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Indonesia Circle. School of Oriental & African Studies. Newsletter

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Sumatran population changes, 1961–80

William A Withington ^a

a University of Kentucky , Published online: 01 Aug 2007.

To cite this article: William A Withington (1982) Sumatran population changes, 1961–80, Indonesia Circle. School of Oriental & African Studies. Newsletter, 10:27, 11-25, DOI: 10.1080/03062848208723854

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IC No. 27 Mar 82

SUMATRAN POPULATION CHANGES, 1961-80 ¹

WILLIAM A WITHINGTON

During the past year elements of the 1980 Indonesian Census of Popula- tion have become available. As a result, nearly two decades of population growth and change in Indonesia can be assessed. The major islands and regions had a population in 1980 of more than 147 million. Despite major and rapid growth in several Outer Island regions, the central core area of Java-Madura is the home of 91 million Indonesians or 61.9% of the population (Table 1 ) . Sumatra on the west now has 28 million people or 19.0%; Sulawesi 10.4 million or 7.1%; Kalimantan (Indonesian Borneo), 6.7 million or 4.6%; Nusa Tenggara (the Lesser Sundas), 8.5 million or 5.7%; Maluku 1.4 million or 0.9%; and Irian Jaya 1.2 million or 0.8%.

The purpose of this paper is to analyse current and changing population characteristics of Sumatra, Indonesia's westernmost and most populous

Outer Island region. The term Sumatra here, and as generally used, refers to the large island of Sumatra and its administratively associated islands.

The questions posed, and at least briefly answered here, are:

1. How does Sumatra's 1980 population,and population growth since 1961, compare with those of Indonesia generally, and with its other regions?

2. Within Sumatra, which provinces have had most changes in percentage or total volume of growth?

3. Focusing on kabupaten areas, how has Sumatran population changed?

4. To what extent have Sumatra's kotamadya or municipalities evolved as urban areas?

5. To what extent does population density in Sumatra, or changes in density between 1961 and 1980, reflect other major population variables?

Sumatra within Indonesia

With an area of 473,606 square kilometres, Sumatra is second in size in Indonesia only to Kalimantan, and its population has increased by 78%

from 15.7 to 28.0 million (Table 1 ) . This increase has raised Sumatra's proportion of Indonesia's population from 16.2 to 19%. These dry

statistics involve two notable aspects of Sumatra's population changes from 1961 to 1980:

1. Its rate of growth has been more than 50% greater than that of Indo- nesia as a whole and more than 68% greater than other areas of the nation.

2. Sumatra is the only region to increase significantly its proportion of Indonesia's population. Conversely, Java-Madura's population decreased from 65% to 62% of the national total despite an increase of nearly 30 million people.

Downloaded by [University of Strathclyde] at 04:39 02 April 2015

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- Administrative Unit

A. INDONESIA Java Sumatra Kalimantan Sulawesi Nusa Tenggara Maluku

Irian Jaya

B. SUMATRA: PROVINCES 1. D.I. Aceh 2. North Sumatra 3. West Sumatra 4. Riau

5. Jamb i

6. South Sumatra 7. Bengkulu 8. Lampung TOTAL SUMATRA

Populations and 1980

147,490,298 91,269,528 28,016,160 6,723,086 10,409,533 8,487,111 1,411,006 1,173,875

2,611,271 8,360,894 3,406,816 2,168,535 1,445,994 4,629,801 768,064 4,624,785 28,016,160

percentages per cent

100.0 61.9 19.0 4.6 7.1 5.7 0.9 0.8

9.3 29.9 12.2 7.7 5.2 16.5 2.7 16.5 100.0

of Indonesia 1971

119,208,229 76,086,327 20,808,148 5,154,774 8,526,901 6,619,074 1,089,565 923,440

2,008,595 6,621,831 2,793,196 1,641,545 1,006,084 3,440,573

519,316 2,777,008 20,808,148

as a whole per cent

100.0 63.8 17.5 4.3 7.2 5.5 0.9 0.8

9.7 31.8 13.4 7.9 4.8 6.5 2.5 13.4 100.0

1961 per cent

Change in population

ratio 80/61 (non-Sumatran Indonesia:

