Takengon is a town in

Aceh Aceh ( , ; , Jawi script, Jawoë: ; Van Ophuijsen Spelling System, Old Spelling: ''Atjeh'') is the westernmost Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia. It is located on the northern end of Sumatra island, with Banda Aceh being its capit ...

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, ...

. The town itself sits on three administrative districts of the

Central Aceh Regency Central Aceh Regency () is a regency in Aceh province of Indonesia. It is located on Sumatra island. Formerly this regency covered a much larger area; on 4 June 1974, the Southeast Aceh Regency was separated from the Central Aceh Regency, and on ...

—Bebesen, Kebayakan, and Lut Tawar, and acts as the seat of Central Aceh Regency. The town is in the highlands of western

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. ...

, situated on the shores of

Lake Laut Tawar Lake Laut Tawar () is a lake in Central Aceh Regency of Aceh Province, Indonesia. It is located at . The name literally means "freshwater sea". The Peusangan River serves as the outflow channel for the lake. The lake is an important ecosystem ...

. Surrounding it is a region that is well known for its

coffee Coffee is a beverage brewed from roasted, ground coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content, but decaffeinated coffee is also commercially a ...

. Takengon is a plateau with cool air at an altitude of about 1200 metres above sea level. Around Takengon there are many tourist attractions, including

, Puteri Pukes Cave in Kebayakan sub-district, and Pantan Terong in Bebesen sub-district. Takengon residents comprise various tribes and ethnicities, the majority of which is Gayo (), its indigenous inhabitants.. Additionally, there are Acehnese, Javanese,

Batak Batak is a collective term used to identify a number of closely related Austronesian peoples, Austronesian ethnic groups predominantly found in North Sumatra, Indonesia, who speak Batak languages. The term is used to include the Karo people ( ...

, Minangkabau, Karo,

Mandailing The Mandailing (also known as Mandailing Batak) people are an ethnic group in Sumatra, Indonesia that is commonly associated with the Batak people. They are found mainly in the northern section of the island of Sumatra in Indonesia. They came und ...

, and

Chinese Indonesians Chinese Indonesians (), or simply ''Orang Tionghoa'' or ''Tionghoa'', are Indonesians whose ancestors arrived from China at some stage in the last eight centuries. Chinese Indonesians are the fourth largest community of Overseas Chinese in th ...

History

During the 11th century, a Gayo kingdom known as Linge existed near Takengon in Central Aceh. Following the

Aceh War The Aceh War (), also known as the Dutch War or the Infidel War (1873–1904), was an armed military conflict between the Sultanate of Aceh and the Kingdom of the Netherlands which was triggered by discussions between representatives of Aceh ...

and the intrusion of Dutch colonialism, the region was established as an ''Onderafdeeling'' (Dutch term for sub-district) in 1904, with Takengon as its seat. Because of Takengon's location in the highlands, Dutch authorities assumed that it could sustain commercial plantations, and despite the poor road connections and infrastructure in the region, agricultural commodities became making inroads in Takengon. 1914 saw the opening of a road connecting Takengon to Bireuën, allowing the entry of commercial firms who opened pine and

plantations. In September 1953, Takengon fell into Darul Islam hands. The town was occupied by Darul Islam forces for two months. TNI captured the town at the end of November 1953. Following Indonesian independence, Takengon was organised as the administrative seat of

, which initially also included modern Gayo Lues and Bener Meriah until they were split out in 1974 and 2003, respectively.

Transports

Takengon is served by the Rembele Airport , which on March 3, 2016, has been improved to accommodate bigger airplanes with 30 by 2,250 metres square runway, 95 by 150 metres square apron, and 1,000 metres square terminal to serve up to 200,000 passengers per year. Currently Rembele Airport has about 4,000 passengers a year.

Climate

Takengon 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 moderate to heavy rainfall year-round.

Gallery

File:Laut Tawar Lake.jpg, Laut Tawar Lake File:Takengon2.JPG, Takengon

References

Populated places in Aceh Regency seats of Aceh {{Aceh-geo-stub Peusangan basin