Sibolga (formerly sometimes Siboga) is a city and a port located in the natural harbor of

Sibolga Bay Sibolga Bay (formerly known by the Dutch ''Baai van Tapanoeli'', literally The Bay of Tapanoeli; alternatively Tapanuli Bay) is a natural harbour on the west coast of North Sumatra, Sumatra, Indonesia. It is named after the city of Sibolga which ...

on the west coast of

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, 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 Gui ...

. It is located on the western side of North Sumatra, facing the Indian Ocean and is a transit harbor to the Nias island which was hard hit during the

2004 Indian Ocean earthquake An earthquake and a tsunami, known as the Boxing Day Tsunami and, by the scientific community, the Sumatra–Andaman earthquake, occurred at 07:58:53 local time ( UTC+7) on 26 December 2004, with an epicentre off the west coast of northern ...

. Sibolga is also a semi-enclave within Central Tapanuli Regency, as Sibolga borders with Central Tapanuli Regency in the north, east, and south, while it borders with the Mentawai Strait in the west. The city has an area of 10.77 km² and had a population of 84,444 at the 2010 census and 89,584 at the 2020 census.Badan Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 2021. Sibolga is the smallest city in Indonesia.

Administrative districts

The city is divided into four

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, subdivision ...

s (''kecamatan''), tabulated below with their areas and their populations at the 2010 censusBiro Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 2011. and the 2020 census.Badan Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 2021. The table also includes the number of administrative villages (''desa'' and ''kelurahan'') in each district and its post codes.

History

Poncan Ketek Island (Small Poncan Island) in

was once the location of a fort. British, Dutch, French and American traders passed through here. It is thought

Stamford Raffles Sir Thomas Stamford Bingley Raffles (5 July 1781 – 5 July 1826) was a British statesman who served as the Lieutenant-Governor of the Dutch East Indies between 1811 and 1816, and Lieutenant-Governor of Bencoolen between 1818 and 1824. He is ...

passed through before he moved to

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 ...

in south Sumatra. From Bengkulu Raffles, after relinquishing the Port to the Dutch, established the trade port that became

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, bor ...

. At some point between 1890 and 1920 there was a major fire in the city, which was presumably mostly built from wood from the surrounding mountains (shown partly denuded in the 1928 panorama). A presumably makeshift prison described as a "civilian camp" was set up on ''Taroetoengweg'', in the city center, from 16 March to 4 May 1942. It first housed 10 "European" men from in and around Sibolga, who were then joined on April 24 by another 10 men from the island of

Nias 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 ...

. On May 4 they were taken to the Native Secondary School for Boys in Pearadja (

Taroetoeng Tarutung (Dutch: ) is a town and the administrative capital (seat) of North Tapanuli Regency (''Kabupaten Tapanuli Utara''), North Sumatra, Sumatra, Indonesia. in the Batak language means "durian The durian (, ) is the edible fruit of se ...

), which is located up in the mountains behind Sibolga.

Transport and tourism

Buses are available from

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 mai ...

Parapat Parapat, also known as the City of Parapat, is a small town in North Sumatra province on the edge of Lake Toba, on the Uluan Peninsula where it forms the narrowest eastern link to Samosir Island. It is the primary transit point by ferry for vis ...

and

Padang Padang () is the capital and largest city of the Indonesian province of West Sumatra. With a Census population of 1,015,000 as of 2022, it is the 16th most populous city in Indonesia and the most populous city on the west coast of Sumatra. Th ...

. Ferries from here service the outlying islands to the west,

Simeulue Simeulue is an island of Indonesia, off the west coast of Sumatra. It covers an area of 1754 square kilometres (677 square miles), including minor offshore islands. It had a population of 80,674 at the 2010 census and 92,865 at the 2020 census ...

and

, as well as the rest of

. Sibolga is a step off point for trade and passenger boats to Nias Island. The local airport is

Ferdinand Lumban Tobing Airport Dr. Ferdinand Lumban Tobing Airport (also known as ''Pinangsori Airport'') is an airport serving the city of Sibolga in the North Sumatra province of Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast As ...

Climate

This area has a

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 ...

with no real

dry season The dry season is a yearly period of low rainfall, especially in the tropics. The weather in the tropics is dominated by the tropical rain belt, which moves from the northern to the southern tropics and back over the course of the year. The ...

. Regions with this climate typically feature

tropical rainforest Tropical rainforests are rainforests that occur in areas of tropical rainforest climate in which there is no dry season – all months have an average precipitation of at least 60 mm – and may also be referred to as ''lowland equator ...

s, and are designated by the

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, nota ...

as "Af".

Gallery

Fort-Tapanoeli-on-Poncan-Ketek.png, Fort Tapanuli on Poncan Ketek Island in 1878 COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM Ravage na een brand in Sibolga TMnr 60046398.jpg, Devastation after the fire (ca. 1890–1920) COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM Ravage na een brand in Sibolga TMnr 60046397.jpg, Devastation after the fire (ca. 1890–1920) COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM Ravage na brand in Sibolga TMnr 60046396.jpg, Devastation after the fire (ca. 1890–1920) COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM Erepoort in de Chinese wijk van Sibolga TMnr 60023143.jpg, Entrance gate to Sibolga's Chinese Quarter, 1920 COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM Autobus van de Gouvernements Automobieldienst op de lijn Sibolga - Balige TMnr 60021703.jpg, Government bus descending Sibolga's mountain road, June 1919 Sibolga Panorama 1928.jpg, Panorama of Sibolga, 1928

References

External links

{{Authority control Ports and harbours of Indonesia Ports and harbours of the Indian Ocean