Atar is a '' nagari'' (village) in

Padang Ganting Padang Ganting is a district (') of Tanah Datar Regency, in the West Sumatra province of Indonesia. It is subdivided into two ' (villages): Padang Ganting and Atar Atar, Atash, or Azar ( ae, 𐬁𐬙𐬀𐬭, translit=ātar) is the Zoroastr ...

Tanah Datar Regency Tanah Datar Regency is a landlocked regency (''kabupaten'') in West Sumatra province, Indonesia. The regency has an area of 1,336 km2, and had a population of 338,484 at the 2010 Census, which rose to 371,704 at the 2020 Census. The regency seat ...

, in the Indonesian province of

West Sumatra West Sumatra ( id, Sumatra Barat) is a Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia. It is located on the west coast of the island of Sumatra and includes the Mentawai Islands off that coast. The province has an area of , with a population of 5, ...

, with a population of just under 5,000 people.

Geography and administration

Atar is located approximately away from the regency capital at

Batusangkar Batusangkar (''batu'': stone, rock, ''sangkar'': cage) is the capital of the Tanah Datar regency of West Sumatra, Indonesia. It is known as "the city of culture". History The town is near the former seat of the Minangkabau royalty established by Ad ...

, and is one of two ''nagari'' in Padang Ganting. It is the larger ''nagari'', although less populated, making up out of area of Padang Ganting. Atar is further subdivided into three ' or neighborhoods: Lareh Nan Panjang, Taratak VIII, and Taratak XII. In the past, Atar was merged with Padang Ganting as one ''nagari'', although it later split off. During the

Padri War The Padri War (also called the Minangkabau War) was fought from 1803 until 1837 in West Sumatra, Indonesia between the Padri and the Adat. The Padri were Muslim clerics from Sumatra who wanted to impose Sharia in Minangkabau country in West Sum ...

, Muslim clerical forces based in Atar would launch raids against traditional Minangkabau aristocrats in Padang Ganting.

Demographics

Atar has a population of 4,908 in 2019 according to

Statistics Indonesia Statistics Indonesia ( id, Badan Pusat Statistik, BPS, ), is a non-departmental government institute of Indonesia that is responsible for conducting statistical surveys. Its main customer is the government, but statistical data is also availabl ...

, making up 1,393 households. The gender ratio is 92. The largest proportion of the workforce is employed in agriculture, with natural rubber being a common commodity.

Economy

There is a large diaspora of migrants from Atar, especially in

West Java West Java ( id, Jawa Barat, su, ᮏᮝ ᮊᮥᮜᮧᮔ᮪, romanized ''Jawa Kulon'') is a province of Indonesia on the western part of the island of Java, with its provincial capital in Bandung. West Java is bordered by the province of Banten ...

, which engage in the

photocopier A photocopier (also called copier or copy machine, and formerly Xerox machine, the generic trademark) is a machine that makes copies of documents and other visual images onto paper or plastic film quickly and cheaply. Most modern photocopiers u ...

industry – namely, operating photocopy shops typically serving government offices and schools/universities. The trend was initiated by a man named Yuskar, who migrated to in 1974 and established a

stationery Stationery refers to commercially manufactured writing materials, including cut paper, envelopes, writing implements, continuous form paper, and other office supplies. Stationery includes materials to be written on by hand (e.g., letter paper) ...

and photocopier store. It was estimated that out of around 3,000 migrants from Atar, nearly all are engaged in the trade. There is a monument of a photocopier to commemorate the tradition in the ''nagari''.

Facilities

There are five public elementary schools in Atar, and one middle school, although there are no high schools, with the only one in the district being located in Padang Ganting ''nagari''. There are also three in the ''nagari''.

References

{{reflist Villages in West Sumatra