97,085,348 100.0 1.52 63,059,575

15,739,363 4,101,475 7,079,349 5,557,656

789,534 758,396

1,628,983 4,964,734 2,319,057 1,234,984 744,381 2,773,464 406,249 1,667,511 15,739,363

65.0 16.2 4.2 7.3 5.7 0.8 0.8

10.4 31.5 14.7 7.9 4.7 17.6 2.6 10.6 100.0

1.45 1.78 1.64 1.47 1.53 1.79 1.55

Per cent growth 46.9) 51.9 44.7 78.0 63.9 47.0 52.7 78.7 54.8

60.3 68.4 46.9 75.6 94.3 66.9 89.1 177.3 78.0

H o ro

Mar «

Source: Biro Pusat Statistik. Penduduk Indonesia 1980 menurut propinisi dan kabupaten/kotamadya, Ser. L, No. 2, Jakarta, 1981.

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IC No. 27 Mar 82

Sumatra's provincial population growth

The eight provinces (First Level Autonomous Regions/Daerah Tingkat Satu) of Sumatra between 1961 and 1980 had widely varying population in-

creases (Fig. 1 ) . Compared with Sumatra's 78% increase in population, three provinces rose more rapidly; five increased more slowly (Table I B ) . Lampung Province, with large immigrant - or transmigrant- flows expanded to more than 4.6 million people, a rate of increase of over 177%. Jambi's population increased by 94.3%;: Bengkulu, by 89.1%.

Among the five provinces with growth rates below the Sumatran average, West Sumatra had the slowest growth rate of 46.9%. Yet West Sumatra's increase was still more than 2% more rapid than that of Indo- nesia's core area of Java-Madura (Fig. 1,*Table 1 ) . Aceh in the north had a population growth rate of 60%, the second lowest. South Sumatra

(66.9%); North Sumatra (68.4%); and Riau (75.6%) had successively larger increases, though below the Sumatran average.

In numbers of people rather than rates of change, North Sumatra's growth was largest (3.4 million), followed by Lampung with almost 3 million (Table 1 ) • Intermediate in numbers were South Sumatra with nearly

2 million, while Aceh, West Sumatra, and Riau each increased by about; one million. The smallest absolute increases were in Jambi (about 700,000) and Bengkulu (362,000) in the 1961-80 period (Table 1 ) . Only Lampung among tne eight provinces had a striking change in its proportion of total Sumatran population, rising by nearly 6%; triple the percentage gain or loss for any other province.

Population changes in Sumatra's kabupaten

Population dynamics for the 1961-80 period in Sumatra can be analysed at a more detailed level by using the fifty-one kabupaten of 1971 and 1980, and Daer-ah Tingkat Dua or Second Level Regions. Kabupaten numbered forty-seven in 1961, but later four larger kabupaten were split to create additional units as their population increased. For more meaningful dis- cussion, West Sumatra's Padang-Pariaman kabupaten has been divided here into the densely populated coastal plain around Padang, and the Mentawei Islands. In effect this means that forty-eight units provide the spatial base for detailed population change analysis of the 1961-80 period.

Within the kabupaten population increased from as much as 229% in Lampung (Lampung Tengah) to as little as 21.8% in upland western North Sumatra (Tapanuli Utara) Table 2, Fig. 2 ) . For analysis, the kabupaten units of Sumatra were divided into four groups: those with a growth rate over 97.7% formed a high growth group of eight units, another eight ex- perienced above average (78%) growth. Sixteen kabupaten had below average (55-78%) growth rates, and another sixteen kabupaten had low (under 5%) growth rates.

Kabupaten having high to very high population growth since 1961 lie in three spatial clusterings, in the north-east, south-west, and south of Sumatra (Fig. 2 ) . A combination of large-scale immigration (Indonesian transmigration), from Java, Madura, and Bali, high natural increase, and, for most of these kabupaten, low population densities in 1961 have been leading factors associated with high growth rates.

