Bengkalis Regency is a

regency A regent (from Latin : ruling, governing) is a person appointed to govern a state '' pro tempore'' (Latin: 'for the time being') because the monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge the powers and duties of the monarchy ...

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 ...

in the

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. Accordi ...

province. The regency, which includes the whole of Bengkalis and Rupat Islands in the

Strait of Malacca The Strait of Malacca is a narrow stretch of water, 500 mi (800 km) long and from 40 to 155 mi (65–250 km) wide, between the Malay Peninsula (Peninsular Malaysia) to the northeast and the Indonesian island of Sumatra to the southwest, connec ...

, has been established since 1956. The regency was formerly divided into 13

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 ...

(or ''kecamatan''); however five of these districts were removed to create the new Meranti Islands Regency, leaving eight districts in the Bengkalis Regency, which number has increased since 2010 to eleven by splitting of existing districts on the Sumatran mainland. Bengkalis Regency produces natural resources, particularly

petroleum Petroleum, also known as crude oil, or simply oil, is a naturally occurring yellowish-black liquid mixture of mainly hydrocarbons, and is found in geological formations. The name ''petroleum'' covers both naturally occurring unprocessed crud ...

rubber Rubber, also called India rubber, latex, Amazonian rubber, ''caucho'', or ''caoutchouc'', as initially produced, consists of polymers of the organic compound isoprene, with minor impurities of other organic compounds. Thailand, Malaysia, and ...

, and

coconut The coconut tree (''Cocos nucifera'') is a member of the palm tree family (Arecaceae) and the only living species of the genus ''Cocos''. The term "coconut" (or the archaic "cocoanut") can refer to the whole coconut palm, the seed, or the f ...

. The regency is home to the

Bukit Batu Biosphere Reserve Giam Siak Kecil-Bukit Batu Bioreserve (Indonesian: ''Cagar Biosfer Giam Siak Kecil Bukit Batu'' or CB-GSK-BB) is a peatland area in Riau Province of Sumatra, covering and large parts of Bengkalis Regency and Siak Regency. It is a declared UNESCO ...

Geography

Bengkalis Regency comprises the whole of Bengkalis Island and Rupat Island which are located in the

Straits of Malacca The Strait of Malacca is a narrow stretch of water, 500 mi (800 km) long and from 40 to 155 mi (65–250 km) wide, between the Malay Peninsula ( Peninsular Malaysia) to the northeast and the Indonesian island of Sumatra to the southwest, co ...

, together with a wide swathe of the eastern coastal area of Sumatra Island as well as other islands within the archipelago to its north-east. The land area covers 8,426.48 km² and it borders on the Malacca Straits to the North, on Siak Regency to the south, on the Meranti Islands Regency to the Southeast, and on

Dumai Dumai ( Jawi: , ), is a city in Riau province on the island of Sumatra, Indonesia. The city has an area of 1,727.38 km2 and had 253,803 inhabitants at the 2010 census, 285,448 at the 2015 census and 316,782 at the 2020 census. Dumai has a d ...

municipality,

Rokan Hilir Regency Rokan Hilir ("Lower Rokan") is a regency (''kabupaten'') of Riau Province, on Sumatra island, Indonesia. It occupies the lower part of the catchment area of the Rokan River, and has an area of 8,851.59 km2. It had a population of 553,216 at ...

and Rokan Hulu Regency to the West. The

Bengkalis Strait 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 ...

separates Bengkalis Island 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 ...

as well as from

Padang Island Padang Island is an island in Riau province, Indonesia, close to the east coast 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-l ...

and

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 The Strait of Malacca is a narrow stretch of water, 500 mi (800 km) long and from 40 to 155 mi (6 ...

Population

Following the splitting of the regency to create a new Meranti Islands Regency, the residual area of Bengkalis Regency had a population of 498,336 at the 2010 census and 565,569 at the 2020 census.

Administrative districts

The eleven districts (''kecamatan'') currently forming the regency are listed below with their areas and their populations at the 2010 and 2020 censuses:Badan Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 2021. The table also includes the locations of the district administrative centres, and the number of villages (rural ''desa'' and urban ''kelurahan'') in each district. Notes: (a) the 2010 populations of the new Bathin Solapan and Talang Muandau Districts are included in the figures for Mandau and Pinggir Districts, from which they were cut out.
(b) the 2010 population of the new Bandar Laksamana District is included in the figure for Bukit Batu District, from which it was cut out.
Bengkalis Island comprises Bengkalis and Bantan districts, while Rupat Island comprises Rupat and Rupat Utara (North Rupat) districts. The remaining seven districts lie on Sumatra Island.

References

Regencies of Riau Riau Archipelago {{Riau-geo-stub