Meranti Islands (''Kepulauan Meranti'') is an archipelago, most of which forms 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 ...

(''kabupaten'') of

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 and lies off the eastern coast of the island 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. ...

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, ...

. It was created on 19 December 2008 by the separating of these large islands from the mainly mainland regency of

Bengkalis Bengkalis (''Kota Bengkalis'') is a large town and the seat (capital) of Bengkalis Regency. in the Riau province of Indonesia It is located on the south coast of Bengkalis Island. The town had a population of 83,085 in 2021. Bengkalis has a hot ...

. The regency comprises the islands of

Tebing Tinggi Tebing Tinggi Deli, officially Tebing Tinggi City, or more commonly simply ''Tebing Tinggi'' ( Jawi: ) is a city near the eastern coast of North Sumatra Province of Indonesia. It has an area of 38.44 km2 and a population at the 2010 Census o ...

Rangsang Rangsang is an island of the Meranti Islands Regency of Riau Province in the Strait of Malacca, Sumatra, Indonesia. Administratively, it consists of the three districts (''kecamatan'') of Rangsang, Rangsang Pesisir (Coastal Rangsang) and Rangsan ...

Padang Padang () is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the Indonesian Provinces of Indonesia, province of West Sumatra. It had a population of 833,562 at the 2010 CensusBiro Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 2011. and 909,040 at the 2020 Census;Bad ...

, and Merbau, together with minor offshore islands, but does not include Bengkalis Island to the north, which is geographically part of the archipelago but remains within Bengkalis Regency. The principal town is

Selat Panjang Selat Panjang ( Jawi: ; ) is the capital of Kepulauan Meranti Regency, which is part of the province of Riau in Indonesia. The regency is a new regency in Riau province which was established on 19 December 2008 after being separated from Bengka ...

(also written as Selatpanjang) on Tebing Tinggi Island. The regency covers a land area of 3,144.18 km² and had a population of 176,290 at the 2010 CensusBiro Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 2011. and 206,116 at the 2020 Census;Badan Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 2021. the official estimate as of mid-2024 was 212,000 (comprising 109,210 males and 102,790 females).Badan Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 28 February 2025, ''Kabupaten Kepulauan Meranti Dalam Angka 2025'' (Katalog-BPS 1102001.1410)

Administrative districts

When created in 2008, the regency was divided into five

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 ...

(''kecamatan''), listed below with their populations at the 2010 Census:Biro Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 2011. On 26 January 2011, the regency was re-divided into nine districts. The additional four districts are Tebing Tinggi Timur (East Tebing Tinggi Island, leaving the residual area of Tebing Tinggi District to cover the town of

and its surroundings), Rangsang Pesisir (Coastal Rangsang, actually the central part of that island), Pulau Merbau (Merbau Island, leaving the residual area of Merbau District to cover the southern part of Padang Island) and Tasik Putri Puyu (covering the northern part of Padang Island). The areas and the populations of the nine districts at the 2020 Census,Badan Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 2021. together with the official estimates as of mid-2024,Badan Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 28 February 2025, ''Kabupaten Kepulauan Meranti Dalam Angka 2025'' (Katalog-BPS 1102001.1410) are as follows. 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 (totaling 96 rural ''desa'' and 5 urban ''kelurahan''), and its postcode. Notes: (a) comprising 4 ''kelurahan'' (Selat Panjang Barat, Selat Panjang Kota, Selat Panjang Selatan and Selat Panjang Timur) - with 42,723 inhabitants altogether in 2023 - and 5 ''desa''.
(b) including one ''kelurahan'' - Teluk Belitung - with 5,062 inhabitants in 2023. The island of Tebing Tinggi comprises three districts - Tebing Tinggi itself in the centre of its north coast, Tebing Tinggi Barat in the west of the island and Tebing Tinggi Timur in the east. The island of Rangsang is also composed of three districts - Rangsang Barat in the west, Rangsang Pesisir in the centre (in spite of its name!) and Rangsang in the east (including smaller islands off its southeast end). Padang Island is composed of two districts - Tasik Putri Puyu in the north and Merbau in the south (note Merbau District is now entirely on Padang Island and does not contain any part of Merbau Island). Merbau Island (''Pulau Merbau'') is identical with the district of that name.

References

{{Authority control Regencies of Riau