Bengkulu

History

The region was subject to the Buddhist Srivijaya empire in the 8th century. The Shailendra Kingdom and Singosari Kingdom succeeded the Srivijaya but it is unclear whether they spread their influence over Bengkulu. The Majapahit also had little influence over Bengkulu. There were only few smalls 'kedatuan' based on ethnicity such as in Sungai Serut, Selebar, Pat Petulai, Balai Buntar, Sungai Lemau, Sekiris, Gedung Agung and Marau Riang. It became a vassal region of the Banten Sultanate (from Western Java) in the early 15th century and since the 17th century was ruled by Minangkabau's Inderapura Sultanate (today's in Pesisir Selatan, West Sumatra Province).

The first European visitors to the area were the Portuguese, followed by the Dutch in 1596. The British East India Company established a pepper-trading center and garrison at Bengkulu (Bencoolen) in 1685. In 1714 the British built Fort Marlborough, which still stands. The trading post was never profitable for the British, being hampered by a location which Europeans found unpleasant, and by an inability to find sufficient pepper to buy. It became an occasional port of call for the EIC's East Indiamen.

In 1785, the area was integrated into British Empire as Bencoolen, while the rest of Sumatra and most of the Indonesian archipelago was part of the Dutch East Indies. Sir Stamford Raffles was stationed as Lieutenant-Governor of Bencoolen (the colony was subordinate at the time to the Bengal Presidency) from 1818 to 1824, enacting a number of reforms including the abolition of slavery, and the British presence left a number of monuments and forts in the area. Despite the difficulties of keeping control of the area while Dutch colonial power dominated the rest of Sumatra, the British persisted, maintaining their presence for roughly 140 years before ceding Bengkulu to the Dutch as part of the Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1824 in exchange for Malacca. Bengkulu then remained part of the Dutch East Indies until the Japanese occupation in World War 2.

During the early 1930s, Sukarno, the future first president of Indonesia, was imprisoned by the Dutch and briefly resided in Bengkulu, where he met his wife, Fatmawati. The couple had several children, including Megawati Sukarnoputri, who later became Indonesia's first female President.

After independence, Bengkulu was initially part of the 'South Sumatra' Province, which also included Lampung, the Bangka-Belitung Islands, and what is now South Sumatra itself, as a Residency. In 1968, Bengkulu gained provincial status, becoming the 26th province of Indonesia, preceding East Timor.

Bengkulu lies near the Sunda Fault and is prone to earthquakes and tsunamis. The June 2000 Enggano earthquake killed at least 100 people. A recent report predicts that Bengkulu is "at risk of inundation over the next few decades from undersea earthquakes predicted along the coast of Sumatra" A series of earthquakes struck Bengkulu during September 2007, killing 13 people.

Geography and climate

The western part of Bengkulu province, bordering the Indian Ocean coast, is about 576 km along, and the eastern part of the condition is hilly with a plateau that is prone to erosion. Bengkulu Province is on the west side of the Bukit Barisan mountains. The province's area is about 20,122.21 square kilometres, or slightly smaller than the European country, Slovenia. The province extends from the border province of West Sumatra to the border province of Lampung; the distance is about 567 kilometres. Bengkulu Province lies between 2° 16' S and 03° 31' S latitude and 101° 01'-103° 41'E longitude. Bengkulu province in the north borders the province of West Sumatra, in the southern the Indian Ocean and Lampung province, in the west it borders the Indian Ocean and in the east the provinces of Jambi and South Sumatra. Bengkulu province is also bordered by the Indian Ocean coastline of approximately 525 kilometres to the west. Its western part is hilly with fertile plateaus, while the western part is lowland relatively narrow, elongated from north to south and punctuated bumpy areas.

Bengkulu's climate is classified as tropical. Bengkulu has a large amount of rainfall throughout the year, even in the driest month. The climate here is classified as Af by the Köppen-Geiger system. The annual average temperature is 26.8 °C. The average annual rainfall is 3360 mm.

