The term ''district'', in the context 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 ...
, refers to the third-level
administrative subdivision
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 ...
, below
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 ...
or
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 ...
. The local term ' is used in the majority of Indonesian areas, except in
Papua,
West Papua, and 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 term ' is used in Papua and West Papua. In the Special Region of Yogyakarta, the term ''kapanewon'' is used for districts within the regencies, while the term ' is used for districts within
Yogyakarta
Yogyakarta (; jv, ꦔꦪꦺꦴꦒꦾꦏꦂꦠ ; pey, Jogjakarta) is the capital city of Special Region of Yogyakarta in Indonesia, in the south-central part of the island of Java. As the only Indonesian royal city still ruled by a monarchy, ...
, the province's only city.
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 ...
, there are a total of 7,252 districts in Indonesia as at 2019, subdivided into 83,820 administrative villages (rural ' and urban ').
During the
Dutch East Indies
The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies ( nl, Nederlands(ch)-Indië; ), was a Dutch colony consisting of what is now Indonesia. It was formed from the nationalised trading posts of the Dutch East India Company, which ...
and early republic period, the term ''district'' referred to ''kewedanan'', a subdivision of regency, while ' was translated as ''subdistrict'' ( nl, onderdistrict).
Following the abolition of ''kewedanan'', the term ''district'' began to be associated with ' which has since been directly administered by regency. Mainstream media such as ''
The Jakarta Post
''The Jakarta Post'' is a daily English-language newspaper in Indonesia. The paper is owned by PT Niskala Media Tenggara and based in the nation's capital, Jakarta.
''The Jakarta Post'' started as a collaboration between four Indonesian med ...
'', ', and ''
Tempo
In musical terminology, tempo (Italian, 'time'; plural ''tempos'', or ''tempi'' from the Italian plural) is the speed or pace of a given piece. In classical music, tempo is typically indicated with an instruction at the start of a piece (often ...
'' use "district" to refer to '; however machine translation services like
Google Translate
Google Translate is a multilingual neural machine translation service developed by Google to translate text, documents and websites from one language into another. It offers a website interface, a mobile app for Android and iOS, and an API ...
often incorrectly use "district" to refer to regencies instead.
Definition
![Kantor Kecamatan Gabuswetan, Indramayu](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/22/Kantor_Kecamatan_Gabuswetan%2C_Indramayu.jpg)
District in Indonesia is the third-level
administrative subdivision
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 ...
, below
regency or city (second-level) and
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 ...
(first-level). According to the Act Number 23 of 2014, district is formed by the government of regency or city in order to improve the coordination of governance, public services, and empowerment of
urban/rural villages. District head is a career bureaucrat position directly appointed by regent or mayor. The local district term ' is used in the majority of Indonesian areas, with ' being the head.
During the
Dutch East Indies
The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies ( nl, Nederlands(ch)-Indië; ), was a Dutch colony consisting of what is now Indonesia. It was formed from the nationalised trading posts of the Dutch East India Company, which ...
and early republic period, the term ''district'' referred to ''kewedanan'', a subdivision of a regency. ''Kewedanan'' itself was divided into ', which was translated as ''subdistrict'' ( nl, onderdistrict).
Following the abolition of ''kewedanan'', the term ''district'' began to be associated with ' which has since been directly administered by regency. In
English-language dictionary, ''
subdistrict A subdistrict or sub-district is an administrative division that is generally smaller than a district.
Equivalents
* Administrative posts of East Timor, formerly Portuguese-language
* Kelurahan, in Indonesia
* Mukim, a township in Brunei, In ...
'' means "a division or subdivision of a
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 counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...
", hence the translation of ' as ''subdistrict'' is no longer precise since the absence of ''kewedanan'' as ''district''. The 1982 publication of
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 ...
translated ' as ''district''.
With the release of the Act Number 21 of 2001 on the Special Autonomous of Papua Province, the term ' was used instead of ' in the entire
Western New Guinea
Western New Guinea, also known as Papua, Indonesian New Guinea, or Indonesian Papua, is the western half of the Melanesian island of New Guinea which is administered by Indonesia. Since the island is alternatively named as Papua, the region ...
(
Papua and
West Papua).
The difference between the two is merely the naming, with ''kepala distrik'' being the district head. It was later followed in 2019 by another autonomous province, 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 ...
, where ' was replaced with ''kapanewon'' and '.
Sultan Hamengkubuwono X
Sri Sultan Hamengkubawono X ( Hanacaraka: , also spelled as Hamengkubawana X, often abbreviated as HB X; born Bendara Raden Mas Herjuno Darpito, 2 April 1946) is the Sultan of the historic Yogyakarta Sultanate in Indonesia and is currently al ...
, the region's governor and the monarch of
Yogyakarta Sultanate
The Sultanate of Yogyakarta ( jv, ꦏꦱꦸꦭ꧀ꦠꦤ꧀ꦤꦤ꧀ꦔꦪꦺꦴꦒꦾꦏꦂꦡꦲꦢꦶꦤꦶꦔꦿꦠ꧀, Kasultanan Ngayogyakarta Hadiningrat ; ) is a Javanese monarchy in Yogyakarta Special Region, in the Republic o ...
, issued Gubernatorial Decree Number 25 of 2019, which restored the old naming convention for the region's subdivisions. ''Kapanewon ''(a subdivision of regency) is headed by a ''panewu'', while ' (a subdivision of city), is headed by a ''mantri pamong praja''.
List of districts
References
External links
*
{{Districts of Indonesia
Districts, Indonesia
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 ...
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 ...