North Toraja Regency

North Toraja Regency
Kabupaten Toraja Utara
Regency
Country Indonesia
Province South Sulawesi
Capital Rantepao
Area
 • Total 1,151.47 km2 (444.59 sq mi)
Population (2010 Census)
 • Total 215,400
 • Density 190/km2 (480/sq mi)
Time zone WIB (UTC+7)

North Toraja (or Toraja Utara) is a regency (kabupaten) of South Sulawesi Province of Indonesia, and the home of the Toraja ethnic group. The local government seat is in Rantepao which is also the center of Toraja culture. Formerly this regency was part of Tana Toraja Regency.

The Tana Toraja boundary was determined by the Dutch East Indies government in 1909. In 1926, Tana Toraja was under the administration of Bugis state, Luwu. The regentschap (or regency) status was given on October 8, 1946, the last regency given by the Dutch. Since 1984, Tana Toraja has been named as the second tourist destination after Bali by the Ministry of Tourism, Indonesia. Since then, hundreds of thousands of foreign visitors have visited this regency. In addition, numerous Western anthropologists have come to Tana Toraja to study the indigenous culture and people of Toraja.

Christian mission in Tana Toraja Regency, Netherlands colonial period.
picture credits : Tropenmuseum.

Geography

Tana Toraja is located on the Sulawesi island, 300 km north of Makassar, the provincial capital of South Sulawesi. Its geographical location is between latitude of 2°-3° South and longitude 119°-120° East (center: 3°S 120°E / 3°S 120°ECoordinates: 3°S 120°E / 3°S 120°E). The area of the new North Toraja Regency is 1,151.47  km², about 2.5% of the total area of South Sulawesi province. The topography of Tana Toraja is mountainous; its minimum elevation is 150 m, while the maximum is 3,083 above the sea level.[1]

Administration

North Toraja Regency in 2010 comprised 21 administrative Districts (Kecamatan), tabulated below with their 2010 Census population.[2]

Name Population
Census 2010
Sopai 13,042
Kesu 15,504
Sanggalangi 11,129
Buntao 8,911
Rantebua 7,595
Nanggala 9,192
Tondon 9,465
Tallunglipu 18,068
Rantepao25,585
Tikala 10,275
Sesean 10,893
Balusu 6,760
Sa'dan 14,923
Bengkelekila 5,128
Sesean Suloara 6,236
Kapala Pitu 6,041
Dende Piongan Napo 7,979
Awan Rante Karua 5,193
Rindingalo 7,255
Buntu Pepasan 12,228
Baruppu 5,358

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Tana Toraja Regency.

References

  1. ↑ "Official Tana Toraja website" (in Indonesian).
  2. ↑ Biro Pusat Statistik, Jakarta, 2011.

External links

Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Tana Toraja.