Names of Provinces in Indonesia – According to the 1945 Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia, Article 18 Paragraph, it is explained that the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia is divided into provincial areas, and the provincial areas are divided into Regencies, Cities, and each province, district and city has a regional government that has been regulated by law.
The provincial area, according to the law, is an autonomous region with the governor as the head of government, and the holder of legislative power is the Regional People’s Representative Council (DPRD).
Previously, Indonesia only had 34 provinces, but starting November 11, 2022, Indonesia officially has 37 provinces with the additional 3 provinces. The three additional provinces are South Papua, Central Papua and Highlands Papua. Changes related to this province have been legalized through Law No. 14 of 2022, Law No. 15 of 2022, and Law No. 16 of 2022. With the addition of the three new provinces, the following lists the names of provinces in Indonesia.
List of Names of Provinces in Indonesia
Before discussing the names of the 38 provinces in Indonesia, it would be better if Sinaumed knew the legal basis first. In the 1945 Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia Article 18 paragraph 1, it is stated that the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia is divided into provinces, and the provincial areas are divided again into districts and cities. Each province, district, and city has a regional administration which is regulated according to law.
According to the 1945 Constitution, a province is an autonomous region that has a governor as its head. Meanwhile, the holder of legislative power at the regional level is the Provincial Regional People’s Representative Council (DPRD).
Regional governments have the authority to organize and manage their own government affairs in accordance with the principles of autonomy and co-administration and carry out the widest possible autonomy, except regarding government affairs which are determined by law as the affairs of the central government.
In addition, according to Law No. 23 of 2014 concerning Regional Government, apart from having the status of an autonomous region, the province is also an administrative area which is the work area for the governor as a representative of the central government as well as the work area for a governor in carrying out general government affairs in the area under his jurisdiction. provincial area.
As part of their duties in managing the affairs of each province, a governor is accountable to the President of the Republic of Indonesia through the Minister of Home Affairs.
The 1945 law also states that the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia recognizes and respects regional government units that have special and special characteristics that are regulated by law.
Then, as previously explained, the number of provinces in Indonesia increased by 3, and now there are 38 provinces. This is in accordance with what was conveyed by the Minister of Home Affairs, Tito Karnavian.
For more details, here is a list of 38 provinces in Indonesia and their full descriptions.
| Province | Geographic area | Capital | Anniversary | Population
( soul , th. 2021) |
| aceh | Sumatra | Banda Aceh | There isn’t any | 5,325,010 |
| North Sumatra | Sumatra | Medan | April 15, 1948 | 15,180,796 |
| West Sumatra | Sumatra | Padang | October 1, 1945 | 5,596,336 |
| Riau | Sumatra | Pekanbaru | August 9, 1957 | 6,454,751 |
| Jambi | Sumatra | Jambi | January 6, 1957 | 3,557,073 |
| South Sumatra | Sumatra | Palembang | May 15, 1946 | 8,490,335 |
| Bengkulu | Sumatra | Bengkulu | November 18, 1968 | 2,032,767 |
| Lampung | Sumatra | Bandar Lampung | March 18, 1964 | 8,853,275 |
| Bangka Belitung Islands | Sumatra | Pangkalpinang | November 21, 2000 | 1,455,485 |
| Riau islands | Sumatra | Tanjung Pinang | Sept. 24, 2002 | 2,055,278 |
