Bengkalis 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 ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

Riau Riau (Jawi script, Jawi: ) is a Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia. It is located on the central eastern coast of the island of Sumatra, and extends from the eastern slopes of the Barisan Mountains to the Malacca Strait, including s ...

Province. The regency was originally established in 1956 and then included most of the northern part of the province, but on 4 October 1999 it was divided up, with most of the territory being split off to form the new Rokan Hilir Regency,

Siak Regency Siak ( Jawi: ), is a regency (''kabupaten'') of Riau Province, on the island of Sumatra, Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific ...

and the city of

Dumai Dumai ( Jawi: , ), is a coastal city in Riau Province on the island of Sumatra, Indonesia, about 188 km from Pekanbaru, the provincial capital. The city has an area of 2,065.59 km2 and had 349,389 inhabitants at the mid 2024 official ...

. On 19 December 2008 a further five districts were removed to create the new Meranti Islands Regency, leaving eight

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 ...

(or ''kecamatan'') in the Bengkalis Regency. These eight districts has increased since 2010 to eleven by the splitting of existing districts on the Sumatran mainland. Bengkalis Regency produces natural resources, particularly

petroleum Petroleum, also known as crude oil or simply oil, is a naturally occurring, yellowish-black liquid chemical mixture found in geological formations, consisting mainly of hydrocarbons. The term ''petroleum'' refers both to naturally occurring un ...

rubber Rubber, also called India rubber, latex, Amazonian rubber, ''caucho'', or ''caoutchouc'', as initially produced, consists of polymers of the organic compound isoprene, with minor impurities of other organic compounds. Types of polyisoprene ...

, and

coconut The coconut tree (''Cocos nucifera'') is a member of the palm tree family (biology), family (Arecaceae) and the only living species of the genus ''Cocos''. The term "coconut" (or the archaic "cocoanut") can refer to the whole coconut palm, ...

. The southern part of this regency contains a large part of the Bukit Batu Biosphere Reserve.

Geography

Bengkalis Regency comprises the whole of Bengkalis Island and Rupat Island, which are located in the

Straits of Malacca The Strait of Malacca is a narrow stretch of water, long and from wide, between the Malay Peninsula to the northeast and the Indonesian island of Sumatra to the southwest, connecting the Andaman Sea (Indian Ocean) and the South China Sea (Pa ...

, together with a wide swathe of the eastern coastal area of Sumatra Island and stretching inland along the drainage area of the

Siak River The Siak (Sungai Siak) is a river of Riau province, in the east of Sumatra, Indonesia, about 1000 km northwest of the capital Jakarta. Approximately 370 kilometres in length, the Siak is a blackwater river which owes its brown color to di ...

, as well as including other islands within the archipelago to its north-east. The land area covers 8,612.56 km² and it borders on the Malacca Straits to the north, on

to the south, on the Meranti Islands Regency to the southeast, and on

City, Rokan Hilir Regency and

Rokan Hulu Regency Rokan Hulu (lit. Upper Rokan River, Rokan) is a Regency (Indonesia), regency (''kabupaten'') of Riau Province of Indonesia. It is located on the island of Sumatra. Rokan Hulu Regency was created on 4 October 1999 as a result of the division of Kam ...

to the west. The administrative centre is the town of Bengkalis on the south coast of the island of the same name. The Bengkalis Strait separates Bengkalis Island from

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. ...

as well as from

Padang Island Padang Island is an island in Riau province, Indonesia, close to the east coast of Sumatra island. The area is 1,676.68 km² and the population at the 2020 Census was 32,934; the official estimate as at mid 2023 was 33,915.Badan Pusat Statis ...

and Tebing Tinggi Island.

Population

Following the splitting in 2008 of the regency to create a new Meranti Islands Regency, the residual area of Bengkalis Regency had a population of 498,336 at the 2010 censusBiro Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 2011. and 565,569 at the 2020 census;Badan Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 2021. the official estimate as of mid 2024 was 591,800 (comprising 302,838 males and 288,962 females).Badan Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 28 February 2025, ''Kabupaten Bengkalis Dalam Angka 2025'' (Katalog-BPS 1102001.1408)

Administrative districts

The eleven districts (''kecamatan'') currently forming the regency are listed below with their areas and their populations at the 2010Biro Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 2011. and 2020 censuses,Badan Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 2021. together with the official estimates as of mid 2024.Badan Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 28 February 2025, ''Kabupaten Bengkalis Dalam Angka 2025'' (Katalog-BPS 1102001.1408) The table also includes the locations of the district administrative centres, the number of

administrative village A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban village ...

s in each district (a total of 136 rural ''desa'' and 19 urban ''kelurahan''), and its post code. Notes: (a) comprising 9 ''kelurahan'' (Air Jamban, Babussalam, Balik Alam, Batang Serosa, Duri Barat, Duri Timur, Gajah Sakti, Pematang Pudu and Makeruh (Talang Mandi)) and 2 ''desa''.
(b) comprising 2 ''kelurahan'' (Balai Raja and Titian Antui) and 8 ''desa''.
(c) the 2010 population of the new Bathin Solapan District is included in the figure for Mandau District, from which it was cut out.
(d) the 2010 population of the new Talang Muandau District is included in the figure for Pinggir District, from which it was cut out.
(e) including one ''kelurahan'' (Sungai Pakning).
(f) the 2010 population of the new Bandar Laksamana District is included in the figure for Bukit Batu District, from which it was cut out.
(g) comprising 4 ''kelurahan'' (Batu Panjang, Pergam, Tanjung Kapal and Terkul) and 12 ''desa''.
(h) comprising 3 ''kelurahan'' (Bengkalis Kota, Damon and Rimba Sekampung) and 28 ''desa''.
(i) the northern part of Rupat Island. (j) the northern part of Bengkalis Island. Bengkalis Island comprises Bengkalis District and Bantan District, while Rupat Island comprises Rupat District and Rupat Utara (North Rupat) District. The remaining seven districts lie on Sumatra Island - Bukit Batu, Siak Kecil and Bandar Laksamana being on the Sumatran coast, while Mandau, Pinggir, Bathin Solapan and Talang Muandau are inland districts further south.

References

{{Authority control Regencies of Riau Riau Archipelago Siak basin