Kabupaten above a v e r a g e in 1 9 6 1 - 8 0 p o p u l a t i o n g r o w t h

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IC No. 27 Mar 82

SUMATRA

PROVINCIAL POPULATION CHANGES: 1961-80

4 , 5 3 0 - 1 9 8 0 Population (1,000 s) (89.4)-Percentage Change

200 Mi Banda Aceh

•P

' ) NORTH SUMATRA ( y 8,361 (68.4)

MALAYS/A

WEST SUMATRA \ 3,409(46.9) ( V

RIAU 2,169 (75 JAMBI v

1,446(94.3)

SOUTH SUMATRA 4,630(66.9) Palembang • BENGKULU

768(89.1)

LAMPUNG 4,625(177.3)

(Jo Tanjung Karang

JAVA

Figure 1

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IC No. 27 Mar 82

Table 2: Sumatra's Kabupaten Population Changes, 1961 to 1980, Areas and Densities Province

Kabupaten A.

1.

2.

3 . 4 . 5 . 6 . 7.

00*

B.

1.

2.

3 . 4 . 5 . 6.

7.

8.

9 . 1 0 .

1 1 .

C.

1.

2 . 3 . 4 .

D.I. ACEH Aceh Selatan Aceh Tengaha

(1961 coaMned) Aceh Tenggara Aceh Timor Aceh Barat Aceh Besar

i n c l . kotamadya Banda Aceh, Sabang Pidie

Aceh Utara

NORTH SUMATRA N i a s

Tapanuli Selatan Tapanuli Tengah

i n c l . kotamadya Sibolga Tapanuli Utara

Labuhan Batu As ah an

i n c l . kotamadya Tanjungbalai Simelungun

i n c l . kotamadya Pematangsiantar Dairi

Karo

Deli-Serdang

i n c l . kotamadya Medan, Tebingtinggi Langkat

i n c l . kotamadya Binjai

WEST SUMATRA

Pesisir Selatan Solok

i n c l . kotamadya Solok Sawahlunto

i n c l . kotamadya Sawahlunto Tanah Datar

i n c l . kotamadya Padangpanjang Padang-Pariaman kabupaten

5 . 6 . 7 . 8 . 9 .

Padang Lowland, i n c l . kotamadya Padang Mentavei Islands

Agam

i n c l . kotamadya Bukittinggi Linapuluh Kota

i n c l . kotamadya Payakunbuh Pasaman

Area in Sq. km.

55,380 8,901 5,675 15,210 9.535 7,760 12,100 3,239 3,415 4.755 70,788 5,237 18,311 1,658 11,398 8,139 4,953 4,809 3,192 2,035

4,814

6,237 49,775 5,489 8,790 7,318 1,836 8,881 2,881 6,000 3,614 3,946 9,901

Population 1980 2,611,271

275,458 163,341 322,934 159,593 423,418 288,422 236,274 332,185 343,558 625,296 8,360,894 468,375 757,159 167,161 227,068 682,437 547,171 775,656 817.550 759,024 909,405 241,785 219,204 1,241,190 2,712,232 702,059 778,523 3,406,816 315,954 355,539 387,263 224,446 238,007 319,632 354,149 459,666 905,582 35,000 389,027 459,798 272,072 350,908 360,149

and changes 1961 1,628,983

193,854 171,225

- 239,315 185,327 155,967 196,034 259,573 383,655 4,964,734 314,829 495,060 100,795 139,450 560,384 255,997 409,006 438,158 496,238 611,108 138,278 147,673 971,621 1,476,947 341,615 386,850 2,319,057 221,449 271,234 131,859 144,135 246,463 271,984 442,649 561,348 25,000 304,453 355,909 250,687 217,311

a)

60.3 42.1 88.6 76.9 55.6 (51.5)

69.5 32.4 63.0 68.4 48.8 52.9 (65.8)

62.8 21.8 113.7 (89.5)

86.6 (53.0)

48.8 74.9 48.4 (27.7)

76.9 (105.5)

101.2 46.9 42.7 (31.1)

42.8 (70.2)

65.1 (29.7)

30.2 (3.8) 61.3 40.0 (27.8)

29.2 (8.5) 40.0 65.7

Density (sq. km.)

47 31 50

i?

55 24 103 101 132 118 89 41 137 60 67 165 189 76 108 563 125 68 58 44 33 193 (106)

318C

6C

108 89 36

. . . / c o n t

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IC No. 27 Mar 82

Table 2(continued)

D

E . 1 2 3 4 5

F . 1 2 3 4 5 6

7 8 C.

