The Minangkabau Highlands ( id, Dataran Tinggi Minangkabau, Minang: ''Minang Darek'') is a mountainous area in the province of

West Sumatra West Sumatra ( id, Sumatra Barat) is a 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 5,534,472 at the 2020 cen ...

, located around three mountains— Mount Marapi,

Mount Singgalang Mount Singgalang (Gunung Singgalang in Indonesian) is a volcano in West Sumatra, Indonesia, about 10 km to the southwest of the town of Bukittinggi. Its elevation is 2,877 m (9,439 ft). It is a twin volcano with Mount Tandikat Tandik ...

, and

Mount Sago Sago (also known as Malintang) is a mountain in West Sumatra, Indonesia. It is near to the city of Payakumbuh and the town of Batusangkar Batusangkar (''batu'': stone, rock, ''sangkar'': cage) is the capital of the Tanah Datar regency of Wes ...

—in west-central Sumatra, Indonesia. The highlands are part of 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 volc ...

, the largest mountain range in Sumatra. They are home to the

Minangkabau people Minangkabau people ( min, Urang Minang; Indonesian or Malay: ''Orang Minangkabau'' or ''Minangkabo''; Jawi: منڠكبو), also known as Minang, are an Austronesian ethnic group native to the Minangkabau Highlands of West Sumatra, Indon ...

who refer them as ''Alam Minangkabau'', or "the world of Minangkabau". This area formed a kingdom known from at least the 7th century as Malayu. It is probable that wet rice cultivation evolved in the highlands long before it appeared in other parts of Sumatra, and predates significant foreign contact. Inscriptions in the area have been found from the rule of

Adityavarman Adityavarman is a given name. Notable people with the name include: * Adityavarman (Chalukya dynasty), 7th-century ruler of Vatapi in India * Adityawarman (1294–1375), ruler of Malayapura in Sumatra {{given name Masculine given names ...

(1347–1375). The Dutch began exploiting the gold reserves in the highlands in the 1680s. They dominated the trade in the area, severely restricting the trade outlets between the highlands and the ports on the coast between 1820 and 1899, bringing about a marked decrease in rice production. The highlands consist of three major valleys: Tanah Datar Valley, Agam Valley, and Limapuluh Valley. The village of Belimbing in the highlands is well known for its examples of surviving Minangkabu architecture.

References

Geography of Sumatra Geography of West Sumatra Minangkabau Highlands {{WSumatra-geo-stub

See also

References