Lampung (province)

Lampung
—  Province  —

Seal
Motto: "Sai Bumi Ruwa Jurai"
Location of Lampung in Indonesia
Coordinates:
Country Indonesia
Capital Bandar Lampung
Government
 • Governor Sjachroedin ZP
Area
 • Total 35,376 km2 (13,658.7 sq mi)
Population (2010)[1]
 • Total 7,596,115
 • Density 214.7/km2 (556.1/sq mi)
Demographics
 • Ethnic groups Javanese (62%), Sundanese (9%), Lampung (10%), Malay (4%), Bantenese (3%) [2]
 • Religion Muslim (92%), Protestant (1.8%), Catholic (1.8%), Buddhist (1.7%)
 • Languages Indonesian
Time zone WIB (UTC+7)
Website lampungprov.go.id

Lampung is a province of Indonesia. It is located on the southern tip of the island of Sumatra and borders the provinces of Bengkulu and South Sumatra. Lampung is the original home of the Lampung people, who speak a distinct language from other people in Sumatra and have their own alphabet. Its capital is Bandar Lampung.

The province had a population of 7,596,115 at the 2010 census.[1] Three quarters of the current population of Lampung is descended from migrants from Java, Madura, and Bali. These migrants came on their initiative, in search of more land than was available on the more densely populated islands, and as part of the national government's transmigration program, for which Lampung was one of the earliest and most significant transmigration destinations.

Lampung is commonly known for its geographical instability in terms of earthquakes and volcanoes. On 10 May 2005, an earthquake measuring 6.4 on the Richter scale struck the province. The historical volcano blast of Krakatau which occurred in 1883, had disastrous consequences.

Contents

Administration

Lampung is divided into 12 regencies:

and 2 cities: Bandar Lampung and Metro

Some of the major produce in the country includes robusta Coffee beans, Cocoa beans, coconuts and cloves. This has resulted in a thriving agricultural sector with companies like Nestlé procuring coffee beans from the region. This agriculture has included illegal growing in Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park.[3] In addition, Nata de Coco is also manufactured in the region by domestic companies like Wong Coco.

Textile

Up until the 1920s, Lampung had a rich and varied weaving tradition. Lampung weaving used a supplementary weft technique which enabled coloured silk or cotton threads to be superimposed on a plainer cotton background. The most prominent Lampung textile was the palepai, ownership of which was restricted to the Lampung aristocracy of the Kalianda Bay area.[4] There were two types of smaller cloths, known as tatibin and tampan, which could be owned and used by all levels of Lampungese society. Weaving technologies were spread throughout Lampung. High quality weavings were produced by the Paminggir, Krui, Abung and Pesisir peoples. Production was particularly prolific among the people of the Kalianda Bay area in the south and the Krui aristocracy in the north.

The oldest surviving examples of Lampung textiles date back to the eighteenth century, but some scholars believe that weaving may date back to the first millennium AD when Sumatra first came under Indian cultural influence. The prevalence of Buddhist motifs, such as diamonds, suggests that the weaving traditions were already active in the time when Lampung came under the Buddhist Srivijayan rule. There are similarities between Lampung weaving and weaving traditions in some parts of modern-day Thailand that experienced cultural contact with Sriwijaya.

Lampung textiles were known as 'ship cloths' because ships are a common motif. The ship motif represents the transition from one realm of life to the next, for instances from boyhood to manhood or from being single to married and also represents the final transition to the afterlife.[4]

Traditionally, Lampung textiles were used as part of religious ceremonies such as weddings and circumcisions. For instance, the palepai cloths were used as long ceremonial wall-hangings behind the bridal party in aristocratic marriages. The smaller, more humble tampan cloths were exchanged between families at the time of weddings.

Production of many fine cloths blossomed in the late nineteenth century as Lampung grew rich on pepper production, but the devastating eruption of Krakatoa in 1883 destroyed many weaving villages in the Kalianda area. By the 1920s the increasing importance of Islam and the collapse of the pepper trade brought production to a halt. Today Lampung textiles are highly prized by collectors.

Railroads

May 2011: A 270 kilometers railroad from Tanjung Enim to Lampung will be built soon to accommodate coal transportation using in Java Island.[5]

Tourism

Tourism is not Lampung Regency main income, although the administration will boost tourism as organize tourism event, Flamboyant Tanjung Setia to draw tourists visit to Tanjung Setia Beach which has natural panoramic view and challenging waves for surfing. In 2010, there are 400,000 tourists visited Lampung Regency including 10,000 foreign tourists mainly came from Australia and New Zealand.[6]

References

Further reading