Tanjungpinang, also colloquially written as Tanjung Pinang, is the
capital city
A capital city, or just capital, is the municipality holding primary status in a country, state (polity), state, province, department (administrative division), department, or other administrative division, subnational division, usually as its ...
of the
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, ...
n
province
A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...
of
Riau Islands
The Riau Islands () is a provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia consisting of a group of islands located in the western part of the country. It was established in 2002 after being separated from the neighboring Riau Province. The capit ...
. It covers a land area of 144.56 km
2, mainly in the southern part of
Bintan Island
Bintan Island or ''Negeri Segantang Lada'' is an island in the Riau archipelago of Indonesia. It is part of the Riau Islands province, the capital of which, Tanjung Pinang, lies in the island's south and is the island's main community.
Bintan's ...
, as well as other smaller islands such as Dompak Island and Penyengat Island. With a population of 227,663 at the 2020 Census,
[Badan Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 2021.] it is the second largest city of the province, after
Batam
Batam, officially the City of Batam (, not to be confused with ''Batam Kota'', a kecamatan, district within this city), is the largest List of regencies and cities of Indonesia, city in the Indonesian province of Riau Islands. The city administra ...
; the official estimate as at mid 2023 was 234,840 (comprising 118,600 males and 116,250 females).
[Badan Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 28 February 2024, ''Kota Tanjungpinang Dalam Angka 2024'' (Katalog-BPS 1102001.2172)] Tanjungpinang is a historic city of the
Malay culture
Malays ( ; , Jawi: ) are an Austronesian ethnoreligious group native to eastern Sumatra, the Malay Peninsula and coastal Borneo, as well as the smaller islands that lie between these locations. These locations are today part of the countries ...
, having served as the capital of both
Johor Sultanate
The Johor Sultanate ( or ; also called the Sultanate of Johor, Johor-Pahang-Riau-Lingga, or the Johor Empire) was founded by Sultan of Malacca Mahmud Shah of Malacca, Mahmud Shah's son, Alauddin Riayat Shah II of Johor, Alauddin Riayat Shah ...
and
Riau-Lingga Sultanate.
Tanjungpinang – whose name is taken from the position of a
beach tree that juts into the sea – occupies a strategic location on the south of
Bintan Island
Bintan Island or ''Negeri Segantang Lada'' is an island in the Riau archipelago of Indonesia. It is part of the Riau Islands province, the capital of which, Tanjung Pinang, lies in the island's south and is the island's main community.
Bintan's ...
, guarding the mouth of the Bintan River. Tanjungpinang has
ferry
A ferry is a boat or ship that transports passengers, and occasionally vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A small passenger ferry with multiple stops, like those in Venice, Italy, is sometimes referred to as a water taxi or water bus ...
and
speedboat connections to
Batam
Batam, officially the City of Batam (, not to be confused with ''Batam Kota'', a kecamatan, district within this city), is the largest List of regencies and cities of Indonesia, city in the Indonesian province of Riau Islands. The city administra ...
,
Singapore
Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...
(40 km away), and
Johor Bahru
Johor Bahru, abbreviated as JB, is the capital city of the Malaysian state of Johor. It is the core city of Johor Bahru District, Malaysia's second-largest district by population and the second-largest district economy. Covering an area of ...
. The city is also served by
Raja Haji Fisabilillah International Airport, located about 7 km east of the city center.
Over the centuries, Tanjungpinang came under the control of Sumatra, Malacca, the Netherlands, Britain, and Japan. These contacts each influenced its culture, also being a centre of Malay culture and trade traffic. In the 18th century, it was a capital of the
Johor–Riau–Lingga Empire.
History
The name ''Tanjungpinang'' is taken from the position of beach nut tree that juts into the sea. Trees that are in the Cape which is a guide for voyagers who will go to Bintan River. The Tanjungpinang River is the entrance to Bintan, where the
was based in what is now the district of Bukit Batu.
Early history
Tanjungpinang's history can be traced to the early 3rd century, when it flourished as a trading post on the India–China trade route.
Srivijaya
Srivijaya (), also spelled Sri Vijaya, was a Hinduism, Hindu-Buddhism, Buddhist thalassocracy, thalassocratic empire based on the island of Sumatra (in modern-day Indonesia) that influenced much of Southeast Asia. Srivijaya was an important ...
, a Sumatra-based empire which nurtured trade with China, came to dominate much of the Malay Archipelago from the 7th to 13th centuries. It declined with the rise of piracy in the region, and by the 12th century
Bintan Island
Bintan Island or ''Negeri Segantang Lada'' is an island in the Riau archipelago of Indonesia. It is part of the Riau Islands province, the capital of which, Tanjung Pinang, lies in the island's south and is the island's main community.
Bintan's ...
became known by the Chinese as "Pirate Island".
According to the
Malay Annals
The ''Malay Annals'' ( Malay: ''Sejarah Melayu'', Jawi: ), originally titled ''Sulalatus Salatin'' (''Genealogy of Kings''), is a literary work that gives a romanticised history of the origin, evolution and destruction of the Malacca Sultanat ...
, a Srivijaya prince named
Seri Teri Buana, fleeing from the sacking of
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 ...
, stayed on Bintan for several years, gathering his strength before founding the
Kingdom of Singapura
The Kingdom of Singapura ( Malay: ''Kerajaan Singapura'') was a Malay kingdom thought to have been established as a Hindu-Buddhist kingdom during the early history of Singapore on its main island Temasek from 1299 until its fall sometime b ...
(Singapore). A century later, it too was sacked by rival powers, and its king founded a new city at Malacca. The
Malacca Sultanate
The Malacca Sultanate (; Jawi script: ) was a Malay sultanate based in the modern-day state of Malacca, Malaysia. Conventional historical thesis marks as the founding year of the sultanate by King of Singapura, Parameswara, also known as I ...
(1400–1511) became one of the great empires of the region, its territories including the
Riau Archipelago
The Riau Archipelago is a ''geographic'' term (as opposed to administrative region) for the core group of islands within the Riau Islands Province in Indonesia, and located south of Singapore and east of Riau on Sumatra. Before the province of Ri ...
. Malacca was captured by the Portuguese in 1511, and the exiled
Sultan Mahmud Shah established his capital at Bintan, from which he organized attacks and blockades against the Portuguese. In 1526, after a number of attempts to suppress the Malay forces, the Portuguese razed Bintan to the ground.
Johor Sultanate
Alauddin Riayat Shah II, a son of Mahmud Shah, established the
Johor Sultanate
The Johor Sultanate ( or ; also called the Sultanate of Johor, Johor-Pahang-Riau-Lingga, or the Johor Empire) was founded by Sultan of Malacca Mahmud Shah of Malacca, Mahmud Shah's son, Alauddin Riayat Shah II of Johor, Alauddin Riayat Shah ...
in 1528. Former-Malaccan territories were quickly brought under Johor's influence, including Bintan, where an important trading port called Bandar Riau was opened. As it prospered and a war with the
Jambi Sultanate threatened Johor in 1722, the capital was moved to Riau, which became a centre of trade and Islamic studies much as Malacca had been.
A conflict with the Dutch, who had taken Malacca from the Portuguese, culminated with a Dutch fleet of 13 vessels besieging and attacking Riau. On 6 January 1784, they were met in battle by Malay and
Bugis
The Bugis people, also known as Buginese, are an Austronesian ethnic groupthe most numerous of the three major linguistic and ethnic groups of South Sulawesi (the others being Makassarese and Torajan), in the south-western province of Sula ...
forces, and repelled with the destruction of the Dutch command ship ''Malaka's Wal Faren''. Malay forces continued to harass the Dutch, and blockaded Malacca, but a defeat and succession crisis shifted power against them. The capital was moved from Riau to Lingga in 1788. The change of capitals has led to the Johor Sultanate sometimes being called the Johor–Riau–Lingga Empire.
The British gained control of Malacca from the Dutch in 1795. Attempting to increase their influence over the Strait of Malacca, the two powers each crowned a different candidate as Sultan of Johor–Riau during a succession crisis (1812–1818). This led to the partition of Johor–Riau under the
Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1824
The Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1824, also known as the Treaty of London (), was a treaty signed between the United Kingdom and the Netherlands in London on 17 March 1824. The treaty was to resolve disputes arising from the execution of the Angl ...
, which placed the territory south of the strait under Dutch control as the
Riau–Lingga Sultanate.
Dutch colony and independence