1 2 3 H.

i

2 3

Province Kabapaten I. RIAU

1. I n d r a g i r i Ulu 2. Indragiri I l i ra

Indragiri 3. Kepulauan Riau 4. Kampar

i n c l . kotamadya Pakanbaru 5 . B e n g k a l i s

JAMBI Kerinci Sarolangun3

Bungo Tebo (Merangin 1961) Tanjung Jabungb

Batanghari

i n c l . kotamadya Jambi

SOUTH SUMATRA

Ogan Komering Ulu Ogan Komering 1 1 i r LIOT/Muara Enim Lahat

Musi Rawas Musi Banyuasin

i n c l . kotamadya Palembang Bangka

i n c l . kotamadya Pangkalpinang Belitung

BENGKULU

Bengkulu Selatan Bengkulu Utara

i n c l . kotamadya Bengkulu Rejang-Lebong

LAMPUNG

Lampung Selatan

i n c l . kotamadya Tanjungkarang Lampung T e n g a h

Lampung U t a r a

TOTALS

Area in sq. km.

94,562 15,854 11,606 27,460 8,100 28,292 30,647 44,937 2,420 10,321 16,737 27,058 4,815 10,644 15,459 103,693 12,432 26,230 4,196 6,154 12,225 25,614 11,990 4,852 21,167 4,663 12,215 4,289 33,304 7,179 8,229 17,896 473,606

Population 1980 2,168,535

229,182 398,276 627,458 425,277 362,867 549,129 566,671 1,445,994 241,081 217,653 302,386 520,039 216,897 237,604 684,874 4,629,801 750,799 564,080 430,834 484,893 367,037 591,074 1,378,261 399,986 490,082 163,815 768,064 236,775 178,250 243,033 288,256 4,624,785 1,767,084 2,051,359 1,690,947 882,479 28,016,160

and changes 1961 1,234,984

- - 377,211 278,966 209,304 280,125 298,682 744,381 156,037

- 225,000

- 250,264 363,344 2,773,464 381,575 378,262 332,456 310,035 185,693 296,226 771,197 251,639 311,922 102,375 406,249 139,183 87,123 112,453 154,613 1,667,511 685,392 819,293 514,084 334,134 15,739,363

(%) 75.6

66.3 52.4 73.4 96.0 89.7 94.3 55.4

131.1

88.5 66.9 96.8 49.1 29.6 56.4 97.7 (99.5)

78.7 (59.0)

57.1 61.4 89.1 70.1 (104,6)

116.1 86.4 177.3 (157.8)

150.7 228.9 164.1 78.0

Density ( s q . ktn)

23 14 34 23 53 19 18 32_

100 21 18 19 45 44 45_

60 22 103 79 30 54 41 34 37 31

20 67 139

286 205 49 59 Source: Biro Fusat Statistik. Penduduk Indonesia 1980 menurut propinsi dan kabupaten/kotamadya,

Ser. L. No. 2, Jakarta, 1981. Author's area measurements with official figures for provinces and Sumatra.

Aceh Tengah (now with A. Tenggara), Indragiri, Merangin (now Sarolangun, Bungo Tebo), and Batanghari (now with Tanjung Jabung) subdivided after 1961; population change and density given combined.

Source shows on map, p.25, Tanjung Jabung as a north-south trending interior kabupaten, once part of earlier Merangin, but 1971 kabupaten district (kecamatan) names: Tungkal Ulu, Tungkal Ilir, Muara Sabak and 1974 map, Sumatera (Jakarta: F. T. Pembina) showing Kualatungkal as Ibu Kota kabupaten indicate that is must be carved out of northern Batanghari.

c Padang-PariamanKabupaten divided by author for clarity of comparisons into Padang lowland and Mentawei Islands subdivisions.

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IC No. 27 Mar 82

SUMATRA

POPULATION CHANGE, 1961-80

In percent

EZ3 High (97.7 or higher) Q J Above Average (78.0-97.6)

l H Below Average (55.0-77.9) C~3 Low (54.9 or lower)

Figure 2

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IC No. 27 Mar 82

are widely spread north-west to south-east. They share two principal landscape associations. Four have eastern plains positions. Four other kabupaten have upland and/or interior associations. Immigration,

especially to the eastern coastal areas, and high natural increase, combined with strong local developed resources appear to be the supportive

factors in these areas.

Below average and low growth rate kabupaten in Sumatra still increased their population at rates above Indonesia's 51.9% rate (Tables 1 and 2, Fig. 2 ) . This point should be emphasized.

