Nias Regency is 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 ...
in
North Sumatra
North Sumatra () is a Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia located in the northern part of the island of Sumatra. Its capital and largest city is Medan on the east coast of the island. It borders Aceh to the northwest, Riau to the sou ...
province, Indonesia; it lies on the east side of
Nias
Nias (, Nias: ''Tanö Niha'') is an island located off the western coast of Sumatra, Indonesia. Nias is also the name of the archipelago () of which the island is the centre, but also includes the Batu Islands to the southeast and the small ...
Island. The regency originally covered the entire island, but was reduced to the northern half, with an area of 3,495.39 square kilometres, following the creation of the new regency of
South Nias on 25 February 2003. It was further reduced by the creation of the new regencies of
North Nias (''Kabupaten Nias Utara'')and
West Nias (''Kabupaten Nias Barat'') and the independent municipality of
Gunungsitoli from other parts of Nias Regency on 29 October 2008. Since the separation of the new regencies and municipality, the reduced Regency now covers 853.44 km
2 of land in the eastern part of the island (partly surrounding the coastal city of Gunungsitoli), and had a population of 131,377 at the 2010 Census
[Biro Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 2011.] and 146,672 at the 2020 Census;
[Badan Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 2021.] the official estimate as at mid 2023 was 146,895.
[Badan Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 28 February 2024, ''Kabupaten Nias Dalam Angka 2024'' (Katalog-BPS 1102001.1204)] Its seat is the town of Gido.
Administration
The regency was previously divided administratively into 32
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''). However, following the creation on 29 October 2008 of the new
North Nias Regency,
West Nias Regency and the newly independent city of
Gunungsitoli, the residual Nias Regency was composed of only nine districts, although a tenth district (Sogaeadu) was created in 2012 from part of Gido district.
These districts are tabulated below with their areas (in km
2) and their 2010 Census
[Biro Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 2011.] and 2020 Census
[Badan Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 2021.] populations, together with the official estimates as at mid 2023.
[Badan Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 28 February 2024, ''Kabupaten Nias Dalam Angka 2024'' (Katalog-BPS 1102001.1204)] The table also includes the locations of the district administrative centres, the number of administrative villages (all classed as rural ''desa'') in each district, and its postal code.
Note: (a) the population of Songaeadu District in 2010 is included with the figure for Gido District (from which it was split in 2012).
References
{{coord, 0.7700, N, 97.7500, E, source:wikidata, display=title
Regencies of North Sumatra