Tembilahan ( Jawi:تمبيلاهن ) is a town and

district 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 county, counties, several municipality, municip ...

of Indragiri Hilir Regency, in the

Riau Riau (Jawi script, Jawi: ) is a Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia. It is located on the central eastern coast of the island of Sumatra, and extends from the eastern slopes of the Barisan Mountains to the Malacca Strait, including s ...

province of

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, ...

. It is also the capital of the

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 ...

. Tembilahan District has an area of 162.14 km², consisting of 8

villages A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban village ...

(all classed as urban ''kelurahan''). Tembilahan's population at the 2020 Census was 77,862, rising to 84,608 according to the official estimates for mid 2024.Badan Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 28 February 2025, ''Kabupaten Indragiri Hilir Dalam Angka 2025'' (Katalog-BPS 1102001.1403)

Town overview

The 8 urban villages (''kelurahan'') which comprise Tembilahan are: * Pekan Arba * Seberang Tembilahan * Sungai Beringin * Sungai Perak * Tembilahan Hilir * Tembilahan Kota * Seberang Tembilahan Barat * Seberang Tembilahan Selatan The districts (''kecamatan'') surrounding Tembilahan include: * Batang Tuaka to the north * Kuala Indragiri and Tanah Merah to the east * Enok to the south * Tembilahan Hulu (Upper Tembilahan) and Batang Tuaka to the west

Geographics

The soil conditions of the area is mostly composed of peat soil and stream sediment and marshes. The altitude of the District's Government's Centre is from 1 to 4 metres. On the banks of the rivers and in the estuaries trenches there are many plants that grow, such as Nipah trees. Because this district is an area of peat soil, the area is classified as having a wet tropical climate. The number of rainy days in this area (which has an average height of 2.5 metres above sea level) reached the highest rainfall in the month of March 1999, namely 11 days, with the lowest figure being in June 1999 which is 4 days.

Climate

Tembilahan 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

The residents of Tembilahan district consist of various ethnic groups such as Banjarese, who are the majority in Tembilahan,

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 ...

, Malays, Minang, Javanese, and

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 ( ...

as well as residents of Chinese descent. The main livelihood of Tembilahan District's residents are in the agricultural sector.

Transportation

Tempuling Airport is located in Tempuling District, which serves Tembilahan and surrounding areas. Currently, this airport only serves by Susi Air for flights to and from

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 ...

. Tembilahan is also served by roads that connect Tembilahan to all major cities and towns in Sumatra, such as Pekanbaru, Rengat,

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 ...

, and others. Tembilahan is also served by a seaport that connects Tembilahan 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 ...

and other cities and towns in Indonesia.

References

{{coord missing, Indonesia Regency seats of Riau Indragiri basin