Selat Panjang (
Jawi: ; ) is the capital of
Kepulauan Meranti Regency, which is part of the province of
Riau
Riau is a province of Indonesia. It is located on the central eastern coast of Sumatra along the Strait of Malacca. The province shares land borders with North Sumatra to the northwest, West Sumatra to the west, and Jambi to the south. Accord ...
in
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 ...
. The regency is a new regency in Riau province which was established in 2009 after being separated from
Bengkalis Regency. The city is located on
Tebing Tinggi Island
Tebing Tinggi Island (also Rantau) is an island off the north east coast of Riau Province, Sumatra, Indonesia, located in the Strait of Malacca. It is located in the Meranti Islands Regency, and is directly east of Padang Island and directly sout ...
, which is separated by a narrow channel from
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 ...
, and across the
Strait of Malacca from
Singapore
Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...
.
People
Selat Panjang has a dense population of about 120,000 people. The largest ethnic group is
Chinese
Chinese can refer to:
* Something related to China
* Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity
**''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation
** List of ethnic groups in China, people of va ...
, and almost all of them adhere to
Buddhism
Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and gra ...
and
Taoism
Taoism (, ) or Daoism () refers to either a school of Philosophy, philosophical thought (道家; ''daojia'') or to a religion (道教; ''daojiao''), both of which share ideas and concepts of China, Chinese origin and emphasize living in harmo ...
. Around 37% of the population are ethnic
Malay
Malay may refer to:
Languages
* Malay language or Bahasa Melayu, a major Austronesian language spoken in Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei and Singapore
** History of the Malay language, the Malay language from the 4th to the 14th century
** Indonesi ...
. There are also smaller ethnic groups such as
Tamils,
Minangkabau and
Javanese.
Thus, nowadays many Chinese Indonesians that are originally from Selat Panjang have moved to other regions in order to make a better living at prominent locations like
Medan
Medan (; English: ) is the capital and largest city of the Indonesian province of North Sumatra, as well as a regional hub and financial centre of Sumatra. According to the National Development Planning Agency, Medan is one of the four main ...
,
Pekanbaru
Pekanbaru is the capital of Indonesian province of Riau, and a major economic center on the eastern part of Sumatra, Sumatra Island. Its name is derived from the Malay language, Malay words for 'new market' ('pekan' is market and 'baru' is new). ...
,
Batam,
Bengkalis Bengkalis (''Kota Bengkalis'') was the seat (capital) of Bengkalis Regency in the Riau province of Indonesia until 8 July 2013, when it became an independent city. It is located on Bengkalis Island. The city had a population of 66,211.
Bengkalis ha ...
and
Tanjung Balai Karimun. Nevertheless, during every
Chinese New Year
Chinese New Year is the festival that celebrates the beginning of a New Year, new year on the traditional lunisolar calendar, lunisolar and solar Chinese calendar. In Sinophone, Chinese and other East Asian cultures, the festival is commonly r ...
, many of them would return back to Selat Panjang in order to celebrate the Chinese New Year with their kins and relatives although they have migrated to other regions or cities for many years.
Language
Bahasa Indonesia is primarily spoken by people in Selatpanjang. Beside that, ''Riau Malay'' is used as a lingua franca while the local Chinese population speaks a form of
Hokkien
The Hokkien () variety of Chinese is a Southern Min language native to and originating from the Minnan region, where it is widely spoken in the south-eastern part of Fujian in southeastern mainland China. It is one of the national languages in ...
language known as ''
Riau Hokkien
Southern Malaysian Hokkien () is a local variant of the Min Nan varieties of Chinese, Chinese variety spoken in Central and Southern Peninsular Malaysia (Klang, Malaysia, Klang, Melaka, Muar (district), Muar, Tangkak, Segamat, Batu Pahat (cit ...
'' (廖内福建话). This form of Hokkien is very similar to
Singaporean Hokkien and
Southern Malaysian Hokkien
Southern Malaysian Hokkien () is a local variant of the Min Nan Chinese variety spoken in Central and Southern Peninsular Malaysia ( Klang, Melaka, Muar, Tangkak, Segamat, Batu Pahat, Pontian and Johor Bahru). Due to geographical proximi ...
in terms of accent as well as lexicon. ''Riau Hokkien'' is spoken in the middle and southern part of the Indonesian island of
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 ...
and is very different from
Medan Hokkien which is used in the northern part of the Sumatra island.
