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 Provinces of Indonesia, 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, ...

, located around three mountains—

Mount Marapi The Marapi (), or Mount Marapi ( min, ڬونوواڠ ماراڤي, Gunuang Marapi) is a complex volcano in West Sumatra, Indonesia. Its name means ''Mountain of Fire'', and it is the most active volcano in Sumatra. Its elevation is . A number of ...

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, which is ...

, 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. Sago Sago () is a starch extracted from the pith, or spongy core tissue, of various tropical palm s ...

—in west-central

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 ...

, 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 volca ...

, 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, Indonesi ...

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

, and predates significant foreign contact. Inscriptions in the area have been found from the rule of Adityavarman (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