Sumatra is an elongated landmass spanning a diagonal northwest–southeast axis. TheIndian Ocean borders the northwest, west, and southwest coasts of Sumatra, with the island chain ofSimeulue,Nias,Mentawai, andEnggano off the western coast. In the northeast, the narrowStrait of Malacca separates the island from theMalay Peninsula, which is an extension of theEurasian continent. In the southeast, the narrowSunda Strait, containing the Krakatoa archipelago, separates Sumatra fromJava. The northern tip of Sumatra is near theAndaman Islands, while off the southeastern coast lie the islands of Bangka and Belitung,Karimata Strait and theJava Sea. TheBukit Barisan mountains, which contain several active volcanoes, form the backbone of the island, while the northeastern area contains large plains and lowlands with swamps,mangrove forest and complex river systems. Theequator crosses the island at its centre inWest Sumatra andRiau provinces. The climate of the island istropical, hot, and humid. Lushtropical rain forest once dominated the landscape.
Before it was known as Sumatra, the region was referred to asMelayu (also known as Malay inEnglish), named after the ancientMelayu Kingdom based inJambi. The name Melayu appeared in early historical records, including inscriptions and Chinese chronicles, before being replaced by Sumatra in the 14th century.[8]
Sumatra was known in ancient times by theSanskrit names ofSvarṇadvīpa ('Island of Gold') andSvarṇabhūmi ('Land of Gold'), because of the gold deposits in the island'shighlands.[9] The earliest known mention of the current form "Sumatra" was in 1017, when thelocal kingHaji Sumatrabhumi ("king of the land of Sumatra")[10] sent an envoy toChina.Arab geographers referred to the island asLamri (Lamuri,Lambri orRamni) in the tenth through thirteenth centuries, in reference to a kingdom near modern-dayBanda Aceh which was the first landfall for traders. The island has also been known by other names, includingAndalas[11] orPercha Island.[12] Scholars suggest that mention of Suwarnadwipa in the Hindu Epic theRamayana may be a reference to Sumatra. According to experts onThe Ramayana, the epic is one of the first sources to document the relationship between India and the Indonesian archipelago.[13]
In the late 13th century,Marco Polo referred to the kingdom asSamara, while his contemporary fellow Italian travellerOdoric of Pordenone used the formSumoltra. Later in the 14th century the local form "Sumatra" became popular abroad due to the rising power of the kingdom ofSamudera Pasai and the subsequentSultanate of Aceh.[14][15]
From then on, subsequent European writers mostly usedSumatra or similar forms of the name for the entire island.[16][17]
By the year692, theMelayu Kingdom was absorbed bySrivijaya.[18]: 79–80 Srivijaya's influence waned in the 11th century, specifically in the year 1025, after suffering defeat at the hands of theChola Empire in southern India[19] By the end of the 12th century, Srivijaya had been reduced to a kingdom, and its dominant role in South Sumatra ended with the last king, Ratu Sekekhummong, who founded the milestone of Kepaksian Sekala Brak in the 13th century AD with the Dalom building.[19][20] At the same time, thespread of Islam in Indonesia occurred gradually and indirectly, starting from the western regions such as the Sumatra area which became the first place for the spread of Islam in the archipelago, then Java, then to the eastern regions of Indonesia, Sulawesi and Maluku.[21] The island of Sumatra is also an area in the archipelago that received the spread of Islam first compared to other islands or other areas.[21] The island of Sumatra became the first area to receive the spread of Islam because of the position of the island of Sumatra which is close to the Malacca strait.[21] The initial process of Islamization related to trade and also the formation of the kingdom.[21] Islam entered Sumatra through piousArabs andTamil traders in the 6th and 7th centuries AD.[22][23][24] At the beginning and end of the 13th century the formation of the kingdom, the king of theSamudra kingdom had converted to Islam.Marco Polo visited the island in 1292, and his fellow ItalianOdoric of Pordenone in 1321.[citation needed]
Aceh in the north of Sumatra became known in the 16th century as trading centre for thepepper trade by shipping qualitypiperaceae (pepper). Aceh became the main commercial centre of theAceh Sultanate and trading routes were established to theMediterranean via theRed Sea to rival the Portugueseshipping lanes. The reign ofIskandar Muda is known as thegolden age of Sumatra because he extended the cultural influence of the Aceh Sultanate toPadang andJohor.[25] The Aceh Sultanate sustained the rivalry with theJohor sultanate, the Dutch, and the Portuguese throughout the 16th and 17th century. When the Dutch were weakened in the 18th century the British empire began to actively intervene in Aceh, establishing close relations between Banda Aceh andPenang. In the 17th and 18th century the Aceh Sultanate battled theSiak sultanate in the south of Sumatra. The port city ofBanda Aceh was recorded in European historical writings since the 13th century. In terms ofeconomic development the port of Banda Aceh only started to face competition in the 18th century when more ports were constructed in Sumatra formaritime transport. Nevertheless, major pepper suppliers used the port of Banda Aceh at the beginning of the 19th century. The port inMedan grew swiftly in the late 19th and early 20th century. Meanwhile the medium sized port ofPalembang faced a stiff economic decline as the heritage of the Srivijaya empire was superseded by theeconomic policy of theSinghasari andMajapahit. ThePalembang sultanate experienced a terminal decline in the early 19th century.[26]
With the coming of theDutch Empire, the many Sumatran princely states gradually fell under their control. Aceh posed major obstacles, as the Dutch were involved in the long and costlyAceh War (1873–1903).
