Great Aceh Regency () is a

regency In a monarchy, a regent () is a person appointed to govern a state because the actual monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge their powers and duties, or the throne is vacant and a new monarch has not yet been dete ...

of the Indonesian province of

Aceh Aceh ( , ; , Jawi script, Jawoë: ; Van Ophuijsen Spelling System, Old Spelling: ''Atjeh'') is the westernmost Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia. It is located on the northern end of Sumatra island, with Banda Aceh being its capit ...

. The regency covers an area of 2,903.49 square kilometres and had a population of 351,418 at the 2010 Census,Biro Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 2011. 391,870 at the 2015 census and 405,535 at the 2020 Census;Badan Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 2021. the official estimate as at mid 2023 was 435,298 (comprising 208,110 males and 217,180 females).Badan Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 28 February 2024, ''Kabupaten Aceh Besar Dalam Angka 2024'' (Katalog-BPS 1102001.1106) The Regency is located at the northwest tip of

Sumatra Sumatra () is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the list of islands by area, sixth-largest island in the world at 482,286.55 km2 (182,812 mi. ...

island and surrounds the provincial capital of

Banda Aceh Banda Aceh (; , Jawi script, Jawi: ) is the capital and largest city in the province of Aceh, Indonesia. It is located on the island of Sumatra and has an elevation of 35 metres. The city covers an area of and had a population of 223,446 peopl ...

, many suburbs of which lie within the Regency. It also includes a number of islands off the northern tip of Sumatra, which comprise Pulo Aceh District within the regency. The seat of the Regency government is the town of Jantho.

Economy

Aceh Besar Regency produces

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 Aroma compound, fragrance in fin ...

nutmeg Nutmeg is the seed, or the ground spice derived from the seed, of several tree species of the genus '' Myristica''; fragrant nutmeg or true nutmeg ('' M. fragrans'') is a dark-leaved evergreen tree cultivated for two spices derived from its fru ...

and

palm oil Palm oil is an edible vegetable oil derived from the mesocarp (reddish pulp) of the fruit of oil palms. The oil is used in food manufacturing, in beauty products, and as biofuel. Palm oil accounted for about 36% of global oils produced from o ...

and

rice Rice is a cereal grain and in its Domestication, domesticated form is the staple food of over half of the world's population, particularly in Asia and Africa. Rice is the seed of the grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice)—or, much l ...

, and also small quantities of

maize Maize (; ''Zea mays''), also known as corn in North American English, is a tall stout grass that produces cereal grain. It was domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 9,000 years ago from wild teosinte. Native American ...

cassava ''Manihot esculenta'', common name, commonly called cassava, manioc, or yuca (among numerous regional names), is a woody shrub of the spurge family, Euphorbiaceae, native to South America, from Brazil, Paraguay and parts of the Andes. Although ...

sweet potato The sweet potato or sweetpotato (''Ipomoea batatas'') is a dicotyledonous plant in the morning glory family, Convolvulaceae. Its sizeable, starchy, sweet-tasting tuberous roots are used as a root vegetable, which is a staple food in parts of ...

es and

bean A bean is the seed of some plants in the legume family (Fabaceae) used as a vegetable for human consumption or animal feed. The seeds are often preserved through drying (a ''pulse''), but fresh beans are also sold. Dried beans are traditi ...

Landmarks

Museums

Aceh Besar Regency contains several museums. The Museum dan Rumoh Aceh is the State Museum, located in

. The museum's main building is built in the style of a traditional Acehnese house. It was installed by Dutch Governor Van Swart in 1915. Museum Ali Hasymi contains the personal collection of Ali Hasymi, a former governor of Aceh and artist and include books by the scholars of Acehnese past, ancient ceramics, the typical weapons of Aceh, souvenirs from all over the world, etc. Museum Cut Nyak Dhien was originally the home of the heroine

Cut Nyak Dhien Cut Nyak Dhien (Van Ophuijsen Spelling System, VOSS: Tjoet Nja' Dhien; 1848–6 November 1908) was a leader of the Acehnese people, Acehnese guerrilla forces during the Aceh War. Following the death of her husband Teuku Umar, she led guerrilla ac ...