On 11 February 1911, the Dutch deposed the sultan for defying the colonial masters, and officially annexed the sultanate which was then administered from Tanjungpinang as the
Riau Residency of the Dutch East Indies. A military base was also constructed at Tanjungpinang.
During World War II, the
Japanese occupiers made Tanjungpinang the government centre for the Riau Islands. Control returned to the Dutch following the Japanese surrender, and the Dutch officially withdrew in 1950. Riau became one of the last territories merged into
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, ...
, known as the ''daerah-daerah pulihan'' (recovered regions). Tanjungpinang briefly became the capital of
Riau Province, until the capital was moved to
Pekanbaru
Pekanbaru is the capital city of the Indonesian province of Riau, and a major economic center on the eastern side of Sumatra, Sumatra Island with its name derived from the Malay language, Malay (Indonesian language, Indonesian) word for 'new mar ...
in 1960. A law passed in 2001 defined Tanjungpinang as an autonomous city with effect from 21 June 2001 (separate from
Bintan Regency, of which it was previously a part), and it became the capital of Riau Islands Province when that province was created in 2002, becoming its second city (after
Batam
Batam, officially the City of Batam (, not to be confused with ''Batam Kota'', a kecamatan, district within this city), is the largest List of regencies and cities of Indonesia, city in the Indonesian province of Riau Islands. The city administra ...
, formed as an independent city in 1999).
Administration
The city (which is administratively separate from
Bintan Regency) is divided into four
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''), tabulated below with their areas and their populations at the 2010,
[Biro Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 2011.] and 2020 Censuses,
[Badan Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 2021.] together with the official estimates as of mid 2023.
[Badan Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 28 February 2024, ''Kota Tanjungpinang Dalam Angka 2024'' (Katalog-BPS 1102001.2172)]
Climate
Tanjungpinang 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.
Demographics
Religion
Islam is the dominant religion in the city, with 80.77% of the total population identify themselves as Muslim. Other religions are Buddhism, which forms 13.58% of the total population, Christianity, which forms 7.56% of the total population, Hinduism, which forms 0.02% of the total population and Confucianism, which forms 0.27% of the total population.
Landmarks

The cultural center for stage performances of Malay music and dances is located in Tanjungpinang. The centre regularly organises festivals and other performances, such as music and dance. Renowned
Buddhist
Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...
temples are located outside central Tanjungpinang in a region named
Senggarang.
Penyengat Island

The old ruler's palace and royal tombs, including the grave of
Raja Ali Haji (who was the creator and author of the first
Malay grammar book), are one of the many legacies left by the Riau–Lingga Sultanate. The old vice-royal mosque, the
Masjid Raya, is still in use.
Notes
Further reading
*
External links
*
*
{{Authority control
Cities in the Riau Islands
Populated coastal places in Indonesia
Populated places established in 1784
States and territories established in 1784
States and territories established in 2001
Port cities and towns in Indonesia
Provincial capitals in Indonesia