Two kinds of influences appear to have affected these below average growth kabupaten areas. The first was a relatively large population base in 1961, exemplified by Deli-Serdang kabupaten and the associated kotamadya of Medan and Tebingtinggi. Other kabupaten in this group have limited resource development and relatively isolated locations, as in the many facing westward away from the major trade routes in recent times.7 Despite its

large population increase Padang - as well as Bengkulu and Sibolga - was relatively more important as a trading "factory" two centuries earlier.

Some of the kabupaten with below average growth for 1961-80 may be ex- periencing growth based on very recent economic developments, as in the_

Aceh Utara-Lhok Seumawe natural gas field development and export trade.

The increases in tin mining on Bangka, Belitung, Singkep, and other areas, would also tend to support larger populations.

Finally, sixteen kabupaten or parts of kabupaten form the fourth or

"low growth" group within Sumatra for 1961-80 (Fig. 2 , Table 2 ) . Three are eastern coastal or insular kabupaten. Some of these have had low population growth rates only in comparison to other Sumatran areas. How- ever, many of these Sumatran slow growth kabupaten areas are among the most isolated, by off-shore insular or interior and upland locations.

Included are several areas, such as the highlands around Lake Toba, noted for their large outmigration flows since the second World War. Recent reports of sizeable migrations of Indonesian labourers into Singapore and southern Peninsular Malaysia would account in part for the relatively low rate of population growth in the Riau Archipelago.-'-^ Since the late

1950s West Sumatra's Minangkabau have emigrated in large numbers "downhill"

into Riau and Jambi provinces as well as to more distant destinations in Sumatra, and overseas to Java or to Malaysia.13

The kotamadya of Sumatra, 1961-80

The twenty municipalities or kotamadya of Sumatra have more than doubled their t o t a l urban population between 1961 and 1980 (Table 3 ) . In 1961 these c i t i e s had 1.93 million people; by 1980 this population had increased to 4.25 million. During this period the largest city of Medan grew from less than 480,000 to almost 1.4 million.!^ By contrast

Sawahlunto, which had more than 15,000 people in 1930 as an active coal mining and shipping centre in upland West Sumatra, declined to 12,276 by

1961; then grew to 13,561 in 1980 (Table 3 ) . The median size of these twenty kotamadya increased from 42,651 in 1961 to 77,650 in 1980.

In terms of d i s t r i b u t i o n , the 1961 pattern is the same as the 1980 one for these c i t i e s , except for the addition of Sabang as a Free Port on Weh Island off the northern t i p of Aceh (Fig. 3). Seven of these c i t i e s , including Sabang, increased at a rate above the 120% average for the group (Table 3). I t is probable that most of these - Sabang, Medan, Tebingtinggi,

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IC No. 27 Mar 82

Table 3: Sumatra's Kotarrndya (Municipalities) in 1980

Kotanadua

ACEH

1. Banda Aceh 2. Sabang NORTH SUMATRA

3. Medan 4. Tebingtinggi 5. Binjai

6. Pematangsiantar 7, Tanjungbalai 8. Sibolga WEST SUMATRA

9. Padang 10. Padangpanjang 11. Bukittinggi 12. Payakumbuh 13. Solok 14. Sawahlunto RIAU

15. Pakanbaru JAMBI

16. Jambi SOUTH SUMATRA 17. Palembang 18. Pangkalpinang BENGKULU

19. Bengkulu LAMPUNG

20. Tanjimgkarang All kotamadya

Median size

Census population 1980

72,090 23,821

1,378,955 92,087 76,464 150,376 41,894 59,897

480,922 34,517 70,771 78,836 31,724 13,561

186,262

230,373

787,187 90,096

64,783

284,275 4,248,391

(64.3 '71-80'.

77,650

1971

53,668 17,625

635,562 30,314 59,882 129,232 33,604 42,223

196,339 30,711 63,132 63,388 24,771 12,427

145,030

158,559

582,961 74,733

31,866

198,986 2,585,013

1961

40,067 (e.8,500)

479,098 26,228 45,235 114,870 29,152 38,655

143,699 25,521 51,456 21,031 18,909 12,276

70,821

113,080

474,971 60,283

25,330

133,901 1,927,453

42,651

Change 61-80 %

79.9 180.2

187.8 251.0 69.0 30.9 43.7 55.0

234.7 35.2 37.5 274.9 67.8 10.5

163.0

103.7

65.7 49.5

155.8

112.3 120.4

Associated kacupatr-t:

Aceh Besar Aceh Besar

Deli-Serdang Deli-Serdang Langkat-

Simelungun As ah an

Tapanuli Teng.

