Muara Bungo is a town in the Indonesian province of

Jambi Jambi is a province of Indonesia. It is located on the east coast of 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 i ...

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. ...

. It is the administrative capital of

Bungo Regency Bungo Regency is a regency (''kabupaten'') of Jambi Province in Sumatra, Indonesia. It was created on 4 October 1999 by the division of the former Bungo Tebo Regency into a new Tebo Regency in the east and this Bungo Regency in the west. The Bung ...

, 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'') in Sumatra. It has a land area of 9.21 km²,Badan Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 28 February 2025, ''Kabupaten Bungo Dalam Angka 2025'' (Katalog-BPS 1102001.1509) and had a population of 21,243 as of the 2020 census;Badan Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 2021. the official estimate as at mid 2024 was 21,703,Badan Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 28 February 2025, ''Kabupaten Bungo Dalam Angka 2025'' (Katalog-BPS 1102001.1509) comprising the five ''kelurahan'' which make up the official town (Bungo Barat, Bungo Timur, Batang Bungo, Jaya Setia and Tanjung Gedang). Other ''kelurahan'' in the adjacent Bungo Dani District (Sungai Pinang and Sungai Kerjan) and Rimbo Tengah District (Cadika and Pasih Putih) form part of the built-up area of the town, while the three ''kelurahan'' of Bathin III District (Bungo Taman Agung, Manggis and Sungai Binjai) adjoin it on the north side of the

Batang Hari River The Batang Hari () is the longest river in Sumatra island, Indonesia, about northwest of the capital Jakarta. Hydrology The river originates in West Sumatra Province, in the Minangkabau Highlands, home of the Minangkabau people, and flows thr ...

and the Benit River. Altogether this comprised 75,249 inhabitants in an area of 84.84 km².

Area and Population

Geography

Waterways

The town lies of the south bank of the Batang Hari River. The Benit River, a tributary of the Batang Hari, runs through Muara Bungo before merging with the Batang Hari, and proven gold deposits in the river within Muara Bungo were estimated at in 2005.

Climate

Muara Bungo has a

tropical rainforest climate A tropical rainforest climate or equatorial climate is a tropical climate sub-type usually found within 10 to 15 degrees latitude of the equator. There are some other areas at higher latitudes, such as the coast of southeast Florida, United States ...

(Af) with heavy rainfall year-round.

Infrastructure

Transportation

The

Muara Bungo Airport Muara Bungo Airport is an airport in Muara Bungo, Jambi, Indonesia. The airport started operating on November 25, 2012. Until October 2014 only Aviastar used the airport three times a week due to the runway being only 1,350 meters long. Runwa ...

is located in Muara Bungo, and began operations in November 2012. A roadway connects Muara Bungo with

Jambi City Jambi is the capital and largest city of the Indonesian province of Jambi. Located on the island of Sumatra, the city is a busy port on the Batang Hari River and an oil- and rubber-producing centre. The city is located from the ruins of Muar ...

and

Palembang Palembang (, Palembang: ''Pelémbang'', Mandarin: 巨港 (Jùgǎng), Hokkien: 舊港 (Kū-káng), Jawi: ) is the capital city of the Indonesian province of South Sumatra. The city proper covers on both banks of the Musi River in the ea ...

. In 1977, the Sawahtambang-Muara Bungo highway was under construction.

Emergency services

Muara Bungo has a fire department that is equipped with fire trucks. The fire department responds to building fires and fires on agricultural and vacant lands. In May 2015, it was reported that fires in Muara Bungo during 2015 had caused Rp $3 billion in losses and damages, which is approximately US$223,957. The damage estimate was mostly attributed to building fires. Muara Bungo also has a police department.

Business and commerce

A branch of

Bank Rakyat Indonesia PT Bank Rakyat Indonesia (Persero) Tbk ( "Indonesian People's Bank"), commonly known as Bank BRI or just BRI, is one of the largest banks in Indonesia. It specialises in small scale and microfinance style borrowing from and lending to its app ...

is located in Muara Bungo.

Land use

Natural 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 ...

is produced in Muara Bungo, and rubber farming is a primary source of income and livelihood for the majority of the city's residents. An

agroforestry Agroforestry (also known as agro-sylviculture or forest farming) is a land use management system that integrates trees with crops or pasture. It combines agricultural and forestry technologies. As a polyculture system, an agroforestry system c ...

innovation involved the planting of

rubber tree ''Hevea brasiliensis'', the Pará rubber tree, ''sharinga'' tree, seringueira, or most commonly, rubber tree or rubber plant, is a flowering plant belonging to the spurge family, Euphorbiaceae, originally native to the Amazon basin, but is now p ...

s and cinnamon alongside one-another to diversify plantings to avoid monoculture. Muara Bungo has some large

oil palm ''Elaeis'' () is a genus of palms, called oil palms, containing two species, native to Africa and the Americas. They are used in commercial agriculture in the production of palm oil. Description Mature palms are single-stemmed, and can gro ...

plantation Plantations are farms specializing in cash crops, usually mainly planting a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. Plantations, centered on a plantation house, grow crops including cotton, cannabis, tob ...

s, and

palm oil Palm oil is an edible vegetable oil derived from the mesocarp (reddish pulp) of the fruit of oil palms. The oil is used in food manufacturing, in beauty products, and as biofuel. Palm oil accounted for about 36% of global oils produced from o ...

is produced there. Circa 1995 to 1996, illegal timber harvesting was observed in Muara Bungo.

Schools

The University of Muara Bungo is located in the city.

Crime

In June 2015, it was reported that

street crime Street crime is a loose term for any criminal offense in a public place. According to London's Metropolitan Police Force, "Robbery, often called 'mugging', and thefts from victims in the street where their property is snatched and the victim is no ...

rates were increasing in Muara Bungo. Crimes have included mugging (theft by violence), auto theft and robberies. It was reported by ''Tribun Jambi'' that a majority of the crimes were committed by outsiders who do not reside in Muara Bungo.