The Minangkabau Highlands (, Minang: ''Minang Darek'') is a mountainous area in the 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 ...

, located around three mountains— Mount Marapi, Mount Singgalang, and Mount Sago—in west-central

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. The highlands are part of the

Barisan Mountains The Bukit Barisan or the Barisan Mountains are a mountain range on the western side of Sumatra, Indonesia, covering nearly 1,700 km (1,050 mi) from the north to the south of the island. The Bukit Barisan range consists primarily of volca ...

, the largest mountain range in Sumatra. They are home to the

Minangkabau people Minangkabau people (; ; ) are an Austronesian people, Austronesian ethnic group native to the Minangkabau Highlands of West Sumatra, Western Sumatra region on the Indonesian island of Sumatra. The Minangkabau's West Sumatera homelands was th ...

who refer to the area as ''Alam Minangkabau'', or "the world of Minangkabau". This area formed a kingdom known from at least the 7th century as Malayu. Wet rice cultivation probably evolved in the highlands long before it appeared in other parts of

, and predates significant foreign contact. Inscriptions in the area have been found from the rule of Adityavarman (1347–1375). The Dutch began exploiting the gold reserves in the highlands in the 1680s. They dominated the trade in the area, severely restricting the trade outlets between the highlands and the ports on the coast between 1820 and 1899, bringing about a marked decrease in rice production. The highlands consist of three major valleys: Tanah Datar Valley, Agam Valley, and Limapuluh Valley. The village of Belimbing in the highlands is well known for its examples of surviving Minangkabu architecture.

References

Geography of Sumatra Geography of West Sumatra Minangkabau Highlands Regions of Indonesia {{WSumatra-geo-stub

See also

References