Padang-Pariaman Tanah Datar Agam

Limapuluh Kota Solok

Sawahlunto

Kampar

Batanghari (with Tanjung Jabung)

Musi-Banyuasin Bangka

Bengk. Utara

Lamp. Selatan

SUMATRA

Change 61-80 "

:u.5

51.5

27.7a

105.5 53.0 89.5 65.8

3.6a

22.9 27. f 18.5a

40.9 70.2

73.«a

81.2

98.5 59.0

104.fa

157.1,

7 7 . £1

Kotamadya which h a d municipality territorial expansion during 1961-80. In each case, the associated kabupaten lost that territory a n d t h e population. Padang and Padang-Pariaman, and Payakumbuh and Limapuluh K o t a are the two most striking p a i r s , b u t Deli-Serdang's population growth would have been much greater for the period if M e d a n and Tebingtinggi had n o t acquired such a large additional area vith the people originally peripheral to the municipality.

CMedan - underlined city ~ provincial capital]

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IC No. 27 Mar 82

g^Sabang 24(180)

•Bando Aceh 72(80)

• Medon 1,379(188) Tebingtinggi 92 (251) _^ Pematangsiantar 150(3!)

SUMATRA

KOTAMADYA, 1961-80

Bonda Aceh — Provincial Capital Binjai —Other Kotamadyo

150 — Population in 1,000s (79) — Percentage Increase, 1961-80

200 Mi 0

h

200 Km

60(55) _

NORTH SUMATRA

, , - ^ * Payakumbuh 79(275)\

/Bukittinggi 71(37) \ i . >r ' / ( Padongpanjang fcf-V Sawahlunto 14(11)

| \M 35(35) / 'fK~^r Y^~^I * Pokonboru 186(163)

| Pgdang 48K234J Solok 32(68) V.-^SV^, I \\ / I /I '•, \

WEST SUMATRA 7 \

VL' / )^ JAMBI

-.y^, _ • Jambi 230(104)

SOUTH SUMATRA

Pangkalpinang 9 0 (50)

I

f

LAMPUNG

Tonjunqkaronq 284(112) s

JAVA

Figure 3

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IC No. 27 Mar 82

Padang, Payakumbuh, Pakanbaru, and Bengkulu - owe part of their large population increases to the expansion of their urban territories at some time during the 1961-80 period. •*

In 1961 a total of six kotamadya had populations over 100,000, with Medan and Palembang almost the same size at 479,000 and 475,000 (Table 3 ) . Three other cities had between 50,000 and 100,000 people; eight had populations of 20,000 to 50,000; and two cities had fewer than 20,000 each.

By 1980, Medan had reached nearly 1.4 million, almost double Palembang1s 787,000. Including Palembang, a total of six cities had between 100,000 and 1 million people; eight cities had populations in the 50,000 to 100,000 range; four had between 20,000 and 50,000 people; and only Sawahlunto remained a city of less than 20,000.

Densities of population in Sumatra

Differential densities of population in 1980 are more striking than in the earlier 1961 period. By 1980 areas of high population densities contrast with areas having only one-fifth these densities. A series of kabupaten3 individually or in clusters, had 1980 densities over 100 persons per square kilometre (Fig. 4 ) . These were: (1) northern coastal Aceh; (2) eastern North Sumatra; (3) North Sumatra's western coast around Sibolga; (4) most of lowland and upland West Sumatra, excluding island areas; (5) upland westernmost Jambi Province (Kerinci kabupaten);

(6) interior South Sumatra (Muara Enim kabupaten); and (7) southern Lampung Province.

Sumatra's areas of highest population density in 1980 reflect several favourable associations. These include fertile coastal plain areas, usually closely associated with adjacent volcanic uplands having basic soils; accessibility both internally and by sea from outside populous areas; and, for some, historical concentrations of people and developed resource systems, as in West Sumatra, northern Aceh, and eastern North Sumatra.

