North Padang Lawas (''Padang Lawas Utara'') 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 ...

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 of

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 has an area of 3,918.05 km², and had a population of 223,049 at the 2010 census and 260,720 at the 2020 census.Badan Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 2021. Its administrative seat is the town of Gunung Tua.

Demographics

Population

The population of North Padang Lawas in the 2010 census results was 223,049 people with a density of 57 per square kilometer, which in 2020 increased to 260,720 people with population growth from year to year around 2.18%.

Ethnic

The population of North Padang Lawas district is quite ethnically diverse. Overall, the majority of the population comes from the Batak Angkola tribe. Various types of Angkola Batak clans, such as: Harahap, Lubis, Siregar, Nasution, Hasibuan, Daulay, Dalimunte, Hutasuhut, Batubara. In addition, Batak Toba,

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 ...

and Javanese are also quite numerous in North Padang Lawas.

Religion

Followers of religion

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God (or '' Allah'') as it was revealed to Muhammad, the ...

amounted to 90.40%, then Protestanism 9.21%,

Catholicism The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

0.38% and

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 ...

around 0.01%. The Batak people of Angkola, Mandailing, Minangkabau and Javanese, generally embrace Islam. Meanwhile, the ethnic Batak Toba, Karo, Simalungun and Nias people, mostly embrace Christianity. Meanwhile, there are 593 mosques, 34 Protestant churches and 1 Catholic church.

Administrative Districts

At the 2010 census, the regency was divided into nine

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''). Subsequently, three additional districts (Padang Bolak Tenggara, Ujung Batu and Halongonan Timur) have been created by the division of existing districts. The districts are 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. Notes:
(a) The 2010 population of Padang Bolak District is included in the figure for Padang Bolak District, from which it was split.
(b) The 2010 population of Ujung Batu District is included in the figure for Simangambat District, from which it was split.
(c) The 2010 population of Halongonan Timur District is included in the figure for Halongonan District, from which it was split.

Archaeology

The Padang Lawas archaeological site is partly located in the regency. The site covers approximately 1,500 km², encompassing the ''

kecamatan The term ''district'', in the context of Indonesia, refers to the third-level administrative subdivision, below regency or city. The local term ' is used in the majority of Indonesian areas, except in Papua, West Papua, and the Special Region o ...

'' (districts) of Portibi and Padang Bolak in this regency, and Barumun and Barumun Tengah in the Padang Lawas Regency. Hindu-Buddhist remains are found on the site, including structures called ''biaro'' (from

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural diffusion ...

'' vihara'', meaning "temple" or "monastery"). The village of Batu Gana in Padang Bolak Julu district is the location of a burial site consisting of a

megalithic A megalith is a large stone that has been used to construct a prehistoric structure or monument, either alone or together with other stones. There are over 35,000 in Europe alone, located widely from Sweden to the Mediterranean sea. The ...

structure. In the village of Padang Bujur in the same district, one can also find megalithic remains and what seems to be the base for a padmasana. Other megalithic remains are found at Aek Korsik and Aek Tolong Huta, also in the Padang Bolak district.

References

*Simanjuntak, Truman, M. Hisyam, Bagyo Prasetyo, Titi Surti Nastiti (éds.), ''Archaeology: Indonesian perspective : R.P. Soejono's festschrift'', LIPI, Jakarta, 2006, {{coord, 1.4601, N, 99.6735, E, source:wikidata, display=title Regencies of North Sumatra