Pagar Alam (sometimes written as Pagaralam, Jawi: ), is a city in

South Sumatra South Sumatra ( id, Sumatra Selatan) is a province of Indonesia. It is located on the southeast of the island of Sumatra, The province spans and had a population of 8,467,432 at the 2020 Census. The capital of the province is Palembang. The prov ...

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 Gui ...

. Before established as a definitive city, Pagaralam was an administrative city in

Lahat Regency Lahat Regency is a regency of South Sumatra (or Sumatra Selatan) province, Indonesia. It covers a total area of 4,361.83 km2 and had a population of 369,974 at the 2010 Census and 430,071 at the 2020 Census. The city of Pagar Alam is an encla ...

. It has an area of 633.66 km² and a population of 126,181 at the 2010 Census and 143,844 at the 2020 Census. Pagaralam is located by the

Bukit Barisan 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 v ...

Mountains, at the feet of

Mount Dempo Mount Dempo is the highest stratovolcano in South Sumatra province that rises above Pasumah Plain near Pagar Alam and adjacent with Bengkulu Province. Seven craters are found around the summit. A wide lake is found at the north-west end of the ...

, a volcano and the highest mountain in South Sumatra. It is 298 km southwest from the province capital city of

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 60 km southwest of Lahat. The city is bounded by

Bengkulu Bengkulu is a province of Indonesia. It is located on the southwest coast of Sumatra. It was formed on 18 November 1968 by separating out the former Bencoolen Residency area from the province of South Sumatra under Law No. 9 of 1967 and was fi ...

Province to the south, Jarai District to the north, Kota Agung District to the east and Tanjung Sakti Pumi District to the west. Pagaralam is the one of the main suppliers of vegetables in Palembang. Its location in the highland makes the city slightly cooler than many of the other South Sumatra cities; this, together with its astounding landscape, makes the city one of the main tourist destinations in South Sumatra and it is often visited by local tourists, especially from Palembang. Currently, the city is led by Alpian Maskoni as the mayor of the city.

Geography

Pagaralam is located by the

Mountains, at the feet of

. Much of the soil in the city consists of

latosol Latosols, also known as tropical red earth, are soils found under tropical rainforests which have a relatively high content of iron and aluminium oxides. They are typically classified as oxisols ( USDA soil taxonomy) or ferralsols ( World Referenc ...

and

andisol In USDA soil taxonomy, Andisols are soils formed in volcanic ash and defined as soils containing high proportions of glass and amorphous colloidal materials, including allophane, imogolite and ferrihydrite. In the World Reference Base for Soil Re ...

with rugged and hilly topography. The soil in this city is classified as soil with high fertility (class I).

Demography

In 2000, Pagaralam population was only 112,025 and it increased to 126,181 ten years later, and 143,844 after a further decade. One of the factors in the population increase has been the settlement of migrants who want to live in this city. Beside the city's native inhabitants, the Malay (Besemah), the city population also consists of several other groups, such as the Javanese, Minang,

Batak Batak is a collective term used to identify a number of closely related Austronesian ethnic groups predominantly found in North Sumatra, Indonesia, who speak Batak languages. The term is used to include the Karo, Pakpak, Simalungun, Tob ...

, Chinese,

Arabs The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...

, and Indians.

Administrative Districts

Pagar Alam is administratively divided into five

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 ...

(''kecamatan''), tabulated below with their 2010 Census and 2020 Census populations. The table also includes the number of administrative villages (rural ''desa'' and urban ''kelurahan'') in each district, and its postal codes. Note: (a) excluding the ''kelurahan'' of Sukorejo, which has a post code of 31551.

Climate

Pagar Alam has an elevation moderated

tropical rainforest climate A tropical rainforest climate, humid tropical climate or equatorial climate is a tropical climate sub-type usually found within 10 to 15 degrees latitude of the equator. There are some other areas at higher latitudes, such as the coast of southe ...

(Af) with heavy rainfall year-round.

Transportation

Atung Bungsu Airport

Atung Bungsu Airport Atung Bungsu Airport ( id, Bandar Udara Atung Bungsu) is an international airport serving Pagar Alam, South Sumatra South Sumatra ( id, Sumatra Selatan) is a province of Indonesia. It is located on the southeast of the island of Sumatra, The p ...

is the only airport in Pagar Alam. It is opened on 28 February 2013. With air transport it now is less than one hour from Palembang, instead of eight hours using land transportation.

Education

Colleges

# Sekolah Tinggi Ilmu Tarbiyah (STIT) # Sekolah Tinggi Keguruan & Ilmu Pendidikan (STKIP) Muhammadiyah Pagar Alam # Sekolah Tinggi Ilmu Ekonomi (STIE) Lembah Dempo Pagar Alam]
Sekolah Tinggi Teknologi Pagaralam (STTP) Simpang Mbacang

Tourism

Beside its landscapes, the city also offer heritage tourism with a lot of megalithic sites. The Pagaralam government will build an integrated tourism area in a 26 hectare

bamboo Bamboos are a diverse group of evergreen perennial flowering plants making up the subfamily Bambusoideae of the grass family Poaceae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family. The origin of the word "bamboo" is uncertain, ...

forest at Curup Jahe in North Pagaralam.

References

External links

* {{South Sumatra