South Tapanuli (Tapanuli Selatan in

Indonesian Language Indonesian ( ) is the official and national language of Indonesia. It is a standardized variety of Malay, an Austronesian language that has been used as a lingua franca in the multilingual Indonesian archipelago for centuries. Indonesia ...

, abbreviated Tapsel) is a regency in

North Sumatra North Sumatra ( id, Sumatra Utara) is a province of Indonesia located on the northern part of the island of Sumatra. Its capital and largest city is Medan. North Sumatra is Indonesia's fourth most populous province after West Java, East Java and ...

, Indonesia. Its seat is the town of Sipirok. This regency was originally very large and contained thousands of towns and villages, including the city of Padang Sidempuan. The areas that have separated from South Tapanuli Regency are the new regencies of

Mandailing Natal The Mandailing is an ethnic group in Sumatera, Indonesia that is commonly associated with the Batak people. They are found mainly in the northern section of the island of Sumatra in Indonesia. They came under the influence of the Kaum Padri who ...

, Padang Lawas Utara and Padang Lawas, all lying to the south-east of the residual South Tapanuli Regency, plus the city (''kota'') of Padang Sidempuan. After the division, the

regency seat A regency seat ( id, Ibu kota kabupaten) is an capital or seat of government of a regency in Indonesia. It is roughly equivalent of county seat in the United States or county town in the United Kingdom. Legally, regency seats are not administrati ...

moved to from Padang Sidempuan to Sipirok. The regency covers an area of 4,355.35 square kilometers and had a population of 264,108 at the 2010 census and 300,911 at the 2020 Census.Badan Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 2021. These figures exclude the city of Padang Sidempuan, which is virtually surrounded by South Tananuli territory but is independently administered. There are several attractions in the regency, including Lake Marsabut and Lake Siais. The language used by the people is the Angkola Batak language. The majority religion of the population is

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God (or '' Allah'') as it was revealed to Muhammad, the ...

. An

airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial air transport. Airports usually consists of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surfa ...

is located at Aek Godang in Hulu Sihapas District, North Padang Lawas Regency.

Administration

At the 2010 Census, the regency was divided into twelve

district 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, subdivision ...

s (''kecamatan''). Subsequently, three additional districts (Tano Tombangan Angkola, Angkola Muara Tais and Angkola Sangkunur) have been created by the division of existing districts. The districts are tabulated below with their areas and their populations at the 2010 CensusBiro Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 2011. and 2020 Census.Badan Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 2021. The table also includes the locations of the district administrative centres, the number of administrative villages (''desa'' and ''kelurahan'', 248 in total) in each district and its post code. Notes:
(a) the 2010 population of the new Tano Tombangan Angkola District is included in the figure for Sayur Matinggi District, from which it was split off.
(b) the 2010 population of the new Angkola Muara Tais District is included in the figure for Batang Angkola District, from which it was split off.
(c) the 2010 population of the new Angkola Sangkunur District is included in the figure for Angkola Barat District, from which it was split off.

Geography

Location

To the north, the district is bordered by the Central Tapanuli Regency and North Tapanuli Regency. The regency borders the Padang Lawas Regency in the east, and to the north, the west and the south it borders the Mandailing Natal Regency. In the middle of the South Tananuli Regency is Padang Sidimpuan City, which is entirely surrounded by this Regency.

Sights

Sampuran Waterfall (Damparan - Tapsel) Jul2013 01

Sights include a waterfall in Damparan Hauntas, in Saipar Dolok Hole District.

Archaeology

The Padang Lawas archaeological site is partly located in the regency. The site covers approximately 1,500 km² in this regency and in the Padang Lawas and North Padang Lawas regencies.

Wildlife

The critically endangered Tapanuli orangutan lives in the region. It was described as a distinct

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriat ...

in 2017 and represents the first

extant Extant is the opposite of the word extinct. It may refer to: * Extant hereditary titles * Extant literature, surviving literature, such as ''Beowulf'', the oldest extant manuscript written in English * Extant taxon, a taxon which is not extinct, ...

species of

great ape The Hominidae (), whose members are known as the great apes or hominids (), are a taxonomic family of primates that includes eight extant species in four genera: '' Pongo'' (the Bornean, Sumatran and Tapanuli orangutan); ''Gorilla'' (the ...

to be described since the

bonobo The bonobo (; ''Pan paniscus''), also historically called the pygmy chimpanzee and less often the dwarf chimpanzee or gracile chimpanzee, is an endangered great ape and one of the two species making up the genus '' Pan,'' the other being the comm ...

in 1929. Scientists identify new species of great ape, ''Pongo tapanuliensis'' or Tapanuli orangutan, but fear its survival is already in doubt as habitat under threat.

References

Sources

*Simanjuntak, Truman, M. Hisyam, Bagyo Prasetyo, Titi Surti Nastiti (éds.), ''Archaeology: Indonesian perspective : R.P. Soejono's festschrift'', LIPI, Jakarta, 2006, Regencies of North Sumatra {{NSumatra-geo-stub