TheFree Aceh Movement fought against Indonesian government forces in theAceh Insurgency from 1976 to 2005.[27] Security crackdowns in 2001 and 2002 resulted in several thousand civilian deaths.[28]
Sumatra's population as of 2023 was estimated to be about 60,795,669 ;[30] it has about the same number of inhabitants asSouth Africa, making it thefifth-most populous island in the world. Yet because it is such a large island, it is not densely populated: it has an average of about 126 people per km2.[31]
Minangkabau women carrying platters of food to a ceremony
The largest indigenous ethnic groups in Sumatra are Malays, Minangkabaus, Bataks, Acehnese, and Lampungs. Other major non-indigenous ethnic groups areJavanese,Sundanese, andChinese.
There are over 52languages spoken, all of which (except Chinese and Tamil) belong to theMalayo-Polynesian branch of theAustronesian language family. Within Malayo-Polynesian, they are divided into several sub-branches:Chamic (which are represented byAcehnese in which its closest relatives are languages spoken byEthnic Chams in Cambodia and Vietnam),Malayic (Malay,Minangkabau and other closely related languages),Northwest Sumatra–Barrier Islands (Batak languages,Gayo and others),Lampungic (includes Proper Lampung andKomering) andBornean (represented byRejang in which its closest linguistic relatives areBukar Sadong andLand Dayak spoken inWest Kalimantan andSarawak (Malaysia)). Northwest Sumatra–Barrier Islands and Lampungic branches are endemic to the island. Like all parts of Indonesia,Indonesian (which was based on Riau Malay) is the official language and the main lingua franca. Although Sumatra has its own local lingua franca,variants of Malay like Medan Malay andPalembang Malay[33] are popular in North and South Sumatra, especially in urban areas. Minangkabau (Padang dialect)[34] is popular in West Sumatra, some parts of North Sumatra, Bengkulu, Jambi and Riau (especially inPekanbaru and areas bordered withWest Sumatra) while Acehnese is also used as an inter-ethnic means of communication in some parts of Aceh province.
The majority of people in Sumatra are Muslims (87.12%), while 10.69% are Christians, and less than 2.19% are Buddhists and Hindus.[36] Sumatra’s diverse Muslim communities coexist with various ethnic and religious groups, reflecting the region’s broader tradition of religious tolerance and social cohesion.[37]
Sumatra is one of seven geographicalregions of Indonesia, which includes its adjacent smaller islands. Sumatra was one of the eight originalprovinces of Indonesia between 1945 and 1948. Including adjacent archipelagoes normally included with Sumatra (such as the Riau Islands, Nias and the Bangka-Belitung group), it now covers ten of Indonesia's38 provinces, which are set out below with their areas and populations.[38]
Map of geological formation of Sumatra islandMount Sinabung, North Sumatra
The longest axis of the island runs approximately 1,790 km (1,110 mi) northwest–southeast, crossing the equator near the centre. At its widest point, the island spans 435 km (270 mi). The interior of the island is dominated by two geographical regions: theBarisan Mountains in the west and swampy plains in the east. Sumatra is the closest Indonesian island to mainland Asia.
Sumatra is a highly seismic island. TheGreat Sumatran fault (astrike-slip fault), and theSunda megathrust (asubduction zone), run the entire length of the island along its west coast. Huge earthquakes have been recorded throughout history. In 1797, an 8.9 earthquake shook Western Sumatra, and in 1833, a 9.2 earthquake shook Bengkulu and Western Sumatra. Both events caused largetsunamis. Earthquakes are very common throughout the coastal area of the west and center of the island, and tsunamis are common due to the high seismicity in the area.[39][40]
On 26 December 2004, the western coast and islands of Sumatra, particularlyAceh province, were struck by atsunami following theIndian Ocean earthquake. This was the longest earthquake recorded, lasting between 500 and 600 seconds (8.33–10 minutes).[41] More than 170,000 Indonesians were killed, primarily in Aceh. Other recent earthquakes to strike Sumatra include the2005 Nias–Simeulue earthquake and the2010 Mentawai earthquake and tsunami.
