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Aregency (Indonesian:kabupaten[a]), sometimes incorrectly referred to as adistrict[b] and previously known assecond-level region,[c] is anadministrative division ofIndonesia, directly under aprovince and on the same level withcity (kota). Regencies are divided intodistricts (Kecamatan,Distrik inPapua region,[1][2] orKapanewon andKemantren in theSpecial Region of Yogyakarta). The average area of Indonesian regencies is about 4,578.29 km2 (1,767.69 sq mi), with an average population of 670,958 people.
The English name "regency" comes from theDutch colonial period, when regencies were ruled bybupati (orregents) and were known asregentschap inDutch (kabupaten in Javanese and subsequently Indonesian).[3]Bupati had been regional lords under the precolonial monarchies ofJava.[4] When the Dutch abolished or curtailed those monarchies, the bupati were left as the most senior indigenous authority.[5][6][7] They were not, strictly speaking, "native rulers" because the Dutch claimed full sovereignty over their territory, but in practice, they had many of the attributes of petty kings, including elaborate regalia and palaces and a high degree of impunity.[8][9]
The Indonesian title ofbupati is originally a loanword fromSanskrit, a shortening of the Sanskrit titlebhumi-pati (bhumi भूमि '(of the) land' +pati पति 'lord', hencebhumi-pati 'lord of the land').[10] In Indonesia,bupati was originally used as aJavanese title for regional rulers in precolonial kingdoms, its first recorded usage being in theTelaga Batu inscription, which dates to theSrivijaya period, in whichbhupati is mentioned among the titles of local rulers whopaid allegiance to Sriwijaya's kings.[11][10] Related titles which were also used in precolonial Indonesia areadipati ('duke') andsenapati ('lord of the army' or 'general').
Regencies as we know them today were first created January 28, 1892, when the Dutch East Indies government established the Landarchief. The first landarchivasis was confirmed the next day and lasted until 1905. Officially, Indonesia's current regencies were established with the proclamation of Indonesian independence on August 17, 1945.[12]
Regencies in Java territorial units were grouped together intoresidencies headed by exclusively European residents. This term hinted that the residents had a quasi-diplomatic status in relation to thebupati (and indeed they had such a relationship with the native rulers who continued to prevail in much of Indonesia outside Java), but in practice thebupati had to follow Dutch instructions on any matter of concern to the colonial authorities. Like the current system of government in Indonesia, the system of historical times is still in effect.[13][14][15]
The relationship between those sides was ambivalent: while legal and militarypower rested with the Dutch government (or, for a long time, with theDutch East India Company) under a Governor General inBatavia on Java, the regents held higher protocollary rank than the assistant-resident who supposedly advised them and held day-to-day sway over the population.[16] After the independence of Indonesia in 1945, the termsbupati andkabupaten were applied throughout the archipelago to the administrative unit below the residency (karesidenan).
In the Telaga Batu inscription, which was found in the village nearPalembang and contains a worship of the king of Srivijaya, there may be the wordbhupati. The inscription is estimated to be from the end of the 7th century AD, Indonesia inscription expert Johannes Gijsbertus de Casparis translatedbhupati with the termhead (hoofd in Dutch), the wordbhupati is also found in theLigor inscription, which was found in theNakhon Si Thammarat province ofThailand. In the 17th century, Europeans called the areaLigor. this inscription was identified in 775 AD 8th century AD, the termbhupati was used to refer to the king of Srivijaya Hujunglangit in the 9th century AD[17][18][19]
Since the start of theReform Era in 1998 a remarkable secession of regency governments has arisen in Indonesia. The process has become known aspemekaran (division). Following the surge of support for decentralisation across Indonesia which occurred following thefall of Soeharto in 1998, key new decentralisation laws were passed in 1999. Subsequently, there was a jump in the number of regencies (and cities) from around 300 at the end of 1998 to 514 in 2014 sixteen years later. This secession of new regencies, welcome at first, has become increasingly controversial within Indonesia because the administrative fragmentation has proved costly and has not brought the hoped-for benefits.
Senior levels of the administration expressed a general feeling that the process ofpemekaran needed to be slowed (or even stopped for the time being), although local politicians at various levels across government in Indonesia continue to express strong populist support for the continued creation of new regencies.[20] Indeed, no further regencies or independent cities have been created since 2014, with the last beingCentral Buton,South Buton, andWest Muna regencies in Southeast Sulawesi, all created on 23 July. However, a paper on fiscal decentralization and regional income inequality in 2019 argued that fiscal decentralization reduces regional income inequality.[21]
Since 1998, a large portion of governance have been delegated from central government in Jakarta to local regencies, with regencies now playing important role in providing services to Indonesian people.[22] Direct elections for regents and mayors began in 2005, with the leaders previously being elected by local legislative councils.[23]
As of 2020, there are 416 regencies in Indonesia, and 98 cities. 120 of these are inSumatra, 85 are inJava, 37 are inNusa Tenggara, 47 are inKalimantan, 70 are inSulawesi, 17 are inMaluku, and 40 inPapua.[24]
pushed to have district chiefs, mayors and governors indirectly voted in by local parliaments, as they were in 2005.