The Sumatran areas of sparsest population in 1980, those with less than 27 persons per square kilometre, lay in four widely separated locations (Fig. 4 ) . These were: (1) western and upland Aceh including

Simeulue Island to the west; (2) the western Mentawei Archipelago part of Padang-Pariaman kabupaten of West Sumatra; (3) an extensive zone north to south including mainland Riau, interior Jambi, and northern Bengkulu with its outlier, Enggano Island; and (4) south-eastern mainland South Sumatra (Ogan Komering Ilir kabupaten)}-'1 These areas reflect conditions of relative inaccesibility; western insular isolation; steep slopes in upland areas; or rain-forest-covered plains with thin soils for high

density agricultural occupation.1°

Summary of Sumatra's population change

In the period 1961 and 1980, Sumatra's population increased from nearly 16 to 28 million; a rise of 78%. This population growth was at least 50% faster than the Indonesia national average, and exceeded only by Maluku. Local and intensive demographic and economic analysis is needed to explain fully this rapid demographic increase. Sumatra's

abundant resources of tin, bauxite, petroleum, natural gas, forest and agricultural products during the 1960s and 1970s supported these population

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SUMATRA

DENSITY OF POPULATION 1980

PEOPLE PER SQ. KM.

High (100 or more) C H Above Average ( 5 9 - 9 9 )

Below Average (27-58) Low (Less than 27)

Figure

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increases, as well as providing export income to aid other Indonesian areas. •*-"

The chief population changes within Sumatra are:

(1) Rapid percentage population growth in Lampung, Jambi, Bengkulu, and Riau provinces. However, population numbers increased most in North Sumatra, Lampung, and South Sumatra.

(2) At the more detailed, kabupaten scale, Sumatra's 1961-80 population growth was very uneven, ranging from nearly 229% in central Lampung, over 97% in eight other kabupaten, to as little as 21.8% around Lake Toba in upland North Sumatra. Actual or perceived economic

opportunities, sizeable migration flows, and high natural increases favoured some areas; resulted in outmigration flows from others.

(3) The nineteen municipalities (only seventeen according to some sources for 1961) rose to twenty kotamadya by the mid-1960s.^°

Collectively, their urban populations increased from less than 2 million in 1961 to 4.25 million in 1980. Medan, in particular, now is the dominant city not only of Sumatra, but also of all Indonesia beyond Java-Madura. Only Sawahlunto in upland West Sumatra remained almost stagnant through this period.

(4) Population densities rose throughout Sumatra, but at greatly different rates. At the kabupaten scale at least seven areas of relatively high population density, plus a few localized urban- or resource-centred areas elswhere, stood out from other, much less densely populated areas.

University of Kentucky.

NOTES

1. This paper is an edited text, supplied in advance, of a presentation made at the annual meeting, Southeastern Conference, of the Association of Asian Studies, Chapel Hill, N.C. on 23 January 1982.

2. Biro Pusat Statistik, Penduduk Indonesia 1980 menurut pvopinsi dan kabupaten/kotamadya. Ser. L, No. 2. Jakarta, 1981. The author also has Penduduk Indonesia menuvut pvopinsi, Ser. L, No. 3, Jakarta, 1981, but without kabupaten data. Both were published in May 1981. The

first source was received in October 1981, though a preliminary set of data for Sumatra, 1980, was sent to the author in a letter of late February 1981 from Biro Pusat Statistik.

3. The Sumatran area in 1961 had six provinces (Daerah Tingkat Satu) of which Aceh was a D .1. or Daerah. IstimewalSpecial Autonomous Region. In

early 1964, Lampung Province was separated from southern South Sumatra, and in 1968 Bengkulu Province was formed from the three southwestern-

most South Sumatran kabupaten.

4. For 1971 see Biro Pusat Statistik. Indonesia. Sensus Penduduk 1971.

Penduduk dipevintji menuvut pvopinsi dan kabupaten/kotamadya [preliminary figures]. Ser. B, Nos. 1, 2, 3. Djakarta, 1972. Seen.2 for com-

parable 1980 figures.

5. I have used population estimates for 1961 and 1980 for the Mentawei Islands within the four kecamatan listed for these islands in the 1971 census.

