Cepu (formerly Tjepoe or Tjepu) is a district (''

kecamatan In Indonesia, district or ambiguously subdistrict, is the third-level administrative subdivision, below regency or city. The local term is used in the majority of Indonesian areas. The term is used in provinces in Papua. In the Special Regio ...

'') of Indonesia in

Blora Regency Blora () is a regency in the northeastern part of Central Java province in Indonesia. Its capital is the town of Blora. The regency is located in the easternmost part of Central Java and borders the Bengawan Solo River and the East Java provin ...

, Central Java Province. Its seat is the town of .

History and economy

In colonial times, when Indonesia was part of the

Dutch East Indies The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies (; ), was a Dutch Empire, Dutch colony with territory mostly comprising the modern state of Indonesia, which Proclamation of Indonesian Independence, declared independence on 17 Au ...

, Cepu was known for its

teak Teak (''Tectona grandis'') is a tropical hardwood tree species in the family Lamiaceae. It is a large, deciduous tree that occurs in mixed hardwood forests. ''Tectona grandis'' has small, fragrant white flowers arranged in dense clusters (panic ...

(timber) and

oil An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) and lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturate ...

. The oil refineries, operated by

Bataafse Petroleum Maatschappij Bataafse Petroleum Maatschappij or Bataafsche Petroleum Maatschappij (, colloquially known as BPM) was the Dutch East Indies and later Indonesian subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell oil company established in 1907. History The BPM was established i ...

, could produce about 11,000 bpd. They were blown up by the Dutch immediately after the Japanese landings on the island of

Java Java is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea (a part of Pacific Ocean) to the north. With a population of 156.9 million people (including Madura) in mid 2024, proje ...

in 1942. The invaders, one of whose objectives was the oilfields, committed atrocities. The teak is still highly regarded. By 2001, the oil reserves were thought to have been exhausted; but new ones have been discovered by

ExxonMobil Exxon Mobil Corporation ( ) is an American multinational List of oil exploration and production companies, oil and gas corporation headquartered in Spring, Texas, a suburb of Houston. Founded as the Successors of Standard Oil, largest direct s ...

, which may yield 235,000 bpd.

Weather, climate and ecology

The nearest weather station to Cepu town appears to be at

Surakarta Surakarta (Javanese script, Javanese: , Pegon script, Pegon: ), known colloquially as Solo (Javanese script, Javanese: ; ), is a major List of regencies and cities of Indonesia, city in Central Java, Indonesia. The city adjoins Karanganyar Reg ...

, Central Java, away.

Language

The local language is , a dialect of Javanese.

Subdivisions

Cepu District comprises the following rural and urban villages: * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Transportation

Cepu lies between

Semarang Semarang (Javanese script, Javanese: , ''Kutha Semarang'') is the capital and largest city of Central Java province in Indonesia. It was a major port during the Netherlands, Dutch Dutch East Indies, colonial era, and is still an important regio ...

(), capital of Central Java Province, and

Surabaya Surabaya is the capital city of East Java Provinces of Indonesia, province and the List of Indonesian cities by population, second-largest city in Indonesia, after Jakarta. Located on the northeastern corner of Java island, on the Madura Strai ...

(), capital of

East Java Province East Java (, , ) is a province of Indonesia located in the easternmost third of Java island. It has a land border only with the province of Central Java to the west; the Java Sea and the Indian Ocean border its northern and southern coasts, res ...

, and is connected to them by road. It is from

Blora Blora () is a regency in the northeastern part of Central Java province in Indonesia. Its capital is the town of Blora. The regency is located in the easternmost part of Central Java and borders the Bengawan Solo River and the East Java pr ...

, capital of Blora Regency. Cepu is served by and

Ngloram Airport Ngloram Airport is an airport in Cepu, Central Java, Indonesia. In February 2018, the Ministry of Transportation announced that they had budgeted () to extend the airport's runway and to improve supporting facilities. There was a plan to ren ...

Cepu Forest Railway The Cepu Forest Railway (officially branded as Loco Tour Cepu) is a narrow gauge light forest railway, logging railway that runs through teak plantations to the northwest of the town of Cepu (town), Cepu, in Cepu, Blora, Cepu district, on the bou ...

is a

steam-powered A steam engine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid. The steam engine uses the force produced by steam pressure to push a piston back and forth inside a cylinder. This pushing force can be tra ...

narrow-gauge A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge (distance between the rails) narrower than . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter curv ...

light

logging railway A forest railway, forest tram, timber line, logging railway or logging railroad is a mode of railway transport which is used for forestry tasks, primarily the transportation of felling, felled Trunk (botany), logs to sawmills or railway stations. ...

which also runs tourist trains.

People

* Mukti Ali (1923-2004), Minister of Religious Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia; born in Cepu * Sekarmadji Maridjan Kartosuwiryo (1905-1962), Indonesian Islamic mystic; born in Cepu * Leonardus Benjamin Moerdani (1932-2004), general, Commander-in-Chief of ABRI 1983-1988, Minister of Defense and Security; born in Cepu COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM Twee treinen bij een wissel voor het vervoer van djati Houtvesterij Tjepoe Midden Java TMnr 10013035

COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM Twee treinen bij een wissel voor het vervoer van djati Houtvesterij Tjepoe Midden Java TMnr 10013035