A regency ( id, kabupaten), sometimes incorrectly referred to as a district, is an
administrative division
Administrative division, administrative unit,Article 3(1). country subdivision, administrative region, subnational entity, constituent state, as well as many similar terms, are generic names for geographical areas into which a particular, ind ...
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 ...
, directly under a
province
A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''Roman province, provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire ...
and on the same level with
city
A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...
(''kota''). Regencies is divided into
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'', ''Distrik'' in
Papua region
Southern Region (formerly Papua Region) is one of four regions of Papua New Guinea. The region includes the national capital Port Moresby.
Subdivision
The Region is administratively divided into six provinces:
*Central
*Gulf
* Milne Bay
* Oro (No ...
, or ''Kapanewon'' in the
Special Region of Yogyakarta
The Special Region of Yogyakarta (; id, Daerah Istimewa (D.I.) Yogyakarta) is a Provinces of Indonesia, provincial-level Autonomous administrative division, autonomous region of Indonesia in southern Java. It has also been known as the Special ...
).
The English name "regency" comes from the
Dutch colonial period, when regencies were ruled by ''bupati'' (or
regent
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 ...
s) and were known as ''regentschap'' in
Dutch
Dutch commonly refers to:
* Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands
* Dutch people ()
* Dutch language ()
Dutch may also refer to:
Places
* Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States
* Pennsylvania Dutch Country
People E ...
(''kabupaten'' in Javanese and subsequently Indonesian). ''Bupati'' had been regional lords under the precolonial monarchies of
Java
Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's List ...
. When the Dutch abolished or curtailed those monarchies, the bupati were left as the most senior indigenous authority. They were not, strictly speaking, "native rulers" because the Dutch claimed full sovereignty over their territory, but in practice, they had many of the attributes of petty kings, including elaborate regalia and palaces and a high degree of impunity.
Etymology
![COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM Portret van een Javaanse Regent in gala-uniform](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e7/COLLECTIE_TROPENMUSEUM_Portret_van_een_Javaanse_Regent_in_gala-uniform._TMnr_60042311.jpg)
The Indonesian title of ''bupati'' is originally a loanword from
Sanskrit
Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...
, a shortening of the Sanskrit title ''bhumi-pati'' (''bhumi'' भूमि '(of the) land' + ''pati'' पति 'lord', hence ''bhumi-pati'' 'lord of the land').
In Indonesia, ''bupati'' was originally used as a
Javanese title for regional rulers in precolonial kingdoms, its first recorded usage being in the
Telaga Batu inscription
Telaga Batu inscription is a 7th-century Srivijayan inscription discovered in Sabokingking, 3 Ilir, Ilir Timur II, Palembang, South Sumatra, Indonesia, around the 1950s. The inscription is now displayed in National Museum of Indonesia, Jakarta, ...
, which dates to the
Srivijaya
Srivijaya ( id, Sriwijaya) was a Buddhist thalassocratic empire based on the island of Sumatra (in modern-day Indonesia), which influenced much of Southeast Asia. Srivijaya was an important centre for the expansion of Buddhism from the 7th t ...
period, in which ''bhupati'' is mentioned among the titles of local rulers who
paid allegiance to Sriwijaya's kings.
Related titles which were also used in precolonial Indonesia are ''adipati'' ('duke') and ''senapati'' ('lord of the army' or 'general'). As we know today, the district has de facto existed since Januari 28, 1892, in the 19th century AD, when the Dutch East Indies government established the Landarchief. On January 29, 1892, the first landarchivasis was confirmed, Mr. Jacob Anne van der Chijs which lasted until 1905. Juridically, the existence of Indonesia archival institutions began with the proclamation of Indonesia independence on August 17, 1945.
Pre-independence period
![Sosroningrat, regent van Djapara](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6a/Sosroningrat%2C_regent_van_Djapara.jpg)
Regencies in Java territorial units were grouped together into ''residencies'' headed by exclusively European residents. This term hinted that the residents had a quasi-diplomatic status in relation to the ''bupati'' (and indeed they had such a relationship with the native rulers who continued to prevail in much of Indonesia outside Java), but in practice the ''bupati'' had to follow Dutch instructions on any matter of concern to the colonial authorities. Like the current system of government in Indonesia, the system of historical times is still in effect.
The relationship between those sides was ambivalent: while legal and military
power
Power most often refers to:
* Power (physics), meaning "rate of doing work"
** Engine power, the power put out by an engine
** Electric power
* Power (social and political), the ability to influence people or events
** Abusive power
Power may a ...
rested with the Dutch government (or, for a long time, with the
Dutch East India Company
The United East India Company ( nl, Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie, the VOC) was a chartered company established on the 20th March 1602 by the States General of the Netherlands amalgamating existing companies into the first joint-stock ...
under a Governor General in
Batavia
Batavia may refer to:
Historical places
* Batavia (region), a land inhabited by the Batavian people during the Roman Empire, today part of the Netherlands
* Batavia, Dutch East Indies, present-day Jakarta, the former capital of the Dutch East In ...
on
Java
Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's List ...
