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Nias Selatan (South Nias) Regency is a regency in

North Sumatra North Sumatra ( id, Sumatra Utara) is a province of Indonesia located on the northern part of the island of Sumatra. Its capital and largest city is Medan. North Sumatra is Indonesia's fourth most populous province after West Java, East Java and ...

province,

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 covers a land area of 2,487.98 square kilometres and according to the 2010 census had a population of 289,708; the 2020 Census showed a population of 360,531, while the official estimate for mid 2021 was 366,163. Its administrative centre is the port of

Teluk Dalam Teluk Dalam (also written as Telukdalam) is a town and district in the South Nias Regency, North Sumatra province, Indonesia. Following the splitting off of parts of the original district to form new districts, it is now mainly confined to the to ...

. Apart from the southern portion of

Nias Island Nias ( id, Pulau Nias, Nias language: ''Tanö Niha'') (sometimes called Little Sumatra in English) is an island located off the western coast of Sumatra, Indonesia. Nias is also the name of the archipelago () of which the island is the centre, ...

, the regency also includes the smaller Batu Islands (Pulau Pulau Batu) to the south, lying between Nias and

Siberut Siberut is the largest and northernmost of the Mentawai Islands, located 150 kilometres west of Sumatra in the Indian Ocean. It covers an area of 3,838.25 km2 including smaller offshore islands, and had a population of 35,091 at the 2010 Cens ...

Administrative districts

The regency was divided into eighteen

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 ...

s (''kecamatan'') at the time of the 2010 Census, However, since 2010 seventeen additional districts have been created from parts of existing districts, notably in the Batu Islands where there are now seven districts compared with the three in 2010, but also on Nias Island itself where there are now twenty-eight districts within the Regency compared with fifteen in 2010. These are all tabulated below with their areas (in km²) and their populations at the 2010 Census, and the 2020 Census. They are grouped geographically (these groupings have no administrative significance). The table also includes the locations of the district administrative centres, the number of administrative villages ( a total of 459 classed as rural ''desa'' and 2 classed as urban ''kelurahan'') in each district, and its postal code. Notes: (a) Hibala District now comprises 42 islands. (b) The 2010 population of Tanah Masa District (comprising that part of Tanahmasa Island previously part of Hibala District) is included in the 2010 population of Hibala District. (c) Pulau Pulau Batu District now comprises 35 islands. (d) The 2010 populations of Simuk District (Simuk Island), Pulau Pulau Batu Barat District and Pulau Pulau Batu Utara District are included in the 2010 population of Pulau Pulau Batu District.
(e) The 2010 populations of the thirteen new districts on Nias Island are included in the 2010 populations of the districts from which they were split off. There are 2 urban villages (''kelurahan'') - Pasar Teluk Dalam in Teluk Dalam District, and Pasar Pulau Tello in Pulau Pulau Batu District. The four new districts in the Batu Islands are Pulau Pulau Batu Barat (West Batu Islands), Pulau Pulau Batu Utara (North Batu Islands), Simuk (Simuk Island) and Tanah Masa (that part of Tanahmasa Island previously part of Hibala District). The thirteen new districts on Nias Island itself are Hilisalawa'ahe, O'o'u, Onohazumba, Ulususua, Ulunoyo, Huruna, Luahagundre Maniomolo, Onolalu, Boronadu, Sidua'ori, Somambawa, Ulu Idanotae, and Idanotae.

Tourism

South Nias Regency is a paradise for surfers with four surfing beaches: * Sorake Beach ( Lagundri Bay) is the second best in the world after

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

Beach for surfing. It has five levels of waves which only occurs here. Located in Luahagundre Maniamolo district with a wave height of a maximum 3-4 metres and it depends on the wind. * Beaches in Pulau Pulau Batu, Pulau Pulau Batu Barat, and Pulau Pulau Batu Utara districts with wave height maximum 8-9 metres, but have only limited infrastructures.

References

{{coord, 0.7700, N, 97.7500, E, source:wikidata, display=title Regencies of North Sumatra