Lake Toba is the site of asupervolcaniceruption that occurred around 74,000 years ago, representing a climate-changing event.[42] The most important rivers in Sumatra belong to the catchment area of theSouth China Sea. Heading north to south, theAsahan,Rokan,Siak,Kampar,Indragiri,Batanghari flow into theMalacca Strait, while the island's largest river, theMusi, flows into the sea atBangka Strait in the south. To the east, big rivers carry silt from the mountains, forming the vast lowland interspersed by swamps. Even if mostly unsuitable for farming, the area is currently of great economic importance for Indonesia. It produces oil from both above and below the soil –palm oil andpetroleum.
Sumatra is the largest producer ofIndonesian coffee. Small-holders grow Arabica coffee (Coffea arabica) in the highlands, while Robusta (Coffea canephora) is found in the lowlands. Arabica coffee from the regions of Gayo, Lintong and Sidikilang is typically processed using theGiling Basah (wet hulling) technique, which gives it a heavy body and low acidity.[43]
Sumatra supports a wide range of vegetation types that are home to a rich variety of species, including 17 endemic genera of plants.[45] Unique species include theSumatran pine which dominates theSumatran tropical pine forests of the higher mountainsides in the north of the island and rainforest plants such asRafflesia arnoldii (the world's largest individual flower), and thetitan arum (the world's largest unbranchedinflorescence).
The island is home to 201 mammal species and 580 bird species. There are nine endemic mammal species on mainland Sumatra and 14 more endemic to the nearbyMentawai Islands.[45] There are about 300 freshwater fish species in Sumatra.[46] There are 93amphibian species in Sumatra, 21 of which are endemic to Sumatra.[47]
^TheKamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia states thatSumatra is the correct spelling in Indonesian;[1] however, it is popularly and legislatively spelled in Indonesian asSumatera.
^abAida, Melly; Tahar, Abdul Muthalib; Davey, Orima (2023), Perdana, Ryzal; Putrawan, Gede Eka; Saputra, Bayu; Septiawan, Trio Yuda (eds.), "Ecocide in the International Law: Integration Between Environmental Rights and International Crime and Its Implementation in Indonesia",Proceedings of the 3rd Universitas Lampung International Conference on Social Sciences (ULICoSS 2022), Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research, vol. 740, Paris: Atlantis Press SARL, pp. 572–584,doi:10.2991/978-2-38476-046-6_57,ISBN978-2-38476-045-9
^Coedès, George (1968). Vella, Walter F. (ed.).The Indianized States of Southeast Asia. Translated by Cowing, Susan Brown. University of Hawaii Press.ISBN978-0-8248-0368-1.
^Tibbets, G. R.Pre-Islamic Arabia and South East Asia. InD. S. Richards, ed. (1970).Islam and The Trade of Asia. Oxford: Bruno Cassirer Pub. Ltd. p. 127 nt. 21.
^Fatimi, S. Q.In Quest of Kalah. InD. S. Richards, ed. (1970).Islam and The Trade of Asia. Oxford: Bruno Cassirer Pub. Ltd. p. 132 n. 124.
^Groeneveldt, W. P.Notes in The Malay Archipelago. InD. S. Richards, ed. (1970).Islam and The Trade of Asia. Oxford: Bruno Cassirer Pub. Ltd. p. 127 nt. 21.
^Graf, Arndt; Wieringa, Edwin Paul; Schröter, Susanne, eds. (2020).Aceh: History, Politics and Culture Volume 9. Institute of Southeast Asian Studies. p. 3.ISBN9789814279123.
^Sim, Hwee Hwang; Sim, Teddy Y. H., eds. (2021).Fieldwork in Humanities Education in Singapore. Springer Nature Singapore. p. 290.ISBN9789811582332.
^Glenday, Craig (2013)."Dynamic Earth".Guinness Book of World Records 2014. The Jim Pattison Group. p. 15.ISBN978-1-908843-15-9.26 December 2004: Longest earthquake...between 500 and 600 seconds.
^"Daerah Produsen Kopi Arabika di Indonesia" [Regional Arabica Coffee Producers in Indonesia].KopiDistributor.com (in Indonesian). KD 1995. 28 February 2015.Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved28 February 2015.
^abWhitten, Tony (1999).The Ecology of Sumatra. Tuttle Publishing.ISBN962-593-074-4.
^Nguyen, T. T. T., and S. S. De Silva (2006). "Freshwater finfish biodiversity and conservation: an asian perspective".Biodiversity & Conservation 15(11): 3543–3568
^"Hellen Kurniati".The Rufford Foundation.Archived from the original on 25 August 2017. Retrieved25 August 2017.
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