Climate & Environment
Located near to the equator, temperatures vary little during the year, typically with a high of and low of in each month. Rainfall ranges from in July to in November, totalling about per year. The land is flat. At one time it was entirely covered by
peat
Peat (), also known as turf (), is an accumulation of partially decayed vegetation or organic matter. It is unique to natural areas called peatlands, bogs, mires, moors, or muskegs. The peatland ecosystem covers and is the most efficien ...
swamps and dense forest, but it is rapidly being cleared for
pulpwood
Pulpwood is timber with the principal use of making wood pulp for paper production.
Applications
* Trees raised specifically for pulp production account for 15% of world pulp production, old growth forests 9% and second- and third- and more gener ...
and
palm oil
Palm oil is an edible vegetable oil derived from the mesocarp (reddish pulp) of the fruit of the oil palms. The oil is used in food manufacturing, in beauty products, and as biofuel. Palm oil accounted for about 33% of global oils produced from ...
plantations.
Mudskippers
Mudskippers are any of the 23 extant species of amphibious fish from the subfamily Oxudercinae of the goby family Oxudercidae. They are known for their unusual body shapes, preferences for semiaquatic habitats, limited terrestrial locomotion and ...
thrive in the tidal flats. Lake Nambus is about 30 minutes by road from the port of Selat Panjang, near Tanjung Village, surrounded by protected forest. During the month of
Safar
Ṣafar ( ar, صَفَر) also spelt as Safer in Turkish, is the second month of the lunar Islamic calendar. The Arabic word ''ṣafar'' means "travel, migration", corresponding to the pre-Islamic Arabian time period when muslims flee the oppr ...
local people swim in the lake.
History of the City
The city of Selat Panjang is the administrative seat of the
Meranti Islands
Meranti Islands is a regency (''kabupaten'') of Riau Province, and lies off the eastern coast of the island of Sumatra, Indonesia. The regency comprises the islands of Tebing Tinggi, Rangsang, Padang and Merbau, together with minor offshore islands ...
Regency. It used to be one of the city(Bandar) are the most busy and popular trade in the Sultanate of Siak. since the first Bandar has formed a heterogeneous society, especially the Malays and Chinese, because they are the role of inter- formed closely in harmony cultural activities and trade. All this is inseparable tolerance inter-fraternity. It is this factor which then fosters trade and traffic as well as human goods from China to the archipelago and vice versa.
Selat Panjang and the surrounding area was formerly a territory of the Sultanate of Siak Sri Indrapura which is one of the largest empire in Riau during the reign of Sultan Siak VII of Sultan Sharif Ali Abdul Jalil Assyaidis Syaifuddin Baalawi (who reigned in 1784-1810), usually called Sultan Sharif Ali, gave command to the Commander of Tengku Muda Good Saiyid Thoha to establish the State or the dealer at the Tebing Tinggi Island. In addition to interest on the island as well as the Sultan Sharif Ali Abdul Jalil Assyaidis Syaifuddin Baalawi himself had to stop in the area, the main purpose of Sultan Sharif Ali wanted to gather forces against the kingdom of Sambas (West Kalimantan), which indicated allied with the Dutch, who had betrayed the agreement faithfully and steal the crown Siak kingdom. Country or Bandar as it will spearhead the third defense after the Bukit Batu and Merbau''to confront the invaders and pirates.
Then move the fleet under the Command of Commander in Chief Tengku Muda Saiyid Thoha at the beginning of Muharram in 1805 AD Kingdom of Siak accompanied by some authorities, hundreds of soldiers and Balang upstream toward the island of High Cliff. They arrived at the cliff Forest Alai (now the Capital District of West Tebingtinggi). Commander immediately stabbing keris greets Alai. Ground Alai Land did not answer, he scooped up a handful of land, was hot. He took it off, "According to all the knowledge den, the soil is not good Alai made a country because of land Forest land Alai is a male, could develop into a new country in a period of time," said the commander in front of a magnifying Siak and his men.