. The ancient Abee Tanoh Library, located at the foot of Mount Seulawa contains some important manuscripts.

Places of worship

Indra Puri Old Mosque is located about 20 km south of

Medan Medan ( , ) is the capital city, capital and largest city of the Indonesian Provinces of Indonesia, province of North Sumatra. The nearby Strait of Malacca, Port of Belawan, and Kualanamu International Airport make Medan a regional hub and multi ...

. Indra Puri was a Hindu kingdom and it was a place of worship before Islam arrived. Later, Sultan

Iskandar Muda Iskandar Muda (1583? – 27 December 1636Yusra Habib Abdul Gani, accessed on 4 January 2007) was the twelfth Sultan of Acèh Darussalam, under whom the sultanate achieved its greatest territorial extent, holding sway as the strongest power ...

introduced Islam to the public. After the people embraced Islam, the previous temple was converted into a mosque. The mosque site covers an area of 33,875 m², and is located approximately 150 metres from the edge of the Krueng Aceh River.

Fortress and tombs

Indra Patra Fortress is situated 19 km from Banda Aceh at Krueng Raya. According to history it was built under the Indra Puri Hindu kingdom, although some say that the fort was built during the Sultanate of Aceh Darussalam in an effort to resist the Portuguese. The fort had a very important function at the time of Sultan Iskandar Muda. The Tomb of Admiral Malahayati is located about 32 km from the city of Banda Aceh.

Administrative divisions

The regency is divided administratively into twenty-three

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 ...

( Indonesian: ''kecamatan''), which comprise 604 villages (Indonesian: ''gampong''). The areas of the districts and their populations at the 2010 CensusBiro Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 2011. and the 2020 Census,Badan Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 2021. together with the official estimates as at mid 2023,Badan Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 28 February 2024, ''Kabupaten Aceh Besar Dalam Angka 2024'' (Katalog-BPS 1102001.1106) are listed below. These are grouped below into three geographical sections for convenience, which have no administrative significance. The table also includes the locations of the district administrative centres, the number of administrative villages (''gampong'') in each district, and its post code. Notes: (a) comprises a group of islands off the north-western tip of Sumatra, of which the largest are Pulau Breuh, Pulau Nasi and Pulau Teunom.
(b) includes some smaller islands off the north-western tip of Sumatra but closer to the mainland than Pulo Aceh District - Pulau Bunta and Pulau Batee.
(c) comprises southern suburbs of Banda Aceh city, with 113,408 inhabitants in mid 2023. Indrapatra Fortress panorawa view

Rusa Island

Rusa Island in Lhoong district was shaped like Rusa (deer) before the

tsunami A tsunami ( ; from , ) is a series of waves in a water body caused by the displacement of a large volume of water, generally in an ocean or a large lake. Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and underwater explosions (including detonations, ...

struck the island on 26 December 2004, but now that much of it has been washed away, the form of the island has changed and become smaller like a lamb embryo. The island is very important for marking Indonesia's boundaries due to its location as the most westerly island in Indonesia with ''Titik Dasar TD175'' and ''Titik Referensi TR175'' (Base Point TD175 and Reference Point TR175).

Bunta Island

Since the 2004 tsunami struck Bunta island, 45 minutes by traditional motorised boat from Ujong Pancu Village, Peukan Bada, there are no longer any inhabitants living there. Nowadays some people use the island as a coconut plantation, but they live in Banda Aceh. As the tsunami washed out all of the living creatures there, nowadays there are no squirrels, monkeys or snakes on the island. The island has been popularized by the documentary film ''Hikayat di Ujung Pesisir'' and is ideal for camping, but with no facilities at all, and modest snorkeling can be done there.

References

{{Authority control Regencies of Aceh