHQUAKE AND TSUNAMI OF 1833 OFF THE COAST OF CENTRAL SUMATRA - Dr. George Pararas-Carayannis". www.DrGeorgePC.com. Retrieved May 3, 2017.
28. ^ "Indonesia Earthquake and Tsunami Kill 113, Merapi Volcano Eruptions Hours Later". News article. politiktimes.com. October 26, 2010. Archived from the original on November 5, 2010. Retrieved October 26, 2010.
29. ^ "M7.8 – Southwest of Sumatra, Indonesia". Retrieved March 2, 2016.

• Official website
• Anthropology of the Mentawai Islands
• Native Planet: The Mentawai