Garut Regency is a

Regency A regent (from Latin : ruling, governing) is a person appointed to govern a state '' pro tempore'' (Latin: 'for the time being') because the monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge the powers and duties of the monarchy ...

in the

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 ...

province of

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

. It covers an area of 3,065.19 km² (1,186.91 mi²). Geographically, it lies between 6°57′34″ – 7°44′57″ South latitude and 107°24′34″ – 108°7′34″ East longitude. The population at the 2010 census was 2,404,121, and at the 2020 census was 2,585,607; the official estimate as at mid 2021 was 2,604,787. South Tarogong (''Tarogong Kidul'') is the

regency seat A regency seat ( id, Ibu kota kabupaten) is an capital or seat of government of a regency in Indonesia. It is roughly equivalent of county seat in the United States or county town in the United Kingdom. Legally, regency seats are not administrat ...

Adjacent regencies

It is bordered by: * Eastern side:

Tasikmalaya Regency Tasikmalaya Regency (pronounced ; id, Kabupaten Tasikmalaya, Sundanese: ) is a regency (), or sub-province region, in the province of West Java, Indonesia. Tasikmalaya covers an area of 2,709 km2 and has close to two million residents. (Popu ...

* Western side:

Cianjur Regency Cianjur Regency is a Regency (Indonesia), regency ''(kabupaten)'' of West Java, Indonesia. The area of the regency is 3,614.35 km2 and its population at the 2010 Census was 2,171,281; the 2020 Census produced a total of 2,477,560 and the offic ...

and

Bandung Regency Bandung Regency (''Kabupaten Bandung'') is an administrative landlocked regency located to the south, southeast, east and northeast of the city of Bandung. The northern parts of the Bandung Regency are effectively part of the Bandung Metropolitan ...

* Northern side:

Sumedang Regency Sumedang Regency is a landlocked regency ''(kabupaten)'' of West Java province, Indonesia. The district of North Sumedang is its capital. The regency covers an area of 1,558.72 km2, and had a population of 1,093,602 at the 2010 Census and 1, ...

* Southern side:

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by th ...

Geography

In general, Garut has a cool but tropical climate, with an average temperature of 24 °C (76 °F). Average annual rainfall is 2,590 mm (102 inches). This area includes

valley A valley is an elongated low area often running between Hill, hills or Mountain, mountains, which will typically contain a river or stream running from one end to the other. Most valleys are formed by erosion of the land surface by rivers ...

territory surrounded by

volcano A volcano is a rupture in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface. On Earth, volcanoes are most often found where tectonic plates are ...

es (Mount Karacak: 1,838 m, Mount Cikuray: 2,821 m,

Mount Guntur Mount Guntur ( id, Gunung Guntur) is an active stratovolcano in western Java. It is part of a complex of several overlapping stratovolcanoes about northwest of the city of Garut. The last eruption was in 1847. At an elevation of , Mount Guntur ...

: 2,249 m,

Mount Papandayan Mount Papandayan is a complex stratovolcano, located in Garut Regency, to the southeast of the city of Bandung in West Java, Indonesia. It is about to the southwest of the town of Garut. At the summit, there are four large craters which cont ...

: 2,622 m) on the northern side, with average heights of 700–750 m above sea level. Streams of solidified lava are present on their slopes.

Administrative Districts

Garut Regency is currently divided into 42

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 o ...

(''kecamatan''), listed below with their areas and populations at the 2010 and 2020 censuses, together with the official estimates as at mid 2021. The table also includes the locations of the district administrative centres, the number of villages (rural ''desa'' and urban ''kelurahan'') in each district, and its post code. However, in 2013 the National Legislative Council approved a proposal to create a new Regency - South Garut Regency (''Kabupaten Garut Selatan'') - to include the 16 southernmost districts (those listed first in the table below) of the existing Garut Regency, with a combined population of 676,940 in mid 2021. The new Regency would thus inherit 63% of the land area of the existing regency, but only 26% of its population in 2021. As at 2022, this proposal has not yet been implemented. Note: (a) except the ''desa'' of Cangkuang, which has a post code of 44119. Administratively, the 42 districts are subdivided into 442 villages, comprising 421 rural ''desa'' and 21 urban ''kelurahan''. The ''kelurahan'' comprise all 11 villages in Kota Garut, 4 of the 20 villages in Karangpawitan, 5 of the 12 villages in Tarogong Kidul and 1 of the 13 villages in Tarogong Kaler. Cibalong District is the largest district and covers 6.97% of the area of all Garut Regency districts, while the Kersamanah District is the smallest, with an area of 1,650 ha or 0.54%. Garut constitutes the buffer land and hinterland for the development of Bandung Raja's territory. It has a strategic position and acts as the supplier for the needs of Bandung Municipality and Bandung Regency's populations. The Garut Regency has two distinct topographical areas: *Northern Garut consists of highlands and mountainous terrain, which have the largest

rice fields A paddy field is a flooded field of arable land used for growing semiaquatic crops, most notably rice and taro. It originates from the Neolithic rice-farming cultures of the Yangtze River basin in southern China, associated with pre-Aust ...

of Garut *Southern Garut is mostly made out of downward sloping lands, along with twelve main rivers which flow south into the

Sunda Trough Sunda may refer to: Europe * Sunda, Faroe Islands India * Sunda (asura), an asura brother of Upasunda * Sunda (clan), a clan (gotra) of Jats in Haryana and Rajasthan, India Southeast Asia * Sundanese (disambiguation) ** Sundanese people ...

, an area of

oceanic crust Oceanic crust is the uppermost layer of the oceanic portion of the tectonic plates. It is composed of the upper oceanic crust, with pillow lavas and a dike complex, and the lower oceanic crust, composed of troctolite, gabbro and ultramafic cumu ...

near the southern coast of Java that is part of the larger

. Tourist resorts are well-established in Garut Regency, with coastal views, and others with craters, waterfalls, lakes and a hot springs.Ika Krismantari,
Garut: The Hidden Beauty of West Java'
''The Jakarta Post'', 19 April 2011.

History

On March 2, 1811, the Balubur Limbangan Regency was defeated by Governor General Herman W. Daendels (of the Dutch Colonial Army), and Regent Tumenggung Wangsakusumah II resigned. Balubur Limbangan Regency then comprised 6 districts: Balubur, Malangbong, Wanaraja, Wanakerta, Cibeureum and Papandak. On February 16, 1813, a new Limbangan Regency was founded by Lt. Governor Sir

Stamford Raffles Sir Thomas Stamford Bingley Raffles (5 July 1781 – 5 July 1826) was a British statesman who served as the Lieutenant-Governor of the Dutch East Indies between 1811 and 1816, and Lieutenant-Governor of Bencoolen between 1818 and 1824. He is ...

which became Garut Regency. R.A.A. Adiwijaya was the first Regent of Garut Regency. He governed from 1813 until 1821. He was well known for his call of Dalem Cipeujeuh. File:COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM Monumentale trap naar bordes van het sanatorium te Garoet. TMnr 60002524.jpg, Garut sanatorium in the 1920s File:COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM De regent van Garoet en zijn familie TMnr 60009520.jpg, The Regent of Garut Raden Adipati Aria Wiratanudatar VII with his wife, RA Lasminingrat, and family. File:COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM Hoofdweg van Garoet links de apotheek Preanger TMnr 10014985.jpg, Garut's main street in 1936

Local produce

Land fertility varies greatly because of influence by mountains, rivers and coastal lowlands. As a result, agricultural businesses are primarily plantation-based, as well as subsistence farming and animal husbandry, followed by forest resources. Some known products from Garut are: *

Garut Orange fruit Garut Oranges are a fruit variety grown in Indonesia's mountains and hilly areas in Garut Regency at Wanaraja, Samarang and Bayongbong Districts. These locations feature mountains or hilly areas, with highland views of more than 900 m (2,953& ...

s (''Jeruk Garut'') * Mangdogars Handycraft "Mang Dogar" as Garut Icon likes ornament, dolls, souvenir, clothes * Garut Lamb (''Domba Garut'') * Dodol Garut (a snack) *

Vetiver ''Chrysopogon zizanioides'', commonly known as vetiver and khus, is a perennial bunchgrass of the family Poaceae. Vetiver is most closely related to ''Sorghum'' but shares many morphological characteristics with other fragrant grasses, such as ...

Root Oil (''Andropogon zizanioides'') * Batik Tulis Garutan (hand painted clothes) *

Silk Silk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. The protein fiber of silk is composed mainly of fibroin and is produced by certain insect larvae to form cocoons. The best-known silk is obtained from the coc ...

clothes *

Gemstones A gemstone (also called a fine gem, jewel, precious stone, or semiprecious stone) is a piece of mineral crystal which, in cut and polished form, is used to make jewelry or other adornments. However, certain rocks (such as lapis lazuli, opal, an ...

* Leather crafts * Bamboo crafts

Tourism in Garut

Garut is known as ''Zwitserse van Java'' (Switzerland of Java). It has so many tourist attractions divided into several tourism zone units (

n: Satuan Kawasan Wisata (SKW)): * Cangkuang TZU including

Paragliding Paragliding is the recreational and competitive adventure sport of flying paragliders: lightweight, free-flying, foot-launched glider aircraft with no rigid primary structure. The pilot sits in a harness or lies supine in a cocoon-like 'po ...

Mount Haruman, Cikembulan Zoo, Cimandi Racun Waterfall, Cangkuang Lake, Cangkuang Temple, Jafar Umar Sidiq Tomb, * Cipanas TZU including Bagendit Lake, Citiis Waterfall,

, Cipanas Water Park * Darajat Crater TZU including Darajat Crater and water parks around. * Mbah Godog Tomb TZU including Godog Tomb, Linggaratu Tomb, Cinunuk Tomb, Talaga Bodas, * Ngamplang TZU including Cihanyawar Waterfall, Flamboyan Golf Course, Dayeuh Manggung Tea Plantation, * Pameungpeuk TZU including Darmaga Beach, Manulusu Beach, Gunung Geder, Santolo Beach, Neglasari Beach, Sayang Heulang Beach * Papandayan TZU including Cimmanuk River Rafting, Ciburuy Site, Curug Orok, Papandayan Crater, * Rancabuaya TZU including Rancabuaya Beach, Cikandang River Rafting, Sanghiyang Taraje Waterfall, * Sancang TZU including Sancang Forest, Cijeruk Indah Beach and Karang Paranje Beach

References

Bibliography

External links

Official District Government site (English)
{{Authority control