Commander of the departed along the coast of this island. Then, it looks a high cliff. "This is the hell is meant by the father of Sultan Sharif Ali," he thought. Fleet docked to Cliff High Land coincide date April 7, 1805 AD. At age was 25 years, with say bismillah Commander soared into the high ground while greeting. "Alha-mdulillah high ground is answering greetings den," he said. Land on take it, feels cool and comfortable. He plugs in dagger on the ground (roughly its current location near the office complex Selatpanjang Customs). As I said, "Hear ye the land by the Forest High Cliff is a very well established a country. This country will develop safe and prosperous when leaders and citizens fairly and work hard and obey the laws of God. "
Commander was standing in front of all the royal princes, soldiers, upstream Balang, and inner-inner around the island. "Den Bagus Saiyid Thoha named Tengku Panglima Besar Muda Siak Sri Indrapura. Kris den is named Lightning Open Sunscreen Natural State. That this figure den den Affairs Makmur Kencana Bandar called the High Cliff. "Origin of the town's name Selatpanjang.
After the cutting of forests, open areas of power, stood the palace of the great commander. In 1810 AD Sultan Sharif Ali Muda Tengku Panglima Besar Saiyid Thoha as ruler of the island. At that time, east of the country bordering the River Suir and the west is bordered by the River Perumbi, as the development time is increasingly crowded airports and grow as a commercial port in the empire siak.
Bustling trade interaction of coastal areas of Riau's the reason for the Dutch East Indies government participated in the determination of the name of this country. History was recorded during the 11th Sultan of Siak Sultan Hashim Abdul Jalil Assayaidis Syarief Syaifuddin. In 1880, the government in the High Cliff State Makmur Kencana dominated by JM Tengkoe Soelong Tjantik Saijet Alwi who holds a Master Tomonggong Marhum Tail (Head of State who is responsible to the Sultan of Siak). During his reign at this airport there was a polemic with the Dutch Colonial Government is Konteliur Van Huis about changing the name of this country, in the Dutch colonial government unilaterally changed the area into Selatpanjang, but not approved by JM Tengkoe Soelong Tjantik Saijet Alwi as local stakeholders. Finally, based on mutual agreement on September 4, 1899, High Cliff State Kencana Makmur Airport turns into State Tebingtinggi Selatpanjang.JM Tengkoe Soelong Tjantik Saijet Alwi died in 1908. Over time the beginning of the Government of the Republic of Indonesia, selatpanjang city and surrounding area is under Bengkalis Regency Kewedanan which then changed status to Tebingtinggi. Pada District dated December 19, 2008, selatpanjang and surrounding area was turned into Meranti Islands Regency split away from the Bengkalis Regency with capital Selatpanjang
Economy
![Selatpanjang dilihat dari laut](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/05/Selatpanjang_dilihat_dari_laut.jpg)
The town's main activities are fishing, agriculture, timber and retail. Selat Panjang has a small port with limited capacity. Electricity supply is not yet optimal. The people of the area are largely dependent on water transport, still often using dugouts to get around. However, both oil and natural gas have been found in Tebing Tinggi and the neighboring
Padang and Merbau Islands. The TA field is close to Selat Panjang. New
sago plantings were started in the region on peat soils in 1989, with US$2 million per year expected to be invested the crop.
Hotels
Star Hotels in Selat Panjang, among others:
[ ]
Tourism
* Cultural attractions in Selatpanjang
![Sejahtera Sakti Selatpanjang](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/69/Sejahtera_Sakti_Selatpanjang.jpg)
*
Hoo Ann Kiong Temple
Hoo Ann Kiong Temple (, known as Vihara Sejahtera Sakti in Indonesian) is the oldest Chinese Taoism temple in Selat Panjang. This temple is the oldest in Riau province and on Jalan Ahmad Yani, Selat Panjang, Riau. It is one of the cultural heri ...
(護安宮)
Sister Cities
References
{{Reflist
Populated places in Riau
Regency seats of Riau