Benkulen

Bengkulu (), historically known as Bencoolen, is a province of Indonesia. It is located on the southwest coast of Sumatra. It was formed on 18 November 1968 by separating out the area of the historic Bencoolen Residency from the province of South Sumatra under Law No. 9 of 1967 and was finalized by Government Regulation No. 20 of 1968. Spread over 20,181.53 km², its land area is comparable to the European country of Slovenia and it is bordered by the provinces of West Sumatra to the north, Jambi to the northeast, Lampung to the southeast, and South Sumatra to the east, and by the Indian Ocean to the northwest, south, southwest, and west.

Bengkulu is the 28th largest province by area; it is divided into nine regencies and the city of Bengkulu, the capital and the only independent city. Bengkulu is also the 26th largest province by population in Indonesia, with 1,715,518 inhabitants at the 2010 CensusBiro Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 2011. and 2,010,670 at the 2020 Census;Badan Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 2021. the official estimate as at mid 2024 was 2,115,631 (comprising 1,065,992 males and 1,020,014 females in mid 2023).Badan Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 28 February 2025, ''Provinsi Bengkulu Dalam Angka 2025'' (Katalog-BPS 1102001.17) According to a release by Badan Pusat Statistik, it has the eleventh highest Human Development Index among the provinces, with a score of about 0.744 in 2013. By 2014, the province is positioned 28th highest in gross domestic product and 20th highest in life expectancy, 70.35 years.

Bengkulu also includes offshore Mega Island and Enggano Island in the Indian Ocean. Bengkulu has 525 kilometres of coastline along the Indian Ocean on its western side, from Dusun Baru Pelokan in Mukomuko Regency to Tebing Nasal in Kaur Regency. Bengkulu has many natural resources such as coal and gold, and has big and potential geothermal resources. However, it is less developed than other provinces in Sumatra.

Etymology

Traditional sources suggest that the name Bengkulu or Bangkahulu derived from the word ''bangkai'' and ''hulu'' which means 'carcasses located in a stream'. According to the story, there was once a war between small kingdoms in Bengkulu, resulting in many casualties from both sides in the streams of Bengkulu. These casualties soon rotted as they were not buried, lying in river streams. This etymology is similar to the story of a war between the Majapahit Empire and the Pagaruyung Kingdom in Padang Sibusuk, an area once ruled by the Dharmasraya empire, which also derives the name Padang Sibusuk from casualties rotting on the battlefield. During the European colonial era, the region was known as Bencoolen or British Bencoolen.

History

The region was subject to the Buddhist Srivijaya empire in the 8th century. The Shailendra Kingdom and Singosari Kingdom succeeded the Srivijaya but it is unclear whether they spread their influence over Bengkulu. The Majapahit also had little influence over Bengkulu. There were only few smalls 'kedatuan' based on ethnicity such as in Sungai Serut, Selebar, Pat Petulai, Balai Buntar, Sungai Lemau, Sekiris, Gedung Agung and Marau Riang. It became a vassal region of the Banten Sultanate (from Western Java) in the early 15th century and since the 17th century was ruled by Minangkabau's Inderapura Sultanate (today's in Pesisir Selatan, West Sumatra Province).

The first European visitors to the area were the Portuguese, followed by the Dutch in 1596. The British East India Company established a pepper-trading center and garrison at Bengkulu (Bencoolen) in 1685. In 1714 the British built Fort Marlborough, which still stands. The trading post was never profitable for the British, being hampered by a location which Europeans found unpleasant, and by an inability to find sufficient pepper to buy. It became an occasional port of call for the EIC's East Indiamen.

In 1785, the area was integrated into British Empire as Bencoolen, while the rest of Sumatra and most of the Indonesian archipelago was part of the Dutch East Indies. Sir Stamford Raffles was stationed as Lieutenant-Governor of Bencoolen (the colony was subordinate at the time to the Bengal Presidency) from 1818 to 1824, enacting a number of reforms including the abolition of slavery, and the British presence left a number of monuments and forts in the area. Despite the difficulties of keeping control of the area while Dutch colonial power dominated the rest of Sumatra, the British persisted, maintaining their presence for roughly 140 years before ceding Bengkulu to the Dutch as part of the Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1824 in exchange for Malacca. Bengkulu then remained part of the Dutch East Indies until the Japanese occupation in World War 2.

During the early 1930s, Sukarno, the future first president of Indonesia, was imprisoned by the Dutch and briefly resided in Bengkulu, where he met his wife, Fatmawati. The couple had several children, including Megawati Sukarnoputri, who later became Indonesia's first female President.

After independence, Bengkulu was initially part of the 'South Sumatra' Province, which also included Lampung, the Bangka-Belitung Islands, and what is now South Sumatra itself, as a Residency. In 1968, Bengkulu gained provincial status, becoming the 26th province of Indonesia, preceding East Timor.

Bengkulu lies near the Sunda Fault and is prone to earthquakes and tsunamis. The June 2000 Enggano earthquake killed at least 100 people. A recent report predicts that Bengkulu is "at risk of inundation over the next few decades from undersea earthquakes predicted along the coast of Sumatra" A series of earthquakes struck Bengkulu during September 2007, killing 13 people.