The total area of Bengkulu province is 20,122.21 km². For administrative purposes, the province is divided into nine regencies and one city, together sub-divided into 93 districts.

Population

The 2010 census reported a population of 1,715,518 including 875,663 males and 837,730 females; by the 2020 Census this had risen to 2,010,670, and the official estimate for mid 2025 was 2,138,044.

Ethnic groups

Bengkulu is home to various indigenous ethnic groups. The Rejangs form the majority of the province with 60.4% of the population. The second largest ethnic group is the Javanese forming around 24%. Other minority indigenous ethnic groups includes Lembak, Serawai, Pekal, Enggano, Pasemah, Minangkabau and Bengkulu Malays. There is also non-indigenous ethnic groups that mostly came from other parts of Indonesia such as Sundanese, Javanese, Acehnese, Madurese, Batak, Chinese and others.

Religion

The 2022 data of Ministry of Religious Affairs found 97.69% of the population as adherents to Islam and 2% as Christian. The remainder includes Hindus (0.20%) who are mostly Balinese migrants, Buddhists (0.1%), and "other" including traditional beliefs (0.004%).

Languages

Like the rest of Indonesia, Indonesian is the official language for formal occasions, institutions, and government affairs while local languages are widely used in daily life.

Most indigenous languages in Bengkulu belong to the Malayan group of Austronesian languages, such as Bengkulu Malay, Lembak, Pekal and Minangkabau varieties. The most widely spoken language in the province, Rejang, is the only Bornean language to be spoken in Sumatra (and one of three outside of Borneo other than Malagasy in Madagascar and Yakan in Basilan).

Engganese is classified as a highly divergent branch of Malayo-Polynesian, however, this is still debated.. A less-studied language is Nasal language, which may be related to Rejang or form its own branch of Malayo-Polynesian. Non-indigenous ethnic groups also speak their own language/dialects.

Government and administrative divisions

When it was formed in 1967 from the western parts of South Sumatra province, Bengkulu Province consisted of three regencies - Bengkulu Selatan (South Bengkulu), Bengkulu Utara (North Bengkulu), and Rejang Lebong - together with the independent city of Bengkulu, which lies outside any regency. Five additional regencies were established on 25 February 2003 - Kaur Regency and Seluma Regency from parts of Bengkulu Selatan, Kepahiang Regency and Lebong Regency from parts of Rejand Lebong Regency, and Mukomuko Regency from part of Bengkulu Utara. A ninth regency (Bengkulu Tengah, Central Bengkulu) was formed on 24 June 2008 from another part of Bengkulu Utara. The regencies and city are listed below with their areas and their populations at the 2010 and 2020 Censuses, together with the official estimates as of mid 2025.

Note: (a) includes Enggano Island and neighbouring small islands in the Indian Ocean.

The province forms one of Indonesia's 84 national electoral districts to elect members to the People's Representative Council. The Bengkulu Electoral District consists of all of the 9 regencies in the province, together with the city of Bengkulu, and elects 4 members to the People's Representative Council.

Economy

Three active coal mining companies produce between 200,000 and 400,000 tons of coal per year, which is exported to Malaysia, Singapore, South Asia, and East Asia. Fishing, particularly tuna and mackerel, is an important activity. Agricultural products exported by the province include ginger, bamboo shoots, and rubber.

Coat of arms

The coat of arms of Bengkulu is in the shape of a shield inscribed with the word "Bengkulu". Inside the shield are a star, a cerana (traditional container), a rudus (traditional weapon), a Rafflesia arnoldii flower, and stalks of rice and coffee.

The star symbolizes belief in God Almighty. The cerana represents high culture, while the rudus signifies heroism. The Rafflesia arnoldii reflects Bengkulu’s natural uniqueness. Rice and coffee symbolize prosperity. The emblem also contains waves with 18 lines, 11 coffee leaves, six coffee flowers on each stalk, and eight stalks in total — together symbolizing 18 November 1968, the date of Bengkulu’s establishment as a province.