:''This article refers to the regency in

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Gui ...

; see also

Al-Quds Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

(Jerusalem)'' Kudus ( jv, ꦏꦸꦢꦸꦱ꧀) is a

regency A regent (from Latin : ruling, governing) is a person appointed to govern a state '' pro tempore'' (Latin: 'for the time being') because the monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge the powers and duties of the monarchy ...

( id, kabupaten) in

Central Java Central Java ( id, Jawa Tengah) is a province of Indonesia, located in the middle of the island of Java. Its administrative capital is Semarang. It is bordered by West Java in the west, the Indian Ocean and the Special Region of Yogyakart ...

province in

. Its capital is Kudus. It covers 425.16 km² and is thus the smallest regency on

Java Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's mo ...

Island in area, and it had a population of 777,437 at the 2010 Census and 849,184 at the 2020 Census, comprising 423,777 males and 425,407 females. It is located east of

Semarang Semarang ( jv, ꦏꦸꦛꦯꦼꦩꦫꦁ , Pegon: سماراڠ) is the capital and largest city of Central Java province in Indonesia. It was a major port during the Dutch colonial era, and is still an important regional center and port today ...

, the capital of Central Java.

History

COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM Minaret en moskee van Koedoes TMnr 60054755

The city of Kudus was something of an important Islamic holy city in the sixteenth century. It is the only place in Java that has permanently acquired an

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...

name ('al-Quds', Jerusalem). Sunan Kudus, one of the nine ''

Wali Sanga The Wali Songo (also transcribed as Wali Sanga) are revered saints of Islam in Indonesia, especially on the island of Java, because of their historic role in the spread of Islam in Indonesia. The word ''wali'' is Arabic for "trusted one" ("gua ...

'', was said to have been the fifth ''imam'' (head) of the mosque of Demak and a major leader of the 1527 campaign against 'Majapahit', before moving to Kudus. The Mosque of Kudus (''Masjid Menara'') which dates from this period, remains a local landmark to this day. It is notable for both its perseverance of pre-Islamic architectural forms such as Old Javanese split doorways and

Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

influenced Majapahit-style brickwork, and for its name ''al-Manar'' or ''al-Aqsa''. The date AH 956 (AD 1549) is inscribed over the ''

mihrab Mihrab ( ar, محراب, ', pl. ') is a niche in the wall of a mosque that indicates the ''qibla'', the direction of the Kaaba in Mecca towards which Muslims should face when praying. The wall in which a ''mihrab'' appears is thus the "qibla ...

'' (niche indicating the direction of

Mecca Mecca (; officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, commonly shortened to Makkah ()) is a city and administrative center of the Mecca Province of Saudi Arabia, and the holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow v ...

Administrative districts

The Regency comprises nine

districts A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions ...

(''kecamatan''), tabulated below with their areas and their populations at the 2010 Census and the 2020 Census.Badan Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 2021. The table also includes the number of administrative villages (rural ''desa'' and urban ''kelurahan'') in each district and its post code.

Contemporary Kudus

Although most residents of Kudus are Javanese, there is an

Indonesian Chinese Chinese Indonesians ( id, Orang Tionghoa Indonesia) and colloquially Chindo or just Tionghoa are Indonesians whose ancestors arrived from China at some stage in the last eight centuries. Chinese people and their Indonesian descendants have l ...

minority in the

city center A city centre is the commercial, cultural and often the historical, political, and geographic heart of a city. The term "city centre" is primarily used in British English, and closely equivalent terms exist in other languages, such as "" in Fren ...

, as well as an Arab

neighborhood A neighbourhood (British English, Irish English, Australian English and Canadian English) or neighborhood (American English; see spelling differences) is a geographically localised community within a larger city, town, suburb or rural area, ...

, Kudus Kulon, to the west of the city center. The city is considered the "birthplace" of the ''

kretek Kretek () are unfiltered cigarettes of Indonesian origin, made with a blend of tobacco, cloves, and other flavors. The word "kretek" itself is an onomatopoetic term for the crackling sound of burning cloves. Partly due to favorable taxation ...

clove Cloves are the aromatic flower buds of a tree in the family Myrtaceae, ''Syzygium aromaticum'' (). They are native to the Maluku Islands (or Moluccas) in Indonesia, and are commonly used as a spice, flavoring or fragrance in consumer products, ...

cigarette, which is by far the most widely smoked form of

tobacco Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...

in the country, and remains a major center for their manufacture. Haji Jamahri, a resident of the city, invented them in the 1880s. A festival named Dandangan is held for about one whole month before Ramadhan, Muslim's fasting month in Kudus Kulon.

Anti-nuclear movement

On June 12, 2007, about 5,000 people gathered peacefully to protest against Jakarta's plan to build 4 nuclear reactors in the region. The movement included local residents, activists, artists, students and public officials, parliament members, military commandants and police chiefs. This movement has been part of a series of responses emerging from all sides of the Indonesian society against the use of nuclear technology for energy production.

Notable people

Hariyanto Arbi Michael Ludwig Hariyanto Arbi (born 21 January 1972) is a former badminton player from Indonesia who rated among the world's top few singles players in the 1990s. He is the younger brother of Eddy Hartono and Hastomo, who were also world class ...

, badminton player *

Hermawan Susanto Hermawan Susanto (; born 24 September 1967) is a former Indonesian badminton player who played at the world level during the 1990s. Career Susanto was one of an impressive cadre of Indonesians who won numerous international tournaments and cap ...

, badminton player * Liem Swie King, badminton player *

Eddy Hartono Eddy Hartono Arbie (; born 19 July 1964) is an Indonesian former badminton player who excelled in the late 1980s and early 1990s. After a brief stint competing in singles, he soon became a doubles specialist noted for his deft racket control and ...

, badminton player

References

External links

Minaret at Kudus
- ArchNet.org Regencies of Central Java {{CJava-geo-stub