Geography and climate

The western part of Bengkulu province, bordering the Indian Ocean coast, is about 576 km along, and the eastern part of the condition is hilly with a plateau that is prone to erosion. Bengkulu Province is on the west side of the Bukit Barisan mountains. The province's area is about 20,130.21 square kilometres,or slightly smaller than the European country,Slovenia.The province extends from the border province of West Sumatra to the border province of Lampung; the distance is about 567 kilometres. Bengkulu Province lies between 2° 16' S and 03° 31' S latitude and 101° 01'-103° 41'E longitude. Bengkulu province in the north borders the province of West Sumatra, in the southern the Indian Ocean and Lampung province, in the west it borders the Indian Ocean and in the east the provinces of Jambi and South Sumatra. Bengkulu province is also bordered by the Indian Ocean coastline of approximately 525 kilometres to the west. Its western part is hilly with fertile plateaus, while the western part is lowland relatively narrow, elongated from north to south and punctuated bumpy areas.

Bengkulu's climate is classified as tropical. Bengkulu has a large amount of rainfall throughout the year, even in the driest month. The climate here is classified as Af by the Köppen-Geiger system. The annual average temperature is 26.8 °C. The average annual rainfall is 3360 mm.

The total area of Bengkulu province is 20,181.53 km². For administrative purposes, the province is divided into nine regencies and one city, together sub-divided into 93 districts.

Population

The 2010 census reported a population of 1,715,518Biro Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 2011. including 875,663 males and 837,730 females; by the 2020 Census this had risen to 2,010,670,Badan Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 2021. and the official estimate for mid 2024 was 2,115,631.Badan Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 28 February 2025, ''Provinsi Bengkulu Dalam Angka 2025'' (Katalog-BPS 1102001.17)

Ethnic groups

Bengkulu is home to various indigenous ethnic groups. The Rejangs form the majority of the province with 60,4% of the population. The second largest ethnic group is the Javanese forming around 24%. Other minority indigenous ethnic groups includes Lembak, Serawai, Pekal, Enggano, Pasemah, Minangkabau and Bengkulu Malays. There is also non-indigenous ethnic groups that mostly came from other parts of Indonesia such as Sundanese, Javanese, Acehnese, Madurese, Batak, Chinese and others.

Religion

The 2022 data of Ministry of Religious Affairs found 97.69% of the population as adherents to Islam and 2% as Christian. The remainder includes Hindus (0.20%) who are mostly Balinese migrants, Buddhists (0.1%), and "other" including traditional beliefs (0.004%).

Languages

Like the rest of Indonesia, Indonesian is the official language for formal occasions, institutions, and government affairs while local languages are widely used in daily life.

Most indigenous languages in Bengkulu belong to the Malayan group of Austronesian languages, such as Bengkulu Malay, Lembak, Pekal and Minangkabau varieties. The most widely spoken language in the province, Rejang, is the only Bornean language to be spoken in Sumatra (and one of three outside of Borneo other than Malagasy in Madagascar and Yakan in Basilan).

Engganese is classified as a highly divergent branch of Malayo-Polynesian, however, this is still debated.. A less-studied language is Nasal language, which may be related to Rejang or form its own branch of Malayo-Polynesian. Non-indigenous ethnic groups also speak their own language/dialects.

Government and administrative divisions

When it was formed in 1967 from the western parts of South Sumatra province, Bengkulu Province consisted of three regencies - Bengkulu Selatan, Bengkulu Utara and Rejang Lebong - together with the independent city of Bengkulu, which lies outside any regency. Five additional regencies were established on 25 February 2003 - Kaur Regency and Seluma Regency from parts of Bengkulu Selatan, Kepahiang Regency and Lebong Regency from parts of Rejand Lrbong Regency, and Mukomuko Regency from part of Bengkulu Utara. A ninth regency (Bengkulu Tengah) was formed on 24 June 2008 from another part of Bengkulu Utara. The regencies and city are listed below with their areas and their populations at the 2010Biro Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 2011. and 2020Badan Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 2021. Censuses, together with the official estimates as at mid 2024.Badan Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 28 February 2025, ''Provinsi Bengkulu Dalam Angka 2025'' (Katalog-BPS 1102001.17)

Note: (a) includes Enggano Island and neighbouring small islands in the Indian Ocean.

The province forms one of Indonesia's 84 national electoral districts to elect members to the People's Representative Council. The Bengkulu Electoral District consists of all of the 9 regencies in the province, together with the city of Bengkulu, and elects 4 members to the People's Representative Council.Law No. 7/2017 (''UU No. 7 Tahun 2017'') as amended by Government Regulation in Lieu of Law No. 1/2022 and Regulation of General Elections Commission No. 6/2023.

Economy

Three active coal mining companies produce between 200,000 and 400,000 tons of coal per year, which is exported to Malaysia, Singapore, South Asia, and East Asia. Fishing, particularly tuna and mackerel, is an important activity. Agricultural products exported by the province include ginger, bamboo shoots, and rubber.

See also

* List of people from Bengkulu

Notes

References

*Reid, Anthony (ed.). 1995. ''Witnesses to Sumatra: A traveller's anthology''. Kuala Lumpur: Oxford University Press. pp. 125–133.
**''Reprints of British-era primary source material''
*Wilkinson, R.J. 1938. Bencoolen. ''Journal of the Malayan Branch Royal Asiatic Society''. 16(1): 127–133.
**''Overview of the British experience in Bencoolen''

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Former British colonies and protectorates in Asia
Provinces of Indonesia
1685 in the British Empire
Indonesia–United Kingdom relations
States and territories established in 1967