| Jakarta Capital Special Region | Java | There isn’t any | June 22, 1527 | 11,246,067 |
| West Java t | Java | Bandung | August 19, 1945 | 47,586,943 |
| Central Java | Java | Semarang | August 15, 1950 | 37,227,604 |
| Special Region of Yogyakarta | Java | Yogyakarta | There isn’t any | 3,675,662 |
| East Java | Java | Surabaya | October 12, 1945 | 40,994,515 |
| Banten | Java | attack | October 4, 2000 | 11,788,728 |
| Bali | Nusa Tenggara | Denpasar | August 14, 1958 | 4,273,992 |
| West Nusa Tenggara | Nusa Tenggara | Mataram | December 17, 1958 | 5,405,385 |
| East Nusa Tenggara r | Nusa Tenggara | Kupang | December 20, 1958 | 5,484,580 |
| West Kalimantan | Borneo | Pontianak | January 28, 1957 | 5,461,993 |
| Central Kalimantan | Borneo | Palangkaraya | May 23, 1957 | 2,639,990 |
| South Kalimantan | Borneo | Banjarbaru | August 14, 1950 | 4,103,719 |
| East Kalimantan | Borneo | Samarinda | January 9, 1957 | 3,803,972 |
| North Kalimantan | Borneo | Cape Selor | 25 October 2012 | 692,239 |
| North Sulawesi | Sulawesi | Manado | Sept. 23, 1964 | 2,655,970 |
| Central Sulawesi | Sulawesi | Hammer | Sept. 23, 1964 | 3,034,513 |
| South Sulawesi | Sulawesi | Macassar | October 19, 1669 | 9,192,621 |
| Southeast Sulawesi | Sulawesi | Kendari | April 27, 1964 | 2,669,840 |
| Gorontalo | Sulawesi | Gorontalo | December 5, 2000 | 1,198,765 |
| West Sulawesi | Sulawesi | Mamuju | Sept. 22, 2004 | 1,441,407 |
| Maluku | Maluku | Ambon | August 19, 1945 | 1,875,506 |
| North Maluku | Maluku | Sofifi | October 12, 1999 | 1,316,973 |
| Papuan | Papuan | Jayapura | December 27, 1949 | 4,308,744 |
| West Papua | Papuan | Manokwari | October 12, 1999 | 547,516 |
| South Papua | Papuan | Merauke | There isn’t any | — |
| Central Papua | Papuan | Nabire | There isn’t any | — |
| Papua Mountains | Papuan | Wamena | There isn’t any | — |
| Southwest Papua | Papuan | shove | There isn’t any | 601,022 |
Development of Provinces in Indonesia
Provinces in Indonesia continue to experience regional development. The development in question is in the form of expansion or merging of provinces, integration within Indonesia, releasing territories from Indonesia or increasing or decreasing the special status or specificity of the province.
The development of provinces in Indonesia began after Indonesia proclaimed its independence on August 17, 1945, at the second PPKI meeting on August 19, Indonesia was divided into 8 provinces along with their governors, as follows:
- Sumatra headed by Teuku Muhammad Hasan.
- Borneo or Kalimantan with the governor Prince Mohammad Noor.
- West Java with governor Sutardjo Kertohadikusumo.
- Central Java with Governor Soeroso.
- East Java with Governor Ario Soerjo.
- Celebes, or now Sulawesi, with governor Sam Ratulangi.
- Maluku with governor Johannes Latuharhary.
- Lesser Sunda with Governor I Gusti Ketut Pudja.
Then, in its development, two special regions were formed, among which are the following:
- The Special Region of Surakarta is in accordance with the recognition of Indonesian sovereignty by Pakubuwana XII as well as the statement to merge the Surakarta Hadiningrat Sunanate region into the Republic of Indonesia on September 1, 1945. However, the existence of the Surakarta Special Region was frozen on July 15, 1946, due to upheaval in the area, and the local government needed to run smoothly. effective. So that Surakarta became an ordinary residency area.
- The Special Region of Yogyakarta is in accordance with the recognition of Indonesian sovereignty by Hamengkubuwana IX and the statement to merge the territory of the Yogyakarta Hadiningrat Sultanate into the Republic of Indonesia on September 5 1945.
Indonesia also had time to split the province of Sumatra into 3 regions on April 15, 1948; the three provinces are as follows:
- North Sumatra includes the Residency of Aceh, Tapanuli, and North Sumatra.
- Central Sumatra includes the residencies of West Sumatra, Jambi and Riau.
- South Sumatra includes the residences of Bengkulu, Lampung, Palembang and Bangka Belitung.
During the national revolution at the beginning of Indonesian independence, Indonesia also experienced frequent changes in territory due to the return of the Dutch to control Indonesia and several states formed by the Dutch within Indonesian territory.
Finally, the division of the province was dissolved after the United Republic of Indonesia was established on December 27, 1949, through the Round Table Conference.
Then, based on the results of the Round Table Conference held in The Hague in 1949, the Netherlands also recognized Indonesia in the form of a federated state with the name of the United States of Indonesia.
The United States of Indonesia is not divided into provinces but into states. Then, a few months later, several states merged into the state of the Republic of Indonesia, then on August 17, 1950, the NKRI was again established.
After Indonesia returned to being a unitary state on August 17, 1950, Indonesia’s territory was again divided into the same ten provinces as before the RIS was formed, namely West Java, Central Java, East Java, Central Sumatra, North Sumatra, South Sumatra, Sulawesi, Kalimantan. , Maluku and Lesser Sunda.
In addition, the Special Region of Yogyakarta was re-formed and later became a province with special regional status. Because the Special Region of Surakarta was not formed, this area was automatically deleted.
After that, the provincial structure in Indonesia has continuously changed from year to time, starting from the Liberal Democracy Era to Guided Democracy. Here’s the summary.
– 1956:
Kalimantan is broken down into South Kalimantan, West Kalimantan and West Kalimantan.
Aceh was split from the province of North Sumatra.
– 1957:
Central Kalimantan was split from South Kalimantan.
– 1958:
Central Sumatra is split into Riau, Jambi and West Sumatra.
Lesser Sunda is split into West Nusa Tenggara, Bali, and East Nusa Tenggara.
– 1959:
Sulawesi is broken down into North Sulawesi, Central Sulawesi, South Sulawesi and Southeast Sulawesi.
– 1961:
The Special Capital Region of Jakarta has the status of a special area.
– 1963:
The area in West Irian that is now Papua has turned into part of Indonesia with provincial status.
– 1964:
Lampung split into South Sumatra.
North Sulawesi and Central Sulawesi are split into North Sulawesi and Central Sulawesi.
South Sulawesi and Southeast Sulawesi were also split into South Sulawesi and Southeast Sulawesi.
– The New Order Era
During the New Order era, the only part of the new province that was formed was Bengkulu which was split into South Sumatra in 1967. After that, the territory of Portuguese Timor was integrated into part of Indonesia with provincial status in 1976 under the name East Timor.
– The Reformation Era
Then in the Reformation Era from 1999 to 2024, the following are developments and changes in provinces in Indonesia:
- 1999: in 1999, East Timor separated from Indonesia and was then managed temporarily by the UN; meanwhile, West Irian Jaya or now called West Papua, was split from Irian Jaya, which is now called Papua. Meanwhile, Central Irian Jaya or now called Central Papua was split from Papua but was disbanded in 2004, and its territory was returned to Papua. Then the North Maluku area was split from Maluku.
- 2000: in 2000, Banten was split from West Java, then the Bangka Belitung Islands were split from South Sumatra and Gorontalo was split from North Sulawesi.
- 2001: The provinces of Aceh and Papua are given status as special regions.
- 2002: the Riau archipelago was split from Riau.
- 2003: the formation of Central Papua was canceled, and the territory was returned to Papua.
- 2004: West Sulawesi was split from South Sulawesi.
- 2008: West Papua gets status as a special area.
- 2012: North Kalimantan was split from East Kalimantan.
- 2022: Central Papua, Highlands Papua, South Papua are divided from Papua, and Southwest Papua are divided from West Papua.
- 2024: The capital city of the archipelago is planned to be split from East Kalimantan.
Such is the explanation regarding the list of names of provinces in Indonesia and the 3 additional new provinces, along with their developments from year to year. Students who are interested in studying geography can get more information by reading books.
As #FriendsWithoutLimits, sinaumedia.com provides various kinds of quality and original books for Sinaumed’s! Reading lots of books and articles will never hurt you because Sinaumed’s will get #MoreWithReading information and knowledge.