Karo Regency is a landlocked regency of

North Sumatra North Sumatra ( id, Sumatra Utara) is a province of Indonesia located on the northern part of the island of Sumatra. Its capital and largest city is Medan. North Sumatra is Indonesia's fourth most populous province after West Java, East Java and ...

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 ...

, situated in the

Barisan Mountains The Bukit Barisan or the Barisan Mountains are a mountain range on the western side of Sumatra, Indonesia, covering nearly 1,700 km (1,050 mi) from the north to the south of the island. The Bukit Barisan range consists primarily of volca ...

. The regency covers an area of and according to the 2010 census it had a population of 350,479, increasing to 404,998 at the 2020 Census. 60.99% of the regency is forested. Its regency seat is Kabanjahe. The

Batak Karo language Karo, referred to in Indonesia as Bahasa Karo (Karo language), is an Austronesian language that is spoken by the Karo people of Indonesia. It is used by around 600,000 people in North Sumatra. It is mainly spoken in Karo Regency, southern parts ...

is spoken in the regency, as well as the

Indonesian Indonesian is anything of, from, or related to Indonesia, an archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. It may refer to: * Indonesians, citizens of Indonesia ** Native Indonesians, diverse groups of local inhabitants of the archipelago ** Indonesian ...

language. It borders

Southeast Aceh Regency Southeast Aceh Regency ( id, Kabupaten Aceh Tenggara) is a regency in the Aceh special region of Indonesia. It is located on the island of Sumatra. In 1974, the Southeast Aceh Regency was created by being separated from the Central Aceh Regency; h ...

Aceh Aceh ( ), officially the Aceh Province ( ace, Nanggroë Acèh; id, Provinsi Aceh) is the westernmost province of Indonesia. It is located on the northernmost of Sumatra island, with Banda Aceh being its capital and largest city. Granted a s ...

to the west,

Deli Serdang Regency Deli Serdang ( id, Kabupaten Deli Serdang; Jawi: دلي سردڠ) is a regency in the Indonesian province of North Sumatra. It surrounds the city of Medan, and also borders the city of Binjai, which is effectively a bedroom community for Medan. ...

and

Langkat Regency Langkat Regency ( id, Kabupaten Langkat) is the northernmost regency of North Sumatra. Its seat is Stabat. Its area is 6,263.29 km2 and its population was 967,535 at the 2010 Census and 1,030,202 at the 2020 Census.Badan Pusat Statistik, Ja ...

to the north,

Dairi Regency Dairi Regency is a regency on the west shore of Lake Toba in North Sumatra, Indonesia. The regency covers an area of square kilometres and it had a population of 269,848 people at the 2010 Census and 308,764 at the 2020 Census.Badan Pusat Stati ...

and

Toba Samosir Regency Toba Regency is a landlocked regency in North Sumatra. Its seat is Balige. The regency covers an area of 2,021.8 square kilometres; it had a population of 173,129 at the 2010 censusBiro Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 2011. and 206,199 at the 2020 Censu ...

to the south, and

and

Simalungun Regency Simalungun Regency is a regency in North Sumatra, Indonesia. Its seat was formerly at Pematangsiantar, but this city was in recent years separated from the Regency and made into an independent city (''kota''), although it remains geographically su ...

to the east.

Economy

COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM Varkens in een Karo Batak dorp TMnr 20018496

The GDP per capita of Karo Regency in 2005 was 11.65 million rupiah, approximately US$1,200. 74% of the population work in agriculture, which comprises 60% of regional GDP. The second-largest sector is government, which comprises 11% of the regional GDP.

Administrative divisions

The regency is divided administratively into seventeen

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''), tabulated below with their areas and their populations at the 2010 CensusBiro Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 2011. and the 2020 Census.Badan Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 2021. The table also includes the locations of the district administrative centres, the number of administrative villages (rural ''desa'' and urban ''kelurahan'') in each district, and its post codes. Note that four of these districts (indicated by "*" above) constitute a part of the

Medan metropolitan area The Greater Medan metropolitan area, known locally as Mebidangro (an acronym of Medan–Binjai–Deli Serdang–Karo) is a metropolitan area in North Sumatra, Indonesia, which consists of Medan City, Binjai City, Deli Serdang Regency and part (4 d ...

References

Batak Karo Regencies of North Sumatra {{NSumatra-geo-stub