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6. Several kabupaten have less than 21.8% gain, but in each case an associated kotamadya expanded its urban territory and thus its population. The combined populations of kabupaten and kotamadya, with changes, provide the most meaningful comparisons.

7. Until the rise of the Medan within the eastern coastal plain of

North Sumatra after 1865, plus the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869, western coastal areas and ports in Sumatra had tended to dominate during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

8. The Treaty of 1824 removed direct British interests from Sumatra, focusing on Malaya and Singapore, at the last "factory" or trading centre of Bengkulu (Bencoolen). See Fisher (1964:249 and

associated discussions). See also Tsuyoshi Kato (1980).

9. Jenkins (1978) presents a diversity of developmental programmes and resources in Sumatra.

10. Radio Australia, 3 December 1981 (7 a.m. EST/US broadcast). Accord- ing to this report, Indonesian tin production is currently at a rate of 34,000 tons/year, 1,000 tons over the 1980 total of 33,000 tons of concentrates, and now second only to Malaysia in annual production.

11. Cunningham (1958).

12. Brief references in autumn 1981 issues of the Far Eastern Economic Review and Radio Australia broadcasts have suggested considerable migration flows of Indonesians into southern Malaysia filling a variety of employment needs in that area. The author's assumption

is that at least some come directly from the Riau Archipelago islands.

13. See Withington (1967). Also the author's field notes from the summer of 1964 for Pakanbaru and Dumai in Riau Province and Jambi

(city) where he encountered many Minangkabau working and living in these east-central Sumatran areas.

14. Map of Kotamadya Medan (scale 1:50,000), prepared by the Dinas

Planologie, Kotamadya Medan (dated 12 January 1972), (received by the author 15 September 1974), showing the boundaries of the city as of 1973, increasing its urban area from 5,130 to 26,510 hectares, a five-fold expansion. (The boundaries drawn must have been added after the 12 January 1972 date, latest one 'on the map - author's note.)

15. The author has no precise data on additions other than Medan, but the 1971 Census shows Rumbai across the Siak River from Pakanbaru to be in that kotamadya. Other direct or indirect indications,

particularly intercensal growth of more than 100%, are the bases for the author's statements..

16. Fisher (1964:n.l6). The Acehnese north coastal plain was visited by Marco Polo many centuries ago. That area and West Sumatra supported considerable populations on irrigated rice cultivation.

The eastern North Sumatra lowlands had small farms when visited by John Anderson in the early 1800s, but did not evolve into its modern estate and smallholder patterns until after 1865.

17. The low population densities of the Mentawei Islands can be identified only when these islands, areas and populations are .separated from the much more intensively occupied Padang lowland part of Padang- Pariaman kabupaten.

18. Within these areas, like raisins in a pudding, are localized areas of much more intensive occupation. Examples include the Pakanbaru

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oilfield, Dumai area, and Bengkulu cities.

19. Indonesia. Biro Pusat Statistik (1978), as well as issues for the 1960s and 1970s, provide export income data showing Sumatra's con- tinuing predominance within Indonesia.

20. Biro Pusat Statistik, Sensus penduduk 1961. Djakarta, 1962, does not list either Solok or Payakumbuh 'as kotapradja/ now kotamadya for 1961, but Milone (1966: chart IV) does.

REFERENCES

Cunningham, C. 1958.

Postwar migration of the Toba-Bataks to east Sumatra. New Haven: Yale University Press.

Fisher, C. A. 1964.

South-East Asia: a social, economic, and political geography. London:

Methuen.

Indonesia. Biro Pusat Statistik. 1978.

Statistical pocketbook of Indonesia 1977/78. Jakarta: Biro Pusat Statistik.

Jenkins, D. 1978.

Indonesia's challenging new frontier. Far Eastern Economic Review., CI (31), 36-40, 42.

Kato, T. 1980.

Rantau Pariaman: the world of Minangkabau coastal merchants in the nineteenth century. Journal of Asian Studies, XXXIX(4), 729-52.

Milone, P. D. 1966.

Urban areas in Indonesia: administrative and census concepts. Berkeley:

Institute of International Studies, University of California.

(Institute of International Studies. Research Series, 10.) Withington, W. A. 1967.

Migration and economic development: some recent spatial trends in the population of rural Sumatra. Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geographie, LVIII (Mei-Juni), 153-63.

Painted motif on a Toba-Batak house CJ S-KD

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