, the regents held higher protocollary rank than the assistant-resident who supposedly advised them and held day-to-day sway over the population. After the independence of Indonesia in 1945, the terms ''bupati'' and ''kabupaten'' were applied throughout the archipelago to the administrative unit below the residency (''karesidenan'').
In the Telaga Batu inscription, which was found in the village near
Palembang
Palembang () is the capital city of the Indonesian province of South Sumatra. The city proper covers on both banks of the Musi River on the eastern lowland of southern Sumatra. It had a population of 1,668,848 at the 2020 Census. Palembang ...
and contains a worship of the king of Srivijaya, there may be the word ''bhupati''. The inscription is estimated to be from the end af the 7th century AD, Indonesia inscription expert Johannes Gijsbertus de Casparis translated ''bhupati'' with the term ''head'' (''hoofd'' in Dutch), the word ''bhupati'' is also found in the
Ligor inscription Ligor inscription is an 8th-century stone stele or inscription discovered in Ligor, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Southern Thailand Malay Peninsula. This inscription was written and carved on two sides, the first part is called Ligor A inscription, or also ...
, which was found in the
Nakhon Si Thammarat
Nakhon Si Thammarat Municipality ( th, เทศบาลนครนครศรีธรรมราช, ; from Pali ''Nagara Sri Dhammaraja'') is a municipality (''thesaban nakhon'') in Southern Thailand, capital of Nakhon Si Thammarat prov ...
province of
Thailand
Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...
. In the 17th century, Europeans called the area ''Ligor''. this inscription was identified in 775 AD 7th century AD, the term ''bhupati'' was used to refer to the king of Srivijaya Hujunglangit in the 9th century AD
Recent history
Since the start of the
Reform Era in 1998 a remarkable secession of regency governments has arisen in Indonesia. The process has become known as ''pemekaran'' (division). Following the surge of support for decentralisation across Indonesia which occurred following the
fall of Soeharto
Suharto resigned as President of Indonesia on 21 May 1998 following the collapse of support for his 32-year long presidency. Vice President B. J. Habibie took over the presidency.
Suharto's grip on power weakened following severe economic and ...
in 1998, key new decentralisation laws were passed in 1999. Subsequently, there was a jump in the number of regencies (and cities) from around 300 at the end of 1998 to 514 in 2014 sixteen years later. This secession of new regencies, welcome at first, has become increasingly controversial within Indonesia because the administrative fragmentation has proved costly and has not brought the hoped-for benefits.
Senior levels of the administration expressed a general feeling that the process of ''pemekaran'' needed to be slowed (or even stopped for the time being), although local politicians at various levels across government in Indonesia continue to express strong populist support for the continued creation of new regencies. Indeed, no further regencies or independent cities have been created since 2014. However, a paper on fiscal decentralization and regional income inequality in 2019 argued that that fiscal decentralization reduces regional income inequality.
Since 1998, a large portion of governance have been delegated from central government in Jakarta to local regencies, with regencies now playing important role in providing services to Indonesian people. Direct elections for regents and mayors began in 2005, with the leaders previously being elected by local legislative councils.
Statistics
As of 2020, there are 416 regencies in Indonesia, and 98 cities. 120 of these are in
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 sixth-largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 (182,812 mi.2), not including adjacent i ...
, 85 are in
Java
Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's List ...
, 37 are in
Nusa Tenggara
The Lesser Sunda Islands or nowadays known as Nusa Tenggara Islands ( id, Kepulauan Nusa Tenggara, formerly ) are an archipelago in Maritime Southeast Asia, north of Australia. Together with the Greater Sunda Islands to the west they make up t ...
, 47 are in
Kalimantan
Kalimantan () is the Indonesian portion of the island of Borneo. It constitutes 73% of the island's area. The non-Indonesian parts of Borneo are Brunei and East Malaysia. In Indonesia, "Kalimantan" refers to the whole island of Borneo.
In 2019, ...
, 70 are in
Sulawesi
Sulawesi (), also known as Celebes (), is an island in Indonesia. One of the four Greater Sunda Islands, and the world's eleventh-largest island, it is situated east of Borneo, west of the Maluku Islands, and south of Mindanao and the Sulu Ar ...
, 17 are in
Maluku, and 40 in
Papua.
See also
*
List of regencies and cities of Indonesia
Regencies (''kabupaten'') and cities (''kota'') are the second-level administrative subdivision in Indonesia, immediately below the provinces, and above the districts. Regencies are roughly equivalent to American counties, although most citi ...
*
City status in Indonesia
In Law of Indonesia, Indonesian law, the term "city" () is generally defined as the second-level subdivisions of Indonesia, administrative subdivision of the Indonesia, Republic of Indonesia, an equivalent to regency (Indonesia), regency (). ...
*
Subdivisions of Indonesia
Indonesia is divided into provinces ( id, Provinsi). Provinces are made up of regencies (''kabupaten'') and cities (''kota''). Provinces, regencies, and cities have their own local governments and parliamentary bodies.
Since the enactment o ...
References
{{Articles on second-level administrative divisions of Asian countries
Regencies of Indonesia