Pagar Alam (sometimes written as Pagaralam, Jawi: ), is a city in South Sumatra,

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 ...

. Before established as a definitive city, Pagaralam was an administrative city in

Lahat Regency Lahat Regency is a regency of South Sumatra (or Sumatra Selatan) province, Indonesia. It covers a total area of 4,361.83 km2 and had a population of 369,974 at the 2010 Census and 430,071 at the 2020 Census. The city of Pagar Alam is an encla ...

. It has an area of 633.66 km² and a population of 126,181 at the 2010 Census and 143,844 at the 2020 Census. Pagaralam is located by the Bukit Barisan Mountains, at the feet of

Mount Dempo Mount Dempo is the highest stratovolcano in South Sumatra province that rises above Pasumah Plain near Pagar Alam and adjacent with Bengkulu Province. Seven craters are found around the summit. A wide lake is found at the north-west end of the c ...

, a volcano and the highest mountain in South Sumatra. It is 298 km southwest from the province capital city of

Palembang Palembang () is the capital city of the Indonesian province of South Sumatra. The city proper covers on both banks of the Musi River on the eastern lowland of southern Sumatra. It had a population of 1,668,848 at the 2020 Census. Palembang ...

and 60 km southwest of

Lahat The LAHAT (''Laser Homing Attack'' or ''Laser Homing Anti-Tank'', also a Hebrew word for incandescence) is a third generation semi-active laser homing guided low-weight anti-tank guided missile developed since 1991 and manufactured by Israel A ...

. The city is bounded by Bengkulu Province to the south, Jarai District to the north, Kota Agung District to the east and Tanjung Sakti Pumi District to the west. Pagaralam is the one of the main suppliers of vegetables in Palembang. Its location in the highland makes the city slightly cooler than many of the other South Sumatra cities; this, together with its astounding landscape, makes the city one of the main tourist destinations in South Sumatra and it is often visited by local tourists, especially from Palembang. Currently, the city is led by Alpian Maskoni as the mayor of the city.

Geography

Pagaralam is located by the Bukit Barisan Mountains, at the feet of

. Much of the soil in the city consists of

latosol Latosols, also known as tropical red earth, are soils found under tropical rainforests which have a relatively high content of iron and aluminium oxides. They are typically classified as oxisols (USDA soil taxonomy) or ferralsols (World Reference B ...

and

andisol In USDA soil taxonomy USDA soil taxonomy (ST) developed by the United States Department of Agriculture and the National Cooperative Soil Survey provides an elaborate classification of soil types according to several parameters (most commonly the ...

with rugged and hilly topography. The soil in this city is classified as soil with high fertility (class I).

Demography

In 2000, Pagaralam population was only 112,025 and it increased to 126,181 ten years later, and 143,844 after a further decade. One of the factors in the population increase has been the settlement of migrants who want to live in this city. Beside the city's native inhabitants, the Malay (Besemah), the city population also consists of several other groups, such as the Javanese, Minang,

Batak Batak is a collective term used to identify a number of closely related Austronesian ethnic groups predominantly found in North Sumatra, Indonesia, who speak Batak languages. The term is used to include the Karo, Pakpak, Simalungun, Toba, ...

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 ...

Arabs The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Wester ...

, and

Indians Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...

Administrative Districts

Pagar Alam is administratively divided into five

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 o ...

(''kecamatan''), tabulated below with their 2010 Census and 2020 Census populations. The table also includes the number of administrative villages (rural ''desa'' and urban ''kelurahan'') in each district, and its postal codes. Note: (a) excluding the ''kelurahan'' of Sukorejo, which has a post code of 31551.

Climate

Pagar Alam has an elevation moderated

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 southea ...

(Af) with heavy rainfall year-round.

Transportation

Atung Bungsu Airport

Atung Bungsu Airport Atung Bungsu Airport ( id, Bandar Udara Atung Bungsu) is an international airport serving Pagar Alam, South Sumatra South Sumatra ( id, Sumatra Selatan) is a province of Indonesia. It is located on the southeast of the island of Sumatra, The ...

is the only airport in Pagar Alam. It is opened on 28 February 2013. With air transport it now is less than one hour from Palembang, instead of eight hours using land transportation.

Education

Colleges

# Sekolah Tinggi Ilmu Tarbiyah (STIT) # Sekolah Tinggi Keguruan & Ilmu Pendidikan (STKIP) Muhammadiyah Pagar Alam # Sekolah Tinggi Ilmu Ekonomi (STIE) Lembah Dempo Pagar Alam]
Sekolah Tinggi Teknologi Pagaralam (STTP) Simpang Mbacang

Tourism

Beside its landscapes, the city also offer heritage tourism with a lot of megalithic sites. The Pagaralam government will build an integrated tourism area in a 26 hectare

bamboo Bamboos are a diverse group of evergreen perennial flowering plants making up the subfamily Bambusoideae of the grass family Poaceae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family. The origin of the word "bamboo" is uncertain, bu ...

forest at Curup Jahe in North Pagaralam.

References

External links

* {{South Sumatra