Atar is a '' nagari'' (village) in Padang Ganting,

Tanah Datar Regency Tanah Datar Regency is a landlocked regency (''kabupaten'') in West Sumatra province, Indonesia. The regency has an area of 1,337.1 km2 and had a population of 338,484 at the 2010 Census,Biro Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 2011. which rose to 37 ...

, in the Indonesian province of

West Sumatra West Sumatra () is a Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia. It is on the west coast of the island of Sumatra and includes the Mentawai Islands off that coast. West Sumatra borders the Indian Ocean to the west, as well as the provinces of ...

, with a population of just under 5,000 people.

Geography and administration

Atar is located approximately away from the regency capital at

Batusangkar Batusangkar (''batu'': stone, rock, ''sangkar'': cage) is the capital of the Tanah Datar regency of West Sumatra, Indonesia. It is known as "the city of culture". History The town is near the former seat of the Minangkabau people, Minangkabau roy ...

, and is one of two ''nagari'' in Padang Ganting. It is the larger ''nagari'', although less populated, making up out of area of Padang Ganting. Atar is further subdivided into three ' or neighborhoods: Lareh Nan Panjang, Taratak VIII, and Taratak XII. In the past, Atar was merged with Padang Ganting as one ''nagari'', although it later split off. During the

Padri War The Padri Wars (also called the Minangkabau War) was fought from 1803 until 1837 in West Sumatra, Indonesia between the Padri and the Adat. The Padri were Islam, Muslim clerics from Sumatra who wanted to impose Sharia in Minangkabau Highlands, ...

, Muslim clerical forces based in Atar would launch raids against traditional Minangkabau aristocrats in Padang Ganting.

Demographics

Atar has a population of 4,908 in 2019 according to

Statistics Indonesia Statistics Indonesia (), is a non-departmental government institute of Indonesia that is responsible for conducting statistical surveys. Its main customer is the government, but statistical data is also available to the public. Annual surveys c ...

, making up 1,393 households. The gender ratio is 92. The largest proportion of the workforce is employed in agriculture, with natural rubber being a common commodity.

Economy

There is a large diaspora of migrants from Atar, especially in

West Java West Java (, ) is an Indonesian Provinces of Indonesia, province on the western part of the island of Java, with its provincial capital in Bandung. West Java is bordered by the province of Banten and the country's capital region of Jakarta to t ...

, which engage in the

photocopier A photocopier (also called copier or copy machine, and formerly Xerox machine, the generic trademark) is a machine that makes copies of documents and other visual images onto paper or plastic film quickly and cheaply. Most modern photocopiers ...

industry – namely, operating photocopy shops typically serving government offices and schools/universities. The trend was initiated by a man named Yuskar, who migrated to in 1974 and established a

stationery Stationery refers to writing materials, including cut paper, envelopes, continuous form paper, and other office supplies. Stationery usually specifies materials to be written on by hand (e.g., letter paper) or by equipment such as computer p ...

and photocopier store. It was estimated that out of around 3,000 migrants from Atar, nearly all are engaged in the trade. There is a monument of a photocopier to commemorate the tradition in the ''nagari''.

Facilities

There are five public elementary schools in Atar, and one middle school, although there are no high schools, with the only one in the district being located in Padang Ganting ''nagari''. There are also three in the ''nagari''.

References

{{reflist Villages in West Sumatra