Cepu (formerly Tjepoe or Tjepu) is a district (''

kecamatan The term ''district'', in the context of Indonesia, refers to the third-level administrative subdivision, below regency or city. The local term ' is used in the majority of Indonesian areas, except in Papua, West Papua, and the Special Region o ...

'') of

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

, in

Blora Regency Blora ( jv, ꦧ꧀ꦭꦺꦴꦫ) is a regency in the northeastern part of Central Java province in Indonesia. Its capital is Blora. The regency is located in the easternmost part of Central Java, and borders thGoa Terawang engawan Solo River and ...

Central Java Province Central Java ( id, Jawa Tengah) is a province of Indonesia, located in the middle of the island of Java. Its administrative capital is Semarang. It is bordered by West Java in the west, the Indian Ocean and the Special Region of Yogyakarta in th ...

. Its seat is the town of .

History and economy

In colonial times, when Indonesia was part of the Dutch East Indies, Cepu was known for its

teak Teak (''Tectona grandis'') is a tropical hardwood tree species in the family Lamiaceae. It is a large, deciduous tree that occurs in mixed hardwood forests. ''Tectona grandis'' has small, fragrant white flowers arranged in dense clusters (panicl ...

(timber) and

oil An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) & lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturate ...

. The oil refineries, operated by

Bataafse Petroleum Maatschappij Bataafse Petroleum Maatschappij or Bataafsche Petroleum Maatschappij (colloquially known as BPM), Dutch for ''Batavian Oil Company'', was the Dutch East Indies and later Indonesian subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell oil company established in 1907. ...

, could produce about 11,000 bpd. They were blown up by the Dutch immediately after the Japanese landings on the island of

Java Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's mo ...

in 1942. The invaders, one of whose objectives was the oilfields, committed atrocities. The teak is still highly regarded. By 2001, the oil reserves were thought to have been exhausted; but new ones have been discovered by

ExxonMobil ExxonMobil Corporation (commonly shortened to Exxon) is an American multinational oil and gas corporation headquartered in Irving, Texas. It is the largest direct descendant of John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil, and was formed on November ...

, which may yield 235,000 bpd.

Weather, climate and ecology

The nearest weather station to Cepu town appears to be at

Surakarta Surakarta ( jv, ꦯꦸꦫꦏꦂꦠ), known colloquially as Solo ( jv, ꦱꦭ; ), is a city in Central Java, Indonesia. The 44 km2 (16.2 sq mi) city adjoins Karanganyar Regency and Boyolali Regency to the north, Karanganyar Regency and ...

, Central Java, away.

Language

The local language is , a dialect of

Javanese Javanese may refer to: Of Java *Javanese people, and their culture * Javanese language ** Javanese script, traditional letters used to write Javanese language **Javanese (Unicode block), **Old Javanese, the oldest phase of the Javanese language ...

Subdivisions

Cepu District comprises the following rural and urban villages: * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Transportation

Cepu lies between

Semarang Semarang ( jv, ꦏꦸꦛꦯꦼꦩꦫꦁ , Pegon: سماراڠ) is the capital and largest city of Central Java province in Indonesia. It was a major port during the Dutch colonial era, and is still an important regional center and port today. ...

(), capital of Central Java Province, and

Surabaya Surabaya ( jv, ꦱꦸꦫꦧꦪ or jv, ꦯꦹꦫꦨꦪ; ; ) is the capital city of the Indonesian province of East Java and the second-largest city in Indonesia, after Jakarta. Located on the northeastern border of Java island, on the Mad ...

(), capital of

East Java Province East Java ( id, Jawa Timur) is a province of Indonesia located in the easternmost hemisphere of Java island. It has a land border only with the province of Central Java to the west; the Java Sea and the Indian Ocean border its northern and sou ...

, and is connected to them by road. It is from

Blora Blora ( jv, ꦧ꧀ꦭꦺꦴꦫ) is a regency in the northeastern part of Central Java province in Indonesia. Its capital is Blora. The regency is located in the easternmost part of Central Java, and borders thGoa Terawang engawan Solo River and ...

, capital of Blora Regency. Cepu is served by and

Ngloram Airport Ngloram Airport is an airport in Cepu, Central Java, Indonesia. In February 2018, the Ministry of Transportation A ministry of transport or transportation is a ministry responsible for transportation within a country. It usually is adminis ...

Cepu Forest Railway The Cepu Forest Railway (officially branded as Loco Tour Cepu) is a narrow gauge light logging railway that runs through teak plantations to the northwest of the town of Cepu, in Cepu district, on the boundary between Central and East Java provi ...

is a

steam-powered A steam engine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid. The steam engine uses the force produced by steam pressure to push a piston back and forth inside a Cylinder (locomotive), cylinder. This pus ...

narrow-gauge A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge narrower than standard . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter curves, smaller structu ...

light logging railway which also runs tourist trains.

People

Mukti Ali Abdul Mukti Ali (born in Cepu, Blora, Cepu, Blora Regency, Blora, Central Java, Dutch East Indies, August 23, 1923 - died in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, May 5, 2004 at the age of 80 years) was a Minister of Religious Affairs of the Republic of I ...

(1923-2004), Minister of Religious Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia; born in Cepu *

Sekarmadji Maridjan Kartosuwiryo Soekarmadji Maridjan Kartosuwiryo (7 January 1905 – 5 September 1962) was an Indonesian Islamic mystic who led the Darul Islam rebellion against the Indonesian government from 1949 to 1962, with the objective of overthrowing the secular ...

(1905-1962), Indonesian Islamic mystic; born in Cepu *

Leonardus Benjamin Moerdani General (Ret.) Leonardus Benjamin Moerdani (also publicly known as LB Moerdani or Benny Moerdani and in foreign media as Murdani; 2 October 1932 – 29 August 2004) was the ABRI Commander from 1983 to 1988 and also served as Indonesia's Mi ...

(1932-2004), general, Commander-in-Chief of

ABRI A rock shelter (also rockhouse, crepuscular cave, bluff shelter, or abri) is a shallow cave-like opening at the base of a bluff or cliff. In contrast to solutional caves ( karst), which are often many miles long, rock shelters are almost alwa ...

1983-1988, Minister of Defense and Security; born in Cepu COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM Twee treinen bij een wissel voor het vervoer van djati Houtvesterij Tjepoe Midden Java TMnr 10013035

COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM Twee treinen bij een wissel voor het vervoer van djati Houtvesterij Tjepoe